16th Garden & Arts Tour A Success

Dear Editor,

The 16th Garden and Arts Tour presented by the Flower Lovers Garden Club of Crawfordsville was a success; the weather cooperated, the gardens were lush and beautiful and the attendance was great. Thank you to those who purchased tickets and visited each of the nine gardens and Athens Arts Gallery. This year, the gardens were diverse, offering unique ideas on flower beds for sun and shade and had interesting features throughout. Thank you to all who made this event a successful and memorable one. We are especially grateful to the homeowners who offered to showcase their beautiful gardens for all the community to see and enjoy. Thank you to Diana and Don Gould, Karen and Byron Thada, Lori and Kevin Holt, Dianne and Bill Combs, Mary Lou Dawald and Ronald Scholz, Lori and Richard Chadd, Marta and Ralph Corey, Sandy and John Tidd as well as to Jill Matthews and the Lane Place.  A special thank you to the Athens Arts for being the “bonus stop” on the tour and to Kenya Ferrand-Ott for doing a live acrylic painting demonstration at the gallery.

Many individuals from our wonderful Crawfordsville community helped support the tour. Thank you to the participating artists whose added attractions were featured and admired in the gardens: painting by Kathy Houghton, painting by Elli Jeffries, music by Kenn Clark and Ryan Foxworthy, music by harpist Taylor Mermound, rock painting by BJ Parry, stained glass by Margie Colgan and Mary Lou Dawald, artisan in residence. An additional feature at one of the gardens was the plant sale & seed giveaway; thank you to all who purchased plants.

We greatly appreciate the businesses who sold tickets for us: ProGreen Garden Center, Davidson Greenhouse & Nursery, Milligan’s Flowers & Gifts, Country Hearts & Flowers, Just Because … Flowers, Gifts and More, Athens Arts Gallery, Crawfordsville District Public Library and Montgomery County Visitors & Convention Bureau.

Engraved stepping stones were presented to each garden owner for their participation in the event. Thank you to Scott Young of Ladoga for designing and creating these keepsakes. Thank you to Town & Country Homecenter for printing the posters, tickets and rack cards. Thank you to Dennis Furr for building a beautiful unique birdhouse and to Elli Jeffries for donating one of her paintings; both items were available for patrons to take chances on to win.

Congratulations to Dawn Perry, winner of the painting and to Karen McFall, winner of the birdhouse.

Thank you to the Journal Review and The Paper of Montgomery County for publishing weekly articles featuring information regarding the event and the featured gardens.

Last, but not least, thank you to the Flower Lovers Garden Club members who donated their time to organize the event and help the homeowners showcase their attractive gardens.

The Flower Lovers Garden Club appreciates the support of our wonderful community in making the 2023 Garden & Tour such a fun and memorable event.

Priscilla Zachary

Flower Lovers Garden / Art committee 2023