Hello VISTA mates,
A huge thank you to everyone who participated in our 2nd annual Fall Festival. Through teamwork, we were able to produce a successful event.
Special thanks to Bill and Marty for their help readying the garden; Jen and Leah for event planning and on-site coordination; Corinna, Ann, Rolfe, Becky, Becca and Ron at the welcome table; Terrisa, Marilyn and Jamie for delivering a yummy lunch and Blake West and George Pennington for providing the musical entertainment.
The kids loved the games hosted by Gail, Rutger and Geraldine, face painting with Suparna and Teresa and pot painting with MJ and Paula.The hens and ducks were also a big hit thanks to Lynn and her daughter.
Josh, Marilyn and Hugh headed up the compost education, demonstrating its role as the backbone of our garden.
Rick and Gordon did a great job managing a challenging parking situation.
Ingrid Hayes of Smoke and Eternal Fire Photography took almost 400 event pictures and they will be posted soon to Facebook and the VISTA website. We thank her for her generous time and contribution.
Many amazing members answered the call and made cookies or loaned items like tables, chairs, coolers and tents. You helped overcome a challenging situation.
We could not have held this event without the support of our exhibitors and sponsors. Thank you Carrollwood Cultural Center, particularly Aaron Washington, for supporting this event and for everything you do for VISTA throughout the year. Thank you David (Whitwam Organics), Zack and Bianca (Urban Roots), Lucy (Wild Birds), Richard (Beekeeper), Dawn and Kayla (Carrollwood Park Conservancy) and Bruce (Wilcox Nursery and Landscape). Both your exhibits and generous raffle donations are greatly appreciated. A big thank your goes to Ryan at Greenacre Properties for his generous cash donation to the garden's operating fund.
Special recognition goes to Dara (Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza) for providing 500 delicious chicken wings and Anita (EVOS) for the chicken tenders platters. The generous teams at Papa John's and Jet's Pizza stepped up to ensure our volunteers were well fed at the post event gathering.
And last, but FAR from least, a HUGE thank you to the team who put in the hard work to produce a terrific raffle - Caroline, Daun, Peggy and Laurie... Bravo!
In addition to the raffle contributions from our generous exhibitors there were many other businesses that made the raffle successful. Thank you Carrollwood Country Club, Publix, The Melting Pot, Time Customer Service, Kashi, Edible Arrangements, Title Boxing Club, Sacred Pepper, Whole Foods, Marlow's Tavern, Wild Birds Unlimited, Bonefish Grill, Outback Steakhouse, Carmel Cafe and the individual community members who donated raffle baskets.
When visiting our local donors, please let them know you are a VISTA member and thank them for supporting the garden!
Thank you again to everyone who worked on this event. Thie Fall Festival is a huge undertaking for a 100% volunteer community and we appreciate every participating member for contributing their time and resources.
Sincerely,
Barb
VISTA Board of Directors - Marketing
