Submitted by Huei Young 10/06

This entry relates to the present, past.

Categories: Coming to Davis, Nature, Unforgettable Experiences. 

My Asian garden has become familiar to many of the  people of Davis and beyond as a site for charitable  fund-raisers and as an excursion for California garden  clubs. However it is not widely known that my husband  Frank and I also are very much a part of both  historical and present-day Davis.    

I was born in China, but grew up in Taiwan and  immigrated to America in 1969.  My father had a love  for flowers and nature,  however there was not room at  our home for a garden, so he expressed himself through  his flower and landscape paintings.  He was the  inspiration that led me to create my garden.   Unfortunately, he passed away before he could come to  enjoy it, but I feel that I represent him by   sharing my garden with others.    

My husband, Frank, was the son of the first Chinese   immigrant to settle in Davis.  His father came to the  United States from Canton in 1897 and worked at a  variety of jobs, including at a lumber mill in  Placerville and on riverboats between Colusa and  Stockton. In the 1920s, he settled in Davis and opened  the Sacramento Restaurant on G St.    Although he spoke only limited English, all of his  dishes were American fare.  The only Chinese food  served was the chop suey Frank's mother would make for  special guests.  Many of the well-known figures of  early Davis were regular customers at the restaurant,  including Joe Pence, Sam Brinley, and Bluitt Howatt,  but the family delighted in feeding the less fortunate  as well.     

Together, we carry on this tradition, with both of us   collecting food for distribution to feed the hungry  and through my cooking at Davis Community Meals and  for special occasion dinners at I-House and Habitat  for Humanity.    

So both of us have fufilled our family dream of  benefiting others by sharing in the things we love  right here in Davis.