Letter to the editor: A garden of thanks for all involved with the Georges River Land Trust watershed tour

Thu, 07/23/2015 - 10:00am

On Sunday, July 12, the Georges River Land Trust held its 24th annual Gardens in the Watershed tour in Thomaston, Warren and Cushing. It was a wonderful warm summer day! The Land Trust, as well as the gardeners, are grateful to the more than 500 patrons who came to the lower Georges River watershed to appreciate the amazing flower gardens, scenic ocean vistas and get a sneak peek at the progress at the future Langlais Sculpture Preserve.

There are so many people to thank, but most important are the gardeners who graciously opened their special places to us and without whom there would not have been a tour: Daria Peck's "Secret Garden" in Thomaston, the gardens of George Griggs and Susan Egerton Griggs in Warren, Kathleen Starrs and Gregory Moore's Heartfelt Farm and Hands and Knees Gardens, gardens of Phyllis and Wes Daggett and the Davis Point gardens of Peter Kukielski and Drew Hodges, all in Cushing. Their dedication, hard work and love of the land were evident in the rainbow of colors and amazing diversity of beauty we were all privileged to experience on the tour. We are indebted to them for their gracious hospitality and incalculable contribution to the Land Trust. Thanks also go to Peter Kukielski, whose talk on disease resistance in roses was a big hit, and to Rebecca Jacobs of Knox-Lincoln Soil and Water Conservation District, whose information on invasive species was informative and interactive – thank you both for enlightening and entertaining!

The First, N.A. and The First Advisors are our major sponsors for this event and we are grateful for their financial support and interest in our work. We are also very appreciative of the time and effort the First employees put into baking and selling 300 delicious cookies on tour day. The cookie proceeds added to the success of this year's tour! This year, we are also pleased to welcome Maine Home + Design magazine as our media sponsor for the event. We thank them and the nearly 50 other business and individual sponsors who generously helped to fund this event and support the mission of the Land Trust. We encourage everyone to patronize these wonderful businesses listed on the Land Trust website.

James Hatch and his staff at the Home Kitchen Café deserve our grateful thanks for preparing a record number — more than 230 — of delicious lunches for our hungry patrons. The sandwiches and cookies were delicious! Our nine local ticket outlets also helped spread the word and provide convenient locations for purchasing pre-event tickets — thank you for your help!

As always, volunteers on tour day kept things running smoothly, from helping park cars and directing traffic to taking tickets, handing out lunches, selling raffle tickets, showing off the unique features of the Langlais estate, and assisting the gardeners in various ways. We are grateful to the many volunteers who gave up a good part of their weekend to help us.

The Gardens in the Watershed tour is the largest annual fundraising event of the Georges River Land Trust and its success is crucial to our work of conserving ecosystems of the watershed and providing recreation and education opportunities for the public. It also introduces participants to the diversity and traditional character of the Georges River watershed as they travel from garden to garden.

And with deep gratitude, we recognize the members of the Garden Tour committee who have worked tirelessly all year to make this event successful: Leslie Fuller, Chair, Pat Ashton, Tracy Beck, Kathy Beck, Mary Ann Carey, Cheryl Feldpausch, Sydney Hall, Ginny Hibbard, Heidi Lyman, Hilary Matlack, Jane Rasmussen, Debbie Rogers and Judy Waterman. Please mark your calendars to join us for the 25th Annual Gardens in the Watershed tour on Sunday, July 10, 2016!

Gail Presley is executive director of Georges River Land Trust