Growing a community

Kahwa Court is on the corner of the Winter Park Pines neighborhood, nestled under the shade of a tree canopy and overlooks the golf course. But it wasn’t all green views.

A median island filled with weeds, dead grass and untrimmed palm trees faced homes around the cul-de-sac. It was an eyesore for many residents over the years.

“It was all weeds — the whole place,” Winter Park Pines resident Allen Young said.

But instead of waiting for the city of Winter Park to address the problem, the residents decided to take matters into their own hands.

“I like to call [the island] the little engine that could,” resident Barbara Koehne said. “It started with one idea and became a snowball effect.”

The project began after one neighbor decided to take the initiative to do a little landscaping in the island.

“One day I looked out and there’s Ed (Matrick) raking, pulling up weeds and trimming up the palms,” Koehne said. “In the middle of the day, about 3 or 4 o’clock, in 95 degree heat, that’s where you would find him.”

After a few more neighbors got to work, more than just plants ended up there.

Residents ended up planting their hearts into the project — working through the blast of the summer’s heat or donating funds and materials to help out.

“A couple of neighbors came by and said, ‘We can’t work like you two, so just tell us what we can give you in money to help,’” neighbor Cheryl Young said.

Neighbor Sylvia Yost and her husband donated 503 bricks for a walkway and sitting area, complete with two benches. Now residents call it the “Isle of Kahwa”.

“It’s been a neighborhood effort,” Yost said. “I think it’s gorgeous now.”

Young said the next step is getting a water spigot for some kind of irrigation to keep their island thriving. They have filed a request with the city, but it doesn’t look good.

Winter Park Parks and Recreation Director John Holland said the first step would be to add a meter somewhere to get water to the island.

“In most cases the city has always picked up those (bills for) meters, but we are in a budget crisis and at this point we don’t have the money for it,” Holland said.

He also said although the city is required to maintain it, they are not required to make large improvements because it is considered a median. But he’s thrilled to see the neighborhood taking the initiative.

“We love to see neighbors come forth and do projects like this for their own neighborhoods,” Holland said. “It helps us out tremendously; we encourage that.”

Matrick said he is also overjoyed that the project that once started as just a little landscaping has become a place where neighbors can get together.

“It’s a good feeling to see the community coming out to enjoy it,” he said.