After winning the top prize of $500 in a national competition, the Bloomington Affiliated Garden Clubs initiated a project in 1967 to beautify the then-developing city of Bloomington by creating a Japanese garden on the site of Normandale Community College. Today that space has become the serene and lovely Normandale Japanese Garden. Here Dave Kenney tells its story, which is one of tireless determination, creative daring, community involvement, technical expertise, artistic vision and a lot of hard work. Forty years ago the landscape where the garden now stands was a sodden marsh. But the presence of water was just what the gardens founders were looking for, and a chance reference brought an eminent Japanese landscape architect, Takao Watanabe, into the project. Local contractors, truck drivers, engineering firms, and other businesses chipped in generously, and the labor and insights of the Bloomington Garden Club provided the continuing impetus behind the gardens development.