When Beth Gillespie looks around the Gwynne Vaughan Park, she sees beyond the site’s historic trees and colourful perennials.
She sees the place where her favourite plant vendor will be on Saturday morning, to the east of the park’s pavilion. She envisions where the food vendors will set up, as always in the orchard. She points to fields and shady corners where green thumbs will find copper fountains, felted soaps, and beautiful paintings.
Gillespie was among a group of volunteers sprucing up the park this weekend, in preparation for the Gwynne Vaughan Park Society’s annual plant sale. The sale begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 3, and runs until 3 p.m. But Gillespie, like many others, will be there at the crack of dawn to ensure it all goes swimmingly.
This year’s sale will include the coveted brown-potted herbs, berry plants, potted roses, perennials, hostas, bulbs, rare plants, flowering plants, vegetable seedlings, maple trees, shrubs, pond plants, and more. For gardening “extras,” there will be botanical skincare, felt covered soaps, framed prints and photo cards, cement figures, bird feeders, plant stands, bird baths, garden angels, copper designs, cedar carvings, upcycled silverware, chandeliers, and small furniture.
This will be the 21st year that the society has held such a sale, and it’s the one major fundraiser they hold to help maintain the grounds, and the turn-of-the-century home that still sits there proudly. Adelaide Gwynne Vaughan lived most of her life in the house, at Williams and Hope River Road on Fairfield Island. The home and the land around it was saved from development by a keen group of neighbours and Vaughan (Bateman) herself.
In 1995, a society was formed with the purpose of preserving this gift to the city. And in the decades to follow, it’s been the site of many weddings, picnics, reunions, poetry readings, photography sessions, and countless other precious moments. It also serves as a location for a community garden, with 20 or so plots that are used and cared for by individuals.
The plant sale began two years later, in society member Glen Thelin’s backyard. Over the years, donations and proceeds from the sale have improved the park; they’ve added a washroom, a garden shed, fencing, signs, and even the covered pavilion and picnic tables.
But there’s always more to be done, and the plant sales continue.
Gillespie has been busy organizing the day, lining up vendors from near and far, entertainment, and a small force of volunteers.
“I can always use a few more of those,” she says.
Musicians for the day will be Otto Bjornson, Chilliwack Metropolitan Orchestra and Chilliwack Community Band, who will all play garden-appropriate music in the Rotary Pavilion. And the Rotary Club will also be there with their train, touring guests around the site.
The Fraser Valley Permaculture Guild will be on site as well, offering a fun and educations scavenger hunt for the young and young at heart. The Chilliwack Quilters Guild will have a booth and a charity quilt raffle, there will be a silent auction, and a plant sale by the parking lot with plants donated to the society.
Gillespie says the Strawberry Tea will be back, where visitors can enjoy some traditional strawberry shortcake and tea in the shade. And this year, coffee and baked goods will be sold by a group called Strangers Becoming Friends Across Nations. The group is fundraising to sponsor a Syrian refugee family.
Hot Dogs and beverages will be cooked and served by the PEO, who donates all their proceeds back to the GVPS. Shandhar Hut, another generous donor, will be on site selling food as well.
And while all the fun, food and entertainment makes the day enjoyable, the sale has substance, too. For those with serious gardening questions, there will be knowledgeable help at the master gardener’s booth. And the vendors on site are veteran gardeners with ample advice on how best to care for newly-acquired plants.
There will be “plant-sitters” volunteering at the gate, so shoppers can continue on enjoying the park and sale without lugging around heavy plants.
Admission is free, and parking is available in the back field.
For more info on the park visit www.gwynnevaughanpark.ca.
