Ronald Lee Fleming Knihy

The Johnson Center There is no question; it takes a village to raise a child. Back in the day the entire neighborhood was involved in your life and people didn't mind stepping in for your parents. But times have changed and if you tried to check a youth of today that you didn't know personally there may be problems. This book is about a Southern California Community Center located in the city of Rialto where the game of basketball was played for all to see. Area youths playing basketball at the Johnson Center became the common denominator that knitted its residents together. The Johnson Center, aka "The Proving Ground" gave identity and purpose to many area youths. The Johnson Center also gave area youths a place to belong and call their home away from home. Three men (Albert Brodie, Delano Fleming, and Ronald Fleming) came together to form a non profi t youth organization; The Grill Youth Clinics. The Grill Youth Clinics was designed to teach area youths how to play basketball the right way. And the secondary purpose of "The Grill Youth Clinics" was to teach area youth life lessons through sports. And it is because of "The Grill Youth Clinics" that I have friends for life who were once children in my program.

This is the story of a garden, Bellevue House, in Newport, Rhode Island, that speaks to us about history and memory, inspiration and motivation.