An environmentalist and lover of the outdoors, Dr. Roger Woods joined the Village Green Committee about seven years ago, when he retired from his private neurology practice. He had been taking a horticulture class at Santa Monica Emeritus College, where he met Margaret Jose, who was then president of the Committee. She encouraged him to join. ‘I really like the Palisades and feel privileged to have lived here for more than 30 years,’ says Woods, an Orange County native. ‘I wanted to give back to the community in some way, and it turns out the Village Green is a good way to do that.’ Instrumental in replanting and maintaining the Village Green rose beds, Woods says he learned gardening ‘by the seat of his pants,’ experimenting in his own backyard. ‘I enjoy gardening,’ he says. ‘A lot of people involved [in the Committee] don’t really have a knack for it.’ Hal Maninger, who nominated Woods for this year’s Golden Sparkplug Award, said in his letter, ‘Roger tended the roses, revived sickly plants and had a good time doing it, but there were bigger challenges awaiting him.’ Four years ago, the Committee elected Woods president, and he began redesigning and renovating first the drinking water fountain and then the decorative dolphin fountain’the centerpiece of the Village Green, which has been owned by the community since 1973. ‘The [decorative] fountain was badly designed from the outset and it was a backbreaker to maintain,’ says Woods, who has a back problem himself. ‘People suggested I just fill it with plants, but I liked the fountain’it’s a nice addition to the Green.’ According to Woods, revamping the plumbing system required a good amount of planning but the actual construction, which was completed in December, took only two months. Said Committee member Joan Graves, who also nominated Woods for a Sparkplug: ‘The money to buy new equipment was provided by the Junior Women’s Club, but the actual physical labor was accomplished by Roger.’ Part of the work required digging a four-ft.-deep trench and laying new pipes and electric lines so a new pump could be installed, as well as designing and constructing a wooden housing for the pump and a new cement foundation. ‘In spite of serious obstacles which had to be overcome, and hours and hours of manual labor, Roger, in his usual determined, quiet way, with very little help from anyone, successfully completed the project so that, once again, passers-by may enjoy our lovely fountain,’ Graves wrote. Woods admits that though the Village Green still has some problems, such as trash and graffiti, he feels his work has been worthwhile. ‘The Green sort of represents the community’it’s nice to see residents sit and read the newspaper there.’ A board member of Temescal Canyon Association and the Sierra Club, Woods hikes every Tuesday with Sierra Club members and every morning with his two 3-year-old Saint Bernards, Mozart and Portia. ‘When I was practicing [medicine], I’d take a week or two in the summer and go backpacking and camping in the Sierras,’ says Woods, who earned his medical degree from UCLA in 1964. ‘Now I hike every week.’ An opera aficionado, he also attends local chamber music concerts and is currently taking a Shakespeare class and a contemporary drama class at Santa Monica Emeritus College.
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