GARDEN FILLED WITH MEMORY OF ERNIE.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

SHERMAN OAKS - There comes a time every year when the new people moving into the neighborhood will stop one of the old-timers on the street, and ask them who Ernie was.

Why is there a city plaque marked Ernie's Walk on this quarter-mile stretch of L.A. River land in Sherman Oaks, where kids play and residents walk their dogs on a trail along the north side of the river, between Kester and Cedros avenues?

Who was Ernie La Mere anyway, and why did the city think he was important enough to warrant a plaque in his honor almost a decade ago?

If he's around, which he often is, Ernie's grandson, Rick Schoonover, or one of the longtime neighbors who knew Ernie well, like Susan Haugland, will fill them in.

Tell them the story of this special man who turned a neighborhood garbage dump into a magical community garden before he died in 1995 at age 84.

``Ernie was definitely a trailblazer, the first individual to adopt a section of the river embankment to landscape and maintain himself,'' said Maria Lopez, project manager for the Los Angeles River Master Plan, which is part of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works.

``After he died, his grandson took responsibility for maintaining it,'' she added.

With a lot of help from neighbors, Schoonover is quick to add - sharing the credit for keeping his grandfather's dream alive.

``He was worried before he died that no one would take care of the garden after he was gone, but we have,'' Schoonover said Monday, cleaning up some weeds that had been pulled over the weekend along Ernie's Walk.

``The whole neighborhood has chipped in, and I think my grandfather would be very proud today of what he started a decade ago,'' he added.

Turning a garbage dump into a magical garden.

Joy Spain would watch her father come walking up the block with his dog, Tippy - Ernie mumbling to himself and shaking his head.

``I knew someone had probably dumped another old washing machine or some other junk in the river,'' she said Monday, holding Tippy as she watched her son and some neighbors clean up Ernie's Walk.

The terrier is 25 now, she says - blind, deaf and feeble, but still breathing.

``It would make dad so angry because he always maintained his garden and home beautifully. He hated to look at the river and see all that junk dumped there.''

Pretty soon, Ernie had made a deal with the city. If the Department of Public Works hauled out the trash, he'd take care of the rest with his natural green thumb.

``He would go to the local nursery and pick up the old plants they were throwing away, and nurse them back to life - planting them on his walk,'' Schoonover said.

Pretty soon, the neighborhood began to take notice, and Ernie would find plants left in his front yard by neighbors for him to plant along the river.

``The first five years he had to carry the water in buckets down the 10- foot embankment to the river fence where he planted the flowers because there was no other water available, but then the city put in some water for him,'' Schoonover said.

Before long, Ernie was adding to his trail garden. Chairs for people to sit and read, or sun themselves. Play areas for the kids, including an old Boot Hill Graveyard, complete with tombstones.

``Every holiday, he'd decorate it for the kids,'' Spain said. ``Dad really knocked himself out. It just got more and more involved.

``After awhile, the neighbors began to help him pick up the trash and maintain the walk,'' she added.

When Ernie died in 1995, it was only natural that his memorial service would be held by the plaque on Ernie's Walk.

More than 200 people showed up to say goodbye to the man who worked so hard to beautify some trash-strewn property along a dry river bed in their neighborhood.

Turn a garbage dump into a magical garden.

That's who Ernie La Mere was and why the city gave him a plaque.

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Photo:

Rick Schoonover, with his grandfather's dog, Tippy, takes a break from cleaning up an area of the L.A. River Ernie La Mere took under his thumb. Neighborhood residents have helped maintain the quarter-mile section dubbed Ernie's Walk in Sherman Oaks.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer