‘Winding Way’ Revamped with UPCYCLE 2019

By JENNIKA INGRAM | Reporter

Winding Way—a small trail decorated by volunteers that accompanies the long-standing Palisades-Malibu YMCA pumpkin patch—takes a turn toward “awareness” with its new art installment this October.

The trail was started three years ago by the founders of Dollies Making A Difference, Dorothy Miyake and Cindy Simon, with Tracey Price of American Growers, a local landscaping company.

In 2017, they came up with the idea to create a nature trail on the unused area of Simon Meadow, the YMCA-owned, four-acre property resting at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains, Simon explained to the Palisadian-Post.

“We gathered volunteers and collected branches and twigs from landscaping projects and stuff they found among Temescal and repurposed them,” Price said. They added yarn, ribbon and string to create a “magical explosion of color.”

For 2019, they decided to pivot in a new direction for Winding Way to fit the current climate.

“The year’s theme of upcycle is completely new and fresh,” Price said. “We wanted to dive deeper into the dialogue of trash and recycling within our culture.”

While staying with the concept of nature, this year features an exploration on how what we call waste interacts with our environment.

For three months, volunteers collected mostly plastic trash or waste items to upcycle—the process of taking items we normally consider trash and turning it into something of enjoyment or beauty—or reuse.

“It’s a great way to reuse materials that already exist … and have fun making something to brighten your day,” the Winding Way team shared in a statement.

Volunteers gathered plastic items such as bags, bottles, caps, cutlery, as well as food service boxes and other waste found at beaches and parks.

“We reached out to different community groups to do collaborative painting,” Simon explained. Help came through the efforts of groups, such as Pali Teen Council, Mother’s Night Out on Bollinger Drive and their nonprofit DMAD, which came out to paint plastic bottles and turn them into flowers.

Others helped in additional ways, for instance: “Matt Rodman brought along his drill gun and power tools and helped with the handy work and installation of birdhouses, and some of the recycled wood,” Price said.

“As we worked on creating UPCYCLE 2019, it was impossible to ignore the incredible prevalence of plastic in our everyday lives,” according to the statement. “It caused us to be extra dedicated to recycling.”

They hope Winding Way inspires others to go home and have fun upcycling.

The walk is free and open to the public the same hours as the pumpkin patch: Monday to Friday, 3 to 6 p.m., and weekends from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through October 31. The patch is located on the corner of Temescal Canyon Road and Sunset Boulevard.