Sammamish Volunteer of the Year plants flowers and builds community
On March 14, Lena Wegner was named the 2024 Sammamish Volunteer of the Year for her contributions to the Heritage Garden at Big Rock Park Central.
At the age of 90, Wegner received the award during a volunteer appreciation dinner at the Beaver Lake Lodge. She was joined by Mayor Karen Howe and councilmembers Sid Gupta, Roisin O’Farrell, and Kent Treen.
“Her tireless efforts have left a lasting impact, not just on the garden she has nurtured but on the hearts of those who have worked alongside her,” the City said in a statement released on March 27.
Wegner, who has lived in Sammamish since 2001, is a co-founder of the Sammamish Botanical Garden Society (SBGS), a nonprofit organization that partners with the Sammamish Parks, Recreation, and Facilities department to maintain the Heritage Garden. She served as the society’s first president after its inception in 2018. She is currently a co-chair of the garden committee.
For Wegner, the best part of working at the Heritage Garden is coming together with all the other dedicated volunteers who show up “rain or shine.”
Wegner works at the garden nearly every day, doing whatever tasks are needed at the time instead of adhering to a rigid set of assigned duties. Her day-to-day activities vary between planting flowers, purchasing seeds, pulling out weeds, researching native species, and other responsibilities.
“We just fully take care of the garden, whenever it needs it,” she said.
Aside from tulip bulbs imported from the Netherlands, most of the plants grown in the Heritage Garden are native to the state of Washington.
At the end of last year, volunteers and staff liaisons submitted nominees for the volunteer of the year before voting for Wegner as the final recipient. According to Angie Millar, the City’s communications manager, Wegner was initially nominated by two people and later received 50 percent of the total votes.
“I was surprised that somebody recognized all the things I do, and I was very pleased,” Wegner said.
SBGS treasurer Sarah Cheng appreciates Wegner as an important role model for other volunteers.
“Many of us hope to follow her example of remaining engaged in her community and continuing to follow her passion of gardening to make our City of Sammamish a wonderful place to live,” Cheng said.
In the future, Wegner hopes that the SBGS will open a full-fledged botanical garden independent from the City’s parks.
“Given the reactions that we’ve had from the little garden that we’re doing, we think everybody would like us to start and operate a regular botanical garden.”
The Heritage Garden at Big Rock Park Central is located at 1516 220th Ave SE.
