Galaxy Garden opens at Paleaku Peace Gardens in Kona

Gretchen Lawson, Arc of Kona executive director, stood in for us at the opening of the new Galaxy Garden in South Kona. She sent us this report:

"Aloha, I wanted to let you know how honored I was to represent HANO at the recent grand opening of the Galaxy Garden. It was a very lovely event with many people representing organizations form the Department of Education to the Hawai‘i Community Foundation and lots of volunteers who made it happen. 

"The garden is a quarter acre with plantings in a 100-foot circle representing the galaxy in scientifically accurate scale and representation. The site is in South Kona and was for some time known as the Paleaku Peace Gardens with Buddhist shrines surrounded by plants – nine acres of beauty.  

"Barbara DeFranco, Paleaku’s executive director, is also the owner of the property and the developer of the gardens. Jon Lomberg, the artist who designed the garden, is well-known for his astronomical artistry with paintings hanging in the Smithsonian.  Once again, thanks for the opportunity."