'Gardener's Christmas' event coming up in Fort Scott

Saturday, March 19, 2011

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- The growing season is approaching and staff at Tri-Valley Developmental Services are making plans for an event held every two years that is popular with many local gardening enthusiasts.

The Gardener's Christmas event is scheduled to take place from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, March 26, at the TVDS Service Center, 4305 Campbell Dr. The main component of the event will be a silent auction of items related to gardening, including flowers, plants, gardening and interior design accessories, books on related topics, and several other items from vendors across the United States.

Some unique items that will be available include ergonomic gardening tools and specialty fertilizers, TVDS Horticultural Therapist Barbara McCord said.

Another part of the event is a flower market which will feature several different types of flowers available for sale at different price ranges. A new feature of the event will be an area that McCord said she calls a "compost bin for recycling" that will include recycled items "people can buy outright."

The Gardener's Christmas will also include a free gardening seminar featuring guest speaker Richard Mattson, a professor of horticulture at Kansas State University. The seminar is scheduled to begin about 10:30 a.m. the day of the event.

A bake sale during the event will raise funds for a group of clients at the center who have formed an advocacy group that join other clients from across Kansas to travel to Topeka each year in April and meet with state legislators to discuss issues affecting people with developmental disabilities, McCord said.

All auction proceeds will go toward the center's horticulture therapy program. Staff and clients in the program make use of a 2,160-square-foot greenhouse complex that was built near the Fort Scott facility in 2008. The greenhouse also offers various plants and flowers wholesale to some local retail outlets and civic organizations.

The greenhouse was built to provide clients and staff with a year-round horticultural therapy program, and because the program was growing too large for its previous location. The program provides clients with outdoor therapy and experience for possible job options in the horticulture field. Clients are also able to exercise, learn about teamwork, patience and the satisfaction that comes with nurturing.

The greenhouse replaced a smaller facility that clients and staff could only use a few months each year. It was built by students involved in the construction trades program at Fort Scott High School.

About 50 people attended the 2009 Gardener's Christmas event. McCord said the event raised more than $5,000 in 2007 -- the first year of the event. She anticipates about 150-200 people will attend this year's event and hopes to raise enough money to match funds raised in 2007.

The local Tri-Valley service center is located inside the Fort Scott Industrial Park just south of Fort Scott and then east of U.S. Highway 69.

The Gardener's Christmas is free of charge to attend and open to the public. Attendees may preview auction items starting at 9:30 a.m. Bidding will begin at 10 a.m.

For more information, contact TVDS at (620) 223-3990.

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