Sean Moor, Manager of The Book Jewel, provided the literary touch, sharing books and items available for s ale in this one – of – a – kind bookstore in Westchester.

David Swimmer, a Western Medicine trained physician who opened a clinic for the poor in Santa Barbara, began using medicinal plants, historically utilized by the Chumash in the Santa Barbara area, to treat his patients. The theme was the healing power of plants and people, both Enrique and Robert shared their expertise on the uses of native plants by local indigenous Indian tribes (Gabrielino/Tongva, Chumash, and Cahuilla), and Mike Swimmer shared how his brother, the late Dr. We a re so grateful for all these participants making our first time on the Theodore Payne garden tour, celebrating their 20th year offering these unique experiences, a huge success! LMU and UCLA students, trained about the Park and its assets, participated as Docents along with staff of Friends of Ballona Wetlands and LMU CURes, who are responsible for maintaining the plants and other features of the Park. Robert also brought a beautiful Coast Live Oak tree to be planted i n the Park, as a gift! We were also joined by the artist who created the Tongva Monument, honoring his Gabrielino Tongva people and all of humanity, Robert Dorame and his wife Jan. The sun came out and our flowers shined folks learned about native medicinal plants from healer Enrique Villasenor (co – author of “Healing with Med icinal Plants of the West”) enjoyed seeing books available from our local brick and mortar bookstore, The Book Jewel, a personal passion project of Karen Dial, President of the Drollinger Charitable Family Foundation and were able to meet the donor of the Sw immer Medicinal Garden, Mike Swimmer and family. In celebration of Earth Day, the Center for Urban Resilience at Loyola Marymount University (LMU CURes) and Friends of Ballona Wetlands hosted the annual Theodore Payne Foundation Native Plant Garden Tour in Ballona Discovery Park on Saturday, Apwhere we had over 250 visitors!

Ballona discovery park