Boston Names Nine Garden Contest Winners at Virtual 2020 Ceremony

Uncategorized 2026-07-22 clip6474 · Meeting of July 22, 2026

Boston held its 2020 Mayor's Garden Contest awards ceremony virtually, crowning winners across nine categories as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the annual Public Garden event online. Parks and Recreation Commissioner Ryan Woods emceed the ceremony alongside Mayor Martin J. Walsh, who appeared live from a sun-lit Public Garden and credited gardening with providing mental relief during the crisis.

Nine category winners competed in a spinning-wheel raffle for a pair of JetBlue round-trip tickets; Robin Reed and Therese O'Connell, representing the Friends of Christopher Columbus Park in the North End, won the grand prize after the organization also took first place in the storefront and organization garden category. Other first-place winners included Julie Murphy of West Roxbury (small yard), Linda Sklar of Jamaica Plain (medium yard), Stephen Smith and Richard Allsbrook of Roslindale (large yard), Kolea Zimmerman of Charlestown (porch and container), Gene Donahue of Roslindale (shade), Pascualino Cerro of Hyde Park (vegetable and herb), Ernest Garneau of West Roxbury (age-strong or senior garden), and Billy and Eric Bain of the Fenway (community garden), with all three community finalists drawn from the Fenway Victory Gardens' roughly 400 plots.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 1,955 words

Source: the Uncategorized 2026-07-22 clip6474 meeting of July 22, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.