Morro Bay in Bloom volunteers are prepared for a spring community project and an Easter egg hunt. Photo submitted
Who’s ready for an early-bird Easter Egg hunt? On Saturday April 4, the entire community is invited to this year’s I Love MB activities based at Tidelands Park. Although participation in the beautification projects is not required to enjoy the children’s egg hunt fun, Morro Bay In Bloom (MBIB) volunteers are hoping families and friends will come out and give a little “love” to our waterfront. Projects are strategically planned for all ages, talents and abilities beginning at 8:30 a.m. followed by a celebration egg hunt.
Longtime locals might remember there used to be an annual Morro Bay Easter egg hunt, and now, in 2026, our children will discover the revived tradition with hunting for fun-filled egg surprises beginning at 11:30 a.m.
Walter Heath, founder of MBIB and project manager for I Love MB said, “This is our third year for I Love MB. The Tidelands Park landscaping was originally planted in the eighties. Now after 45 or 50 years it needs replanting and color.”
The projects are set and MBIB hopes everyone will show up for a couple hours to plant or paint artful watering pails. Walter explained, “MBIB’s goals are always twofold — a bunch of people pitch in and finish several pre-prepped projects that could normally take our Morro Bay city staff endless hours and cost a boatload of money.” Franklin Riley Park and the nearby pocket park are also included. “We always end up creating a community of new friends having fun together and building something beautiful and lasting in one of our civic neighborhoods.”
In 2024, the first I Love MB gathering planted 82 trees with 47 of them creating the Peace Garden next to Dorn’s Restaurant. Volunteers also rejuvenated the Main Street Bike Park originally built by Friends of the MB Police Department and volunteers.
In 2025, 10,000 pounds of dirt was needed to recreate the landscaping around the offices housing Morro Bay’s Rock Radio station, Visit Morro Bay and the Chamber of Commerce. Walter said, “The public sees the pretty flowers, but don’t realize the prep time it takes to do projects. With more people we can get more done. This one took four leaders and girls from twelve Girl Scout troops. They finished planting in 45-minutes.”
When and how did Walter develop his passion for gardening? He spends his weekdays prepping and fundraising for each Saturday morning’s civic gardening project so his all-volunteer MBIB gardening group can complete it within two hours. Their motto: “One hour to chat and one to complete the project together.”
“I come from a family of hobbyist gardeners,” Walter shared. “My grandfather was the most serious. He raised Tuber Begonias to show at the San Francisco County Fair. He had a backyard green house. I lived close by so got to use it. Gardening was my only way to have a relationship with him since he preferred flowers, birds and Lucky Lager beer over people.” Note: He worked at the Lucky Lager Beer plant.
After a career as a chemist Walter’s family – Jane Heath and their kids – moved to Morro Bay where he had plenty of room to create his own backyard garden, now regularly used as a staging and seedling start-up area for new MBIB projects. Jane, now recently retired, opened her law firm in SLO then eventually Morro Bay while the kids finished school and established their own families. Jane began to get involved in local civic groups while Walter stumbled into developing the concept of Morro Bay In Bloom.
In 2012, Walter heard about a civic gardening program from then Mayor Jaime Irons who’d been talking to Arroyo Grande’s then Mayor Tony Ferrara. AG had affiliated with the national group America In Bloom (AIB). “Their public gardens made their city shine,” marveled Walter.
He researched AIB’s guidelines and in October 2013 he assembled a small group to create their first project. “As long as the site and program of work are fully set up for the volunteers, it is amazing what we can accomplish in our Saturday morning two-hour meet-up time. We all come away with such a good feeling we’ve accomplished something.”
MBIB has never had chapter dues and encourages all ages and abilities to show up on any given Saturday. “About 25 came out for that first planting – Mayor Tony Ferrara and Supervisor Bruce Gibson plus Morro Bay residents. Fourteen years later several are still with MBIB most Saturdays including Susie and Tim Crowley, Joe Birney, Jan Goldman and Cindy Heimel.
After a couple annual visits from AIB with assessments that Morro Bay had accomplished “a lot of improvement,” Walter was compelled to learn what more they might do. He served two years on the board of directors and volunteered for the national evaluation team. He was able to see what other communities were doing to fulfill AIB’s criteria for community beautification. Eventually Morro Bay received top evaluations three years in a row.
“We will always be noted in America In Bloom’s ‘Circle of Champions,’ Walter said. “Jane and I got to travel to some of the most beautiful cities in the USA. It was amazing to see cities all over doing the same thing as Morro Bay.”
One of the hurdles MBIB had to overcome was developing a stronger relationship with the Morro Bay Public Works staff. “They now trust that MBIB’s only purpose is to fill gaps in landscaping needs. We understand how our eight-person staff is stretched caring for our city parks, street cleaning, and public bathrooms. Carlos Mendoza [with public works] has been an amazing partner. They do the heavy lifting – bring in excavators to prep the grounds so we can finish the planting and add more color to our city.”
But as MBIB continues to create larger projects and community-wide events, grants and fundraising have become essential. The group raises funds to purchase the plants, install them, and regularly maintain the sites.
“When our members are out maintaining the community planter box they have adopted, they will often hear, ‘When I’m feeling blue, I come out and see the colorful flowers and feel happier.’”
Since I Love MB is a major civic project, current Morro Bay In Bloom volunteers hope lots of folks will join them in 2026. “It’s all about getting families involved,” Walter said. “Service is healthy for us in our senior years.”
And why not start teaching our young now how they might continue to contribute to their future community?
Check out www.morrobayinbloom.org for more details on Saturday events or how to donate to the cause. Also check out a MB online walking garden tour of projects that includes 325 “This is Us” decorated garden pails and 20 civic wall murals all created by volunteers during I Love MB events.
