By David F. Rooney The third Garden & Art Tour, a brilliant collaboration between the Local Food Initiative, the North Columbia Environmental Society and the Revelstoke Visual Arts Society, was held on Saturday, July 25, and was a huge success. About 100 people — 75 adults plus children — people took the self-guided tour and attended the post-tour party at the Visual Arts Centre for the inauguration of the Local Food Initiative’s new Community Garden. Here are some photos — and a video of the party — from the event: Well-known gardening fan Bob Gardali admires the healthy crop at the Community Garden by the United Church on Saturday, July 25 This was the city’s first Community Garden; the newest was officially opened on Saturday at the conclusion of the 2015 Garden and Art Tour. This year’s tour was the third organized by the North Columbia Environmental Society and the Visual Arts Society. David F. Rooney photo Painter Tina Lindegaard (left) talks with Miriam Manley at Kristina Metzlaff’s home on Railway Avenue — the second stop on the 2015 Garden and Art Tour. David F. Rooney photo Michael Brooks-Hill talks with Kristina Metzlaff about her success as a gardener. David F. Rooney photo Karilyn Kempton and Simon Wex’s garden was all a-buzz on Saturday as garden and art fans were greeted by bee hives in the backyard of their Moss Street home. David F. Rooney photo Karilyn (right) talks with friends beside one of her unusual cops — quinoa. Those are the tall plants in the foreground that look rather like pigweed. David F. Rooney photo Madison Hutchinson poses with one of his paintings on display in Karilyn’s garden. David F. Rooney photo Geordie Knoess has a growing reputation as a stained-glass worker, which he clearly displayed in the garden of the Oscar Street home he shares with painter Barbara Maye. David F. Rooney photo Barbara and Geordie’s home was also a place for adventurous spirits like Anita Hallewas and her daughter. David F. Rooney photo Of all the things growing in their garden, the grapevines wending their way up this trellis is by far Barbara’s favourite. David F. Rooney photo Pauline Hunt talks about gardens and art with Sarah Harper in the backyard of Sara’s and Stu Smith’s house on Track Street East. David F. Rooney photo Bruce Thomas’ artwork decorated the bar at Stu and Sarah’s place. David F. Rooney photo Stu and Sarah are locally well-known garlic growers and this fall will sponsor the third Revelstoke Garlic Festival. David F. Rooney photo Garlic isn’t the only thing Sarah and Stu grow; there’s also their bed of artichokes, here receiving some close attention from Jackie James. David F. Rooney photo Here’s something else to anticipate: a variety of hot, HOT peppers lovingly tended by Stu. David F. Rooney photo Jim Cook and Sharon Kelley relax in the pavilion and admire the ceramics on display by Kaitlin Murphy of Jumping Creek Pottery in their garden on Second Street West. David F. Rooney photo Jim and Sharon’s garden is always ablaze with floral glory. David F. Rooney photo You can also find an interesting set of directions to Wonderland, too. David F. Rooney photo Haily Ross (right) talks with a friend in the backyard of her home on Front Street. David F. Rooney photo Artwork at Hailey’s home was provided by Jane Newman and photographer Zoya Lynch. David F. Rooney photo Lisa Feuz pauses by her bee balm which is — No surprise there! — extremely popular with the local bee population. David F. Rooney photo Jo Willems had a number of her painstakingly created works on display at Lisa and Terry Feuz’s house. David F. Rooney photo Cath Mather had a number of works on display at Michael and Jackie Morris’ home on Jordan Drive. This one, alas, was not a new work as Jackie had purchased it some time ago, but it does give you some idea of what her work is like. David F. Rooney photo Jackie loves berries and has thriving blackberry and blueberry plantations. All of the plants in her garden were selected because of the way they attract birds and insects. Avid bird watchers Jackie and Michael have spotted 27 species of birds in their yard. David F. Rooney photo Just as they do at Lisa’s the local been population love her bee balm. David F. Rooney photo The last garden on the tour was Diane Martin’s remarkable and very Zen-like rock garden. Here Diane (left) and Sharon Kelley suggest that I take a different route from the yard proper down the rock face she created with regular deliveries of rock by her sons. David F. Rooney photo Here’s another portion of the Diane’s rock garden on Copeland Drive. David F. Rooney photo These brilliantly red berries lend a dash of vivid colour to the muted tones of Diane’s carefully selected rocks. David F. Rooney photo Nicola McGarry installed Buddles of Love at Diane’s rock garden. Rather appropriate, I’d say. David F. Rooney photo The 2015 Garden & Art Tour concluded with a party at the Visual Arts Centre where Bruce Thomas (left, Simon Hunt and Stu Smith provided the tunes. You can see them perform in the video at the conclusion of this photo spread. David F. Rooney photo Local beer and some great wines were available and were a great accompaniment to to the pulled pork sliders barbecued by master chef Glen Cherlet of Begbie BBQ and Catering. David F. Rooney photo The Visual Arts Centre’s Jackie Pendergast and Ken Talbot were all smiles. And why not? The Centre’s collaboration with the North Columbia Environmental Society and the newly founded Local Food Initiative Society has been a smashing success. David F. Rooney photo Here’s a panoramic view of the party. Please click on the image to see it in full-size. David F. Rooney photo
