​Honoring Susanne and Wallace “Sandy” Williams, Jr.
By Corinne Conlon
 
There are few people in the Juneau gardening community who have not benefited from Susanne and Sandy’s knowledge and stewardship, either directly or from the many people they have mentored and taught over the years. On August 8, 2020 a group of 20 gathered to offer their personal thanks and honor their accomplishments socially distanced and under the cover of the Juneau Community Garden shelter because, like many days in 2020, it was raining. The Williams’ often remarked that you couldn’t be a gardener in Juneau if you only did it when it was sunny.
 
Pat Hartman spoke for Southeast Master Gardeners Association remarking on the two terms Susanne and Sandy served as co-president and on the board for many years after. She cited the work the Williams did to ensure that the Southeast Master Gardeners Association continued through their guest teaching at UAF Extension training and providing funds through Sandy’s cultivation of tomato, squash, cucumber, and herb seedlings whose profits he also shared with the Juneau Community Gardens.
 
Jo Dahl from the Johnson Youth Center told of how the two were integral to the beginning of the garden project at the center. At the beginning of the season, they provided seed potatoes and if the program had a need, oftentimes it would be donated by the Williams, showing up to the center a few days later. Susanne and Sandy came every Wednesday, beginning in January for seed starting and moving outside as the weather warmed up, to assist the youth with explorations of not only how to grow, but to expand their knowledge of fresh produce. To the boys’ surprise, they found they even liked the salad greens they had grown.
 
John Thedinga provided details of how the Williams also played a pivotal role in creating the Juneau Community Garden (JCG) in the early 90s, Sandy’s service on the Board of Directors to JCG, and how they both served as a role model for their willingness to step in and get things done. Sandy described how he and Alan Davis worked to create the shelter on the community garden land that had been a racetrack, sawmill and garbage dump. He had been digging holes with a back hoe attempting to put the posts in 10 – 20 feet apart when after a few that went smoothly, he hit a huge buried log. After that was fixed, the work continued until they hit an automobile on the other side. This perseverance has marked the projects that Susanne and Sandy have headed up and followed through despite the hurdles, benefiting not only the organizations they have partnered with but the community at large.
 
Susanne and Sandy were presented with a gift basket and a plaque that states, “Susanne & Sandy Williams Garden Shelter. This shelter is dedicated to Susanne and Sandy Williams for over 30 years of commitment, dedication, and outstanding contributions to the Juneau gardening community, especially the Juneau Community Garden, the Southeast Master Gardeners Association, and the Johnson Youth Center; for generously sharing their harvest with those in need; and for tirelessly educating gardeners throughout Southeast Alaska. It will be hung on one of the pillars of the JCG shelter. 

Pictures curtesy of Jacqueline Fowler, Deb Rudis and Pat Hartman