Editor's note: Since the publication of this letter, Marguerite Garrick has announced her withdrawal from the Ward 1 race because of health concerns.

Dear Ward One Neighbors,

I am very pleased to announce that I am running for the office of Alderman in Clayton's Ward One. My family has lived and raised their children in Ward One for 50 years. I grew up on Aberdeen Place, lived on Northwood for several years during college, and moved back to Aberdeen place in 2000.Though I moved to Washington, D.C. after college, I made many visits home every year and kept up with what was happening. 

We moved back for my mother, so she could stay in her home as long as possible and bought a house a block away. Our children were starting 10th grade and Kindergarten when we came back to Clayton. Our oldest, Priscilla graduated from Clayton High in 2003, and Amanda, who is now a Junior at Clayton High has had 11 perfect years in the Clayton Schools. Priscilla now works at Clayton's Family Center and is getting her Masters in Counselling. She's married to Tim Greenwood and they live in St. Louis. Amanda is just beginning to look at colleges.

Clayton is such a wonderful City and it's been my great pleasure to be involved with the terrific schools my girls have attended. I served on the Captain PTO for several years and was PTO Co-President in 2005-2006. I joined the Wydown PTO as well and served as Co-President in 2007-2008. I then was asked to become Co-President of The PTO Council and served in that role for two years. 

As a resident of Clayton, I am very proud of all the work our Mayor Linda Goldstein and the Board of Alderman have done in the last few years to make Clayton a greener more sustainable community. During the last 11 years I have also been involved with local conservation issues. In 2004 I conceived, organized, fund raised for and co-founded The Forest Park BioBlitz, a 24 hour biological inventory of the entire park. With my Co-Chair, Valerie Vartanian from the Missouri Botanical Garden and many of my dear friends, we scheduled 90 biologists and 300 volunteers on forays into the park to gather all manner of information. We hoped to create a biological baseline for the future management of the beautifully restored park, and the information gathered at the subsequent BioBlitz in 2006 confirmed that.

I also have been working hard to raise peoples awareness of the environmentally damaging effects of invasive plants. About 5 years ago Family Center then Director Lori Geismar Ryan asked me to help her restore the health of the 3 acre patch of woods that adjoins the Center. The Nature Trail as it's called was choked with invasive Bush Honeysuckle and Euonymous, I asked the City of Clayton if they could help us, and along with the School District, the Department of Parks and Recreation has been immensely helpful as a partner in this restoration process, with loyal volunteers from the Family Center, the High School,and the community moving mountains of brush and debris out of the woods.

Clayton's strength is it's great neighborhoods. I have been very involved with my Hillcrest neighborhood since moving back to Clayton. I have been President of the Hillcrest Homeowner's Association for the last 10 years, improving communications with the neighbors by having the first email list created, keeping our neighborhood traditions like our 4th of July Parade running strong, and recruiting new volunteers to perpetuate and in some cases reinvent our community events.

I feel well qualified to take on the task of Alderman for Ward One, and am really looking forward to meeting as many of my Ward One neighbors as I can in the next nine weeks.

Sincerely,
Marguerite Garrick