Maryon Gray

Maryon moved to Andersonville in 1984 eventually buying a home on Summerdale Ave. One evening as she was planting flowers in her front yard she was approached by a neighbor to join West Andersonville Neighbors Together (WANT), her local neighborhood organization. That began her journey from Member at Large to President in 1996.

An avid gardener, Maryon decided to do something about the unsightly overgrowth on Ravenswood along the railroad tracks and the idea of the West Andersonville Gardens began to germinate. Enlisting the assistance of other like minded neighbors, a grant from Greencorps Chicago, and a determination to beautify and transform a neglected area, Maryon launched a project in 1995 that continues to delight Edgewater each year. Solidly based on community support, West Andersonville Gardens was the first community garden along Ravenswood and has provided the model for other community gardens. Maryon enjoys running things and she doesn’t mind hard work. It gives her great satisfaction to see the strolling garden in constant use throughout the year, providing Edgewater residents with a respite from urban life.

Maryon Gray:
“With all community groups, you deal with what you’ve got,
you make the best of it, and you make it work.”

Click here for a short video.