Vancouver/Clark Parks Community Gardens
Clark County Community Gardens
The Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation Department dedicated the community gardens at Marshall Community Park on Wednesday, June 23, to Vancouver citizen Esther "Kitty" Ham. Ham was instrumental in starting the community garden program in the Vancouver area.
Beginning in the late 1960s, Esther and her husband, Alan, shared a deep concern for the elderly and the underprivileged in our community. The Hams established the Senior Citizen Sharecropper gardens on their Lewis River farm between Battle Ground and La Center, providing the land and gardening help to senior citizens.
When they moved to Vancouver, Esther spent months trying to find land to carry on the program there, finally getting some school land for that purpose. Eventually she was able to work with the Parks Department to start the vision for gardens in parks and on city land.
After living in Clark County for 60 years, Ham died in 2004 at the age of 84.
Members of her family, including her husband, gathered to view the new raised beds and the basalt rock that bears the dedication inscription in Esther's honor.
A kiosk will be installed to tell Ham’s story as well as provide gardening information. Marshall Community Gardens are at 1009 E. McLoughlin Blvd., adjacent to the Marshall Community Center.