Thank you, Durango, for supporting the Garden Club of Durango! Because of generous support from the community and the enthusiastic gardeners who attended the sale, our yearly plant sale was a success again this year.
We thank the city of Durango for its continued support of the Garden Club; supplying tents, tables and traffic barriers, and allowing us to use the area at Santa Rita Park for the sale. La Plata County Fairgrounds generously allowed us to use their parking area to organize plants on Friday afternoon before the sale. The Animas Museum provided an accessible, storage area for supplies for club members. Additional thanks goes to The Durango Herald and community radio stations for the all-important publicity before the sale.
We also appreciate our club members, active and inactive, who donate plants and volunteer time, energy and supplies for the sale. Also, Carol Ozaki generously donated plants from her private gardens. The yearly plant sale is the club’s only fundraiser, with proceeds used to support our community beautification projects at the rose, perennial, bluestar, iris and pergola gardens at Santa Rita Park and Arbor Day tree planting.
Thank you again, Durango, for the continued support of the Garden Club. We invite the community to stop at Santa Rita Park and enjoy the gardens just north of the playground, where flowers bloom from spring to autumn.
Debbie Williams and Margaret Wanner, Garden Club plant sale chair members
June 10, Durango Cowboy Poetry Gathering hosted its barn dance in Rotary Park. The event was planned as a casual afternoon with food, friends and good music from the Tim Sullivan Band. We also decided to put out donation boxes for the Community Emergency Relief Fund.
Attendance at the dance was not as good as past years. However, we had guests from England, a couple from Texas who had been evacuated from their summer home, wranglers from Rapp Corral who had to move their horses to safer ground twice and many other people – from working cowboys to music lovers.
There is a reason cowboys have “gatherings.” A shared experience helps heal. Our barn dance gave a lot of relief to many people. Plus, we raised $450 for the Emergency Relief Fund. Special thanks to all who attended the event, the Durango Veterans of Foreign Wars and Pamela Jacobs and Bill Lambert, the board members who organized the event. And a very special thanks to all the firefighters putting on a heroic battle against the fire.
Linda Mannix, Durango Cowboy Poetry Gathering coordinator
