Evening for reflection

Lauren Vane

It is Christmas Eve and with the hustle and bustle coming to an end,

one local man wants everyone to take a step back and reflect as he

delivers a gift to the city, 18 years in the making, without a

thought that he might get something in return.

Michel Martennay, a landscaper originally from Paris, is inviting

everyone to a candlelight ceremony from 10 p.m. to midnight tonight

at the Garden of Peace and Love at the end of Mountain Street.

Martennay said the vigil is being held to honor loved ones who have

been lost.

“They should think of people who are gone, it don’t cost nothing

to light a candle,” Martennay said in his still-strong accent.

Candles will be handed out to everyone who attends, and they will

line the garden’s heart-shaped path.

The garden has literally been a labor of love for Martennay, who

started cultivating the garden 18 years ago when he came to Laguna

Beach from France. Martennay said he saw this piece of land and knew

he had to do something with it.

Since then, Martennay said he has come to the garden twice a day,

nearly every day, to tend it on his own time and without pay.

“It’s my treat for the people,” Martennay said.

“It’s a big job!” Martennay said. “I’m not Mother Theresa, but I

love to help people.”

The piece of land that once was littered with garbage and old

mattresses had been turned into a lush garden after years of work,

Martennay said. But then, three years ago, Martennay said the

garden’s water source was cut off by a longtime supplier. Without

water, the garden began to die.

“No water, no flower,” Martennay said.

Desperate to find water for his garden, Martennay said he went to

the city and asked for help. Martennay credits Chief of Police James

Spreine with finding a solution to the problem.

Spreine, who called Martennay a “dedicated special person,” said

that the city decided to give him a key to city’s water source near

the garden.

“I think it’s a very, very nice thing, what he did,” Martennay

said.

It was the least they could do to provide him with water after all

the work he was doing for the community, Spreine said.

“It’s fabulous, it’s one of the many things that’s very special

about Laguna Beach,” Spreine said.

The city isn’t the only force standing behind Martennay and his

garden. He said he has received the help of many locals, including

friends and businesses.

“All the neighbors, everybody really appreciates it and wants to

make it nice,” Martennay said.

He added that Laguna’s Pottery Barn has donated many plants to the

garden, and that his friends have also given plants and soil.

Martennay fills the garden with plants that are donated, ones he buys

himself and those he rescues from Dumpsters and other places, he

said.

Overlooking the garden there is a bench placed there by the city

and the HIV Committee to honor those whose lives have been touched by

AIDS.

“It’s there for people to go and remember, and the park adds to

that,” Spreine said. “If you’re sitting at the bench you can reflect

on memories of a loved one.”

Although the bench at the top of the park honors those who have

suffered from AIDS, Martennay said that the garden and tonight’s

vigil is for everyone.

“For everybody who lost someone, their mother, their friend,

anybody,” Martennay said.