On Saturday, April 14, the Heritage Centre atrium was filled with blooming colour and lively anticipation for the summer ahead. The first annual Garden and Outdoor Living Show, organized by Heritage Centre staff and Shirley Hoult of Communities in Bloom, is a fundraising event supporting greenspace initiatives around the community.
This year’s goal was to raise funds for the Heritage Gardens pavilion project, a 26-foot diameter structure designed to model Niverville’s original grain elevator built in 1879. The pavilion will be a focal point amidst the expansive gardens, providing a place for people to connect with their heritage through the use of storyboards and props such as stained-glass windows depicting Niverville’s history and wood salvaged from the original elevator.
“The pavilion will be used for community events including music, art, and drama in the gardens,” says Hoult. “It will be a wonderful addition and should encourage more [of the] community and external visitors to them.”
The total build cost of the structure is estimated at $75,000. Niverville Communities in Bloom has already received a very generous donation for the concrete pad from a local company.
While the Garden Show committee anticipated that they would raise $2,500 for the project, the final tally exceeded $4,000.
“The show was a huge success,” says Robert Manchulenko, Chief Officer of Hospitality and Support Services of the Niverville Heritage Centre. “[This] show was developed to benefit the community. The pavilion project was selected first, but we hope that the show continues to grow and future funds can be put back into the community to benefit other greenspace initiatives.”
There was no admission to this year’s event. Funds for the project were procured through the sale of vendor space, raffles, a silent auction, and food services on site. Around 450 people attended, browsing through a wide range of vendors selling their services and wares from nursery stock to tree services and barbecues to screened enclosures. People came from as far away as Morden and Selkirk for the show.
A huge hit at this year’s event were the many workshops held back-to-back throughout the day. Attendees could participate in a gardener’s yoga class; learn about orchids, succulents and wild edibles; create their own rain garden; and master the art of backyard composting and tree care.
“We were excited to see the support of the show,” Manchulenko says. “[The workshops went over] better than we anticipated. We had to have extra chairs brought in to the rooms.”
Special thanks, he says, go to the Town of Niverville, the Niverville Credit Union, and the Niverville Chamber of Commerce for their support of the event. As well to Shirley Hoult.
“She was instrumental in driving the show and donations,” he adds. “She is very community-minded and loved the idea of working to better greenspace in the town.”
Hoult says the timeframe for the pavilion build is dependent on funds raised, but with this fundraising effort they are well underway. Fundraising from the sale of benches, lamps, trees, and life celebration plaques in the gardens provides an ongoing way for people to participate in the project.
