The first completed panel near the corner of Auburn Boulevard and Cobalt Way identifies Auburn Boulevard as part of the original U.S. 40 and features a red and white milepost sign with a guidepost marker. Photo by Thomas J. Sullivan

CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - The city of Citrus Heights is welcoming volunteers to help paint the new Auburn Boulevard community mural starting at Cobalt Way on Saturday, Sept. 12 and Sunday, Sept. 13. Located on a 50-foot portion of a residential block, the mural will help beautify a soundwall that for years has deserved some special attention and care.

The first completed panel near the corner of Auburn Boulevard and Cobalt Way identifies Auburn Boulevard as part of the original U.S. 40 and features a red and white milepost sign with a guidepost marker set against blooming orange poppies that the city of Sacramento is just 14 and a half miles away.

The mural project is being coordinated by Citrus Heights Arts with participating private property owners and the city of Citrus Heights.

When the new “Welcome to Citrus Heights” themed mural along Auburn Boulevard is at last finished, the splash of vibrant color will help reflect the deep pride its residents have in their city, and in their neighborhoods, said Gigi Rayford, executive director of Citrus Heights Arts.

Many Citrus Heights residents have noticed the poppies and colorful flowers planted in a bed running the length of the sound wall along busy Auburn Boulevard, but few know how they came to be planted, or the individual who planted them.

The city can thank Ron Ferns, a long-time resident and jogger whose personal decision to clean up trash and clutter along the length of his jogging route and then plant flowers from his garden has helped to beautify a heavily traveled route across the city.

“I’d like to thank all those people who stopped their walk or their cars to thank me,” Ferns said. “It really does make my day.”

Ferns said he is looking forward to the completion of the two-day mural project and the ongoing maintenance of the flowers he has nurtured with love and care.

“Sometime in the mid 1980’s I started jogging to improve my health,” Ferns said.

My new route took me down that portion of Auburn Boulevard and as I passed the sound wall, I noticed all the clutter there,” he said.

“At times I had to step out of the way to avoid broken glass or other debris, so I started to regularly take a plastic bag with each run and pick up trash.”

“It wasn’t long before I started thinking about planting flowers there. After trying several different kinds, I decided on the California state poppy,” he said.

“My first attempt was disastrous, because Sacramento County sprayed and killed them. I had to call them to get them to stop spraying them, which they eventually agreed to do.”

“And as time went on, I started planting other things along with the poppies, all from my back yard.  I now have brodiea, amaryllis, Iris, Dutch Iris, freesias and scillas planted there,” he said.

Since Ferns has been maintaining the flower bed along the length of the soundwall, three motorists have driven into it, he said, requiring the property owners behind the wall to restore the hole left behind by each crash. 

Two turkeys and one duck also decided to make a nest in the flowers, he recalled.

Throughout the years Ferns said he has worked closely with Armando Velasquez of the city’s construction and maintenance department which has provided truckloads of bark for weed abatement.

Volunteers who signed up to paint on Saturday, Sept. 12 and Sunday, Sept. 13 should check their email for important information and next steps, Rayford said.

“Orangevale now has a bright, new colorful mural along Greenback Lane to welcome visitors to their community and I can’t wait for ours to be finished,” Rayford said.

The non-profit Citrus Heights Arts is dedicated to enriching the cultural fabric of the city by promoting creativity, connection and accessibility through the arts.

Citrus Heights Arts has also partnered with Orangevale-Fair Oaks Arts (OVFO) which is working on similar civic murals in Orangevale and Fair Oaks sharing ideas, designs and engaging a network of muralists across the three communities, Rayford said.

For more information about Citrus Heights Arts, visit: www.citrusheightsarts.org or email: [email protected].