As a new resident to Fountain Hills, I was super excited to find a Community Garden being established. I immediately joined the Fountain Hills Community Garden Facebook page and signed up for emails.

I have actively participated with the FHCG Facebook page sharing information I find that may contribute to the garden. I was looking forward to being involved with the community at the groundbreaking ceremony that was scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, October 29, 2016.

I really talked up the Community Garden and my husband agreed to not watch his alumni football game and accompany me to attend the event.

Over the past few weeks I have seen signs posted in the community, promotion on Facebook and even advertisement/articles in The Fountain Hills Times. This event was scheduled for 1 p.m. to be followed up with a workshop on building raised beds. We arrived shortly before 1 p.m. to see the crowd moving toward the Community Center and golden shovels and hard hats being brought back to parked vehicles. There were others also arriving at that time, including a Girl Scout who was there to be a part of the event.

No one greeted us, no one redirected us and no one apologized. We certainly did not feel any part of community. We felt excluded, and we felt like we had arrived at a private event and not a community event. We decided not to participate in the raised bed workshop but instead return home. We were confused and disappointed in the execution of this event.

In the future, I hope that the whole community is considered when planning and executing events for the Fountain Hills Community Garden.