Ellen Wyrick-Parkinson, an active West Oakland resident for more than 50 years, is this year's Oakland Mother of the Year.

Wyrick-Parkinson, inducted Saturday at a ceremony held at the Morcom Municipal Rose Garden, is the latest in a long line of honorees going back to 1954. All previous winners receive invitations to be on hand to accept the newest member into the fold, said event organizer Anne Woodell. A half dozen of the winners still in the area were expected to be present at Saturday's festivities.

Naomi Schiff, herself a Mother of the Year in 2006, was pleased to support Wyrick-Parkinson's nomination.

"Ellen and I have worked together often in the past on various issues in her Oak Center neighborhood," said Schiff. "Like so many of the honorees from past years, Ellen is a mother not only to her own children and grandchildren, but to her community family as well."

A letter from the board of the Oakland Heritage Alliance acknowledged her "long, persistent, dedicated and farseeing advocacy for the preservation of her historically and culturally valuable neighborhood," which she helped save from indiscriminate demolition during the redevelopment era of the 1970s and '80s.

"Along the way she helped Oaklanders recognize their great inheritance of 19th-century housing stock in one of the oldest parts of the city, and showed that urban renewal does not have to mean bleak housing projects that are doomed

As a result of the tireless work of Wyrick-Parkinson's and other residents, the Oak Center neighborhood was officially designated the city's largest historic district in 2003.

"Thirty years ago, entire blocks of historic homes in West Oakland were being razed for construction of the Cypress Freeway and other urban renewal projects," said Schiff. "Activists such as Ellen Wyrick-Parkinson fought to preserve the area's historic character. Her committee worked with the city's Planning Department and the Cultural Heritage Survey to conduct the painstaking and sometimes tedious research to document the history and the architectural records, block by block.

In all, 600 buildings and approximately 50 blocks encompass the official Oak Center Historic District.

"Ellen's own home is a tiny, but beautiful Victorian located amongst some of the most elegant 19th century collection of residences in the Bay Area," Schiff said. "Ellen's willingness to speak up on development and preservation issues even when on one wanted to listen has made an enormous difference in how Oakland looks today and in West Oakland's gaining a new sense of optimism and community spirit."

The rehabilitation of Raimondi Park and the restoration and reuse of the former Amtrak station on Wood Street are among the ongoing projects on Wyrick-Parkinson's short list these days. She also follows closely the ongoing debates on the former Oakland Army Base reuse proposals.

The boards, commissions and task forces she has served on are too numerous to count.

The Morcom Rose Garden was officially dedicated on May 10, 1934. Frank Morcom, for whom the garden is named, was Oakland's mayor during that period.

For a complete listing of all previous Mothers of the Year, visit the Parks and Recreation page of the city's Web site, www.oaklandnet.com/parks. The nomination forms for next year also are available online. For more information, call 510-238-7275.

Contact Annalee Allen at ldmksldy@aol.com.