Gary Whiteside, founder and president of Common Ground Toledo, stands alongside some of the concrete flower boxes on the corner of Cowlitz Street and Ramsey Way in downtown Toledo in this Monday, April 24, 2017, Chronicle file photo. The Lewis Economic Development Council is pursuing streetscape projects in Toledo and Packwood.
Gary Whiteside, founder and president of Common Ground Toledo, is seen in the reflection of a window while flowers in one of the downtown's floral boxes soaks up some April showers on Monday afternoon.
Flowers that have been donated to Common Ground Toledo sit in the backyard of Gary Whiteside's home in Toledo on Monday, April 24, 2017.
Gary Whiteside pets his pug Gracie while sitting on a couch in the living room of his Toledo home on Monday afternoon. Whiteside is founder and president of Common Ground Toledo — which is tasked with beautification projects around the downtown area.
Gracie stares into the eyes of her owner, Gary Whiteside, founder and president of Common Ground Toledo, as Whiteside talks about how him and his wife, Kathy, moved to Toledo and started the downtown beautification group.
It’s been a year since the formation of Common Ground Toledo and the city’s downtown core is already looking greener.
“We’re not just about plants. We’re about downtown development,” said founder Gary Whiteside.
In the past year, the group has tended to several green spaces in Toledo, including a planted area near the Oregon Trail Marker and more than 30 planter boxes next to downtown businesses as part of a larger effort to beautify and improve Toledo.
“The towns I want to stop in are the towns that have trees … nice parks … I think part of all that is a layer of plants,” Whiteside said. “To me, that tells us the town is interested in itself and caring for itself.”
Common Ground Toledo formed in April 2016 as a part of Vision:Toledo’s nonprofit. Founder Gary Whiteside said he plans to have a separate 501(c)(3) tax status for Common Ground Toledo this year.
Whiteside and his wife, Kathy, moved to Toledo from Kalama in January 2016 and decided they wanted to become involved in the community.
They went to a Vision:Toledo meeting where members were brainstorming projects for the city.
When they first came to the town, the Whitesides were surprised by the somewhat neglected state of planters and green areas in the town.
“It affected us when we drove into town,” he said. “I figured if those planters were full and beautiful, it would affect other people as well.”
He learned the 33 concrete planters scattered throughout downtown were once donated to the city, but hadn’t been maintained by any particular group for some time.
“I put my foot in my mouth,” he said. “I said, ‘Who is taking care of the planters, they look horrible’ … That’s how it got started.”
Since then, Common Ground Toledo, led by the Whitesides and a handful of other green-thumbed volunteers, have tackled projects including a garden at the Toledo Post Office’s flagpole, the Oregon Trail Marker and planter boxes throughout town.
The planted areas have shared a common river theme, to honor the community’s history.
“We’re trying to connect with the individuality of the community,” Whiteside said.
Many of the group’s plants come from donations. It recently received a donation of 300 plants and tulip bulbs from the DeGoede Bulb Farm and has received a steady stream of donations from the community during its year in operation, some of which have gone into planters, and some of which have been sold at plant sales to support the group’s efforts.
Whiteside has been an avid gardener since he was eight years old and was enthralled by a visit to The Butchart Gardens in Victoria, B.C. and giant topiaries at Disney Land.
He started with a small plot of his own in his family’s garden as a child, then transformed a nearby plot of land into his own Japanese-style garden.
“We all kind of had our hands in the dirt as kids,” he said.
Now, he and his wife run Rose Cottage Home and Garden, a design business.
Common Ground Toledo’s next project is a garden area at Kemp Olson Memorial Park that was previously planted by volunteers with the city of Toledo, but has not been recently maintained. Common Ground will add new plants and salvage some that were previously planted.
“We’re finding them. They’re in the weeds,” Whiteside said.
The group also plans to update the city’s concrete planter boxes with a cedar facade soon.
To volunteer with Common Ground Toledo, call Whiteside at 360-864-4036 or go to the group’s Facebook page.
