Wylde Center: New Name For Oakhurst Community Garden

has been renamed the Wylde Center, after founder Sally Wylde.

Stephanie Van Parys, executive director of the Wylde Center, said the change was needed because the organization is now a multi-dimensional nonprofit that outgrew its original brand. It's now much more than a community garden.

The organization's headquarters will remain at the Oakhurst Garden at South McDonough Street and Oakview Road.

The official name of that site will become Wylde Center at Oakhurst Garden.

How big is the Wylde Center? It's now running these programs: Oakhurst Garden, the , , environmental and education-based youth outreach programs, garden coaching, community-wide education and events throughout the year, such as the recent .

Sally Wylde died Aug. 19, 2010, of breat cancer. According to the Wylde Center website, in 1996 some schoolchildren cut through her yard and trampled her garden.

She invited them to become caretakers of the garden. In 1997, she and her husband purchased a nearby lot and the community garden was born.

"The name Wylde Center was chosen to honor Sally and to give a broader name to the organization that has grown out of the Oakhurst Community Garden Project to include many other areas of education and outreach," the website says.