“In the year it took us to complete our proposal and complete our Gold Award project, the face of the Niles community changed visibly. Joe’s Corner, and first established in the early 1900s, was reopened and then closed again. The Mission Adobe Garden Center closed as well, carrying on the struggle for business and arable land that had begun in the 1870s when the California Nursery was first established. It is a losing fight; each decade, the nursery’s acreage diminishes, and with it, a piece of history. The old Shuckl Corporation building was partially burned down in May 2008, and torn down completely in June 2009. The local history archives, available in the Alameda County library and consisting of newspaper clippings dating back to the mid-1800s, are growing.

The landscape is changing.

It is changing, has been changing, and will continue to do so. There is no stopping time. All we can do is hope that our vision and our actions as community members directs those changes such that Niles businesses like the Mission Adobe Garden Center and Joe’s Corner can continue to compete in a changing marketplace, but never lose sight of their historic roots and sense of place. Because like so much else–fossil fuels, undeveloped land–histories are things that cannot be replaced.

Our project provides one of a thousand ways the Niles community endeavors to protect its history and its future. Alone, perhaps, our project is of minimal report–but so is everything else. Alone, perhaps, our project reaches only as far and accomplishes only as much as two girls are capable of on their own. But with its inclusion in the broadscape of things, with it comes an awareness of how quickly the world will change, and how important it is to preserve both our culture and our environment. It is a taste and a wake-up call, and a call to action more than anything.”

Mika and MeganGirl Scout Troops 32830 and 32028