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Despite the weather not being ideal on Saturday, we had another wonderful tour this year! We sold a total of 128 tickets, which made for a constant stream of visitors throughout the day. We had had so many wonderful people working behind the scenes for months to bring it all together. Everyone’s contributions and outstanding efforts are very much appreciated.
Special thanks to Native Nurseries and Wild Birds Unlimited. Once again, they have graciously acted as our ticket outlets as well as promoted the event, and we couldn’t pull this off without them!
Our deep appreciation goes to our four outstanding yard hosts this year, who shared their homes and knowledge with friends and strangers. I have received many compliments on what wonderful and gracious hosts they all were, as well as how impressive their yards are. They truly went above and beyond!
While Karen and Randy Murrell have been in their home for only three years, you would never know it looking at their many native plantings, all off to a great start. They also have very active songbird feeding stations in the front and back yards, which included a wintering Ruby Throated hummingbird. They also have a beautiful water feature, installed especially for the birds to enjoy.
Rob Williams and Lynn Peterson’s wildlife sanctuary is very well established as they have been working on it since 1991. With feeding stations, countless native plants, brush piles, nesting boxes and butterfly host plants, there is no shortage of wildlife activity. Rob even displayed a slide show of all the different insects, birds and “critters” they have enjoyed finding in their yard over the years.
Annaliese Whipple’s yard offers a wonderful retreat for wildlife. Beautiful river rock paths guide you around the yard as you enjoy the pond, bird baths, feeding stations and plantings. Annaliese has frequently had wintering hummingbirds over the years, and I was lucky enough to enjoy seeing her rufous while I was there.
Ann Fry’s 15 acres in Monticello was well worth the drive. Starting in 2019 with untouched farmland, Ann has turned it into a wildlife paradise. Lots of gardens with plantings for birds and pollinators, feeding stations and a pond. All functional and very aesthetically pleasing. Her bird feeding station had constant activity during the drizzly day.
All four yards were so enjoyable and offered much inspiration as well.
My heartfelt thanks go to all our wonderful yard volunteers, too! They certainly helped the visitors have a friendly and informative visit, and we couldn’t do it without you. Our yard volunteers this year were Mike Gwiazdowski (double shift!), Ann Gwiazdowski, Juli deGrummond, James Carr, Kathleen Carr, Mike Tucker, Marilena, Donna Legare, Fran Rutkovsky, Sunny Phillips, Diane Quigg, and Judy Goldman.
With all the fun and success, we are already thinking about next year’s tour, so please keep it in mind if you know anyone who would be a good yard host or volunteer to be a part of this wonderful experience.
Again, my deepest thanks to all for your contributions, each one of you was a vital part to the enjoyment and success of this year’s tour!
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