Submitted by Jayne Stokes
The most often heard phrase of the day was “This is great! I hope you will you do it again next year.” The inaugural Hoosick Blooms Garden and Farm Tour is in the books as a resounding success. Saturday, July 21 was a perfect day for the more than 130 avid gardeners who flocked to Hoosick Falls to visit six gardens and farms in and around the Village for the first-time event. The proceeds from Hoosick Blooms provide the first matching funds raised in support of the $150,000 Main Street Grant awarded in December 2017 to CiviCure for renovations to its historic Wood Block Building at 1-5 Main Street. CiviCure must raise $50,000 to secure this 3/1 match which will go first and foremost to re-roofing the former Opera House and securing the envelope of the 1880 structure.
For the event, CiviCure, working with event co-chairs Kelly Brown and Marianne Zwicklbauer, had amazing support from the community including many volunteers and all the gardeners who welcomed so many to their beautiful, verdant homes. Huge thanks go to the Brown Family at Clay Hill Farm, Marianne Zwicklbauer and family at Belden Farm, Deborah Rimkunis, Chris Sherman, Connie Kheel at The Barns of Nipmoose and Tom and Joann Vallone. Wendy Hollender, an award-winning botanical illustrator, donated her time creating artworks in the gardens as well as offering a slide presentation on the history of botanical art in the German barn at Nipmoose.
A bountiful basket raffle was won by Sylvia Plasse, an assistant at Cheney Library. The garden tote was overflowing with goods and gift certificates from Brown’s Brewing and Kelly Brown, Clear Brook Farm, Fog Hill and Company, Hobson’s Choice Greenhouse, Wendy Hollender, Iron Coffee, Maggie’s Beauty Shop, Mount Anthony Country Club, The Yoga Place and Marianne Zwicklbauer. A bottle of maple syrup made and contributed by Belden Farm was in a beautiful bottle etched with a maple tree. CiviCure thanks everyone who contributed to the basket and to all who attended and supported this wonderful event.