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Community Corner

Japanese Garden's Perennial Favorite

Volunteer docent Brian Scanlon got back to his teaching roots by leading visitors through the tranquil Woodley Park site.

For volunteer docent Brian Scanlon, the Japanese Garden at Woodley Park is a lot like life.

“There are different pathways, and as we walk through the garden the different paths invite us to go different ways,” Scanlon said. “Just like in life—we have decisions to make as we go through life and we are constantly choosing different paths.”

Scanlon’s life seems to have come full circle. The 67-year-old Encino resident started out with plans to become a teacher, but his life took another path for a while and it is only now, in his retirement years, that he has been able to fulfill that ambition.

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“I was trained to be a teacher, even though I never taught. There were no jobs available for me when I got through school, so I became a software engineer instead of a teacher,” Scanlon said.

While he was working in Washington, DC, Scanlon noticed the docents guiding tourists in the various museums of the Smithsonian Institution, and that’s when he realized what he wanted to do when he retired. Now he volunteers his time as a docent at the Japanese Garden and at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino.

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“I like teaching, and I like presenting information to people, so I guess I’m kind of going back to my roots,” he said.

Scanlon likes the fact that the Japanese Garden is meant to be experienced slowly with something new behind every curve.

“This garden is meant for you to stroll through and have it be a continuous discovery,” Scanlon said. “As you go through, you’re going to see different things from different angles. Some things will go out of sight as you round a curve, but then a new thing will come into play. It’s like a little microcosm of the world.”

Scanlon said he gets a lot of satisfaction from educating people about the history and cultural significance of the garden.

“People come through here and they don’t know anything about it, and I’m able to tell them the roots of how this garden came into being and what it represents to the Japanese culture. When they understand that at the end of a tour, that gives me a general sense of satisfaction,” he said.

Scanlon is one of the Japanese Garden's best and most reliable docents, according to Garden Coordinator Betty Ethridge.

“He’s fabulous. We get a lot of compliments on Brian, saying how informative his tours are," Ethridge said. "He gives a great presentation and he really makes it interesting. He seems to get a lot out of doing it as well.”

One of the principles of the Japanese Garden is tranquillity, and Scanlon enjoys how peaceful and calm it is, even as he strolls through the garden with a large tour group.

“You leave your problems outside the gate, and you go inside and you enter another world and just forget about all your problems for a little while, while you’re in the garden,” he said.

The Japanese Garden will be closed for repairs to pathways through Aug. 28. To reserve a tour once the garden reopens, call 818-756-8166 or visit thejapanesegarden.com.

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