The Tracy Area Gardens & Quilts Tour is headed back out to Lake Shetek.
Tour stops this year are Sheila and Mike Holland; Janna and Marc Milbradt; Terry and Tom Rothmeier; Teresa and Bob Liesenfeld; and Kim and Scott Ruppert. Maps for the tour will be made available, along with information about each stop.
“Marc is getting up there in years, but he just loves to show off his gardens,” said Jolynn Johns, one of the tour organizers. “This year, he has over 600 hostas on display — and all labeled!”
Featured quilts include those made by Lori Head, Cindy Schuler, Cindy Larson, Janna Milbradt, Lynn Larson and Patriotic Pieces Quilts of Valor.
“We pull in people from the Cities, North Dakota, South Dakota, some from Iowa — it’s just a really nice variety of towns that come from all over,” said Jolynn Johns.
Johns’ garden was on the first tour in 2015, and the event has only gotten more popular since. It has proven to offer the perfect symbiosis of gardens, quilts and, of course, homemade St. Mary’s pies. “A lot of gardeners and quilters, and I think it’s the draw of the color connection and the creativity that draws people to do both,” said Johns. “I love putting the colors together and see how they turn out in the garden and on the material. I think it’s a good marriage.”
Johns doesn’t do all the work alone. Jesse James played a big role when the tour was associated with the Tracy Kiwanis Club; and Elise Lanoue joins Johns as one of the main organizers. Others getting their hands dirty include Denise Weedman, Lynn Verlinde, Teresa VanNevel and Carol Buyck.
“It takes a lot of people — the pie makers, people who park cars, the people who put posters around, the people that help hang quilts,” Johns said. “We’re talking over 50 people.”
The tour, sponsored by the St. Mary’s CCW, begins at 2 p.m., and St. Mary’s pie and ice cream will be served at Key Largo. Also, VanNevel has donated 15 potted hosta plants, which will be given away in drawings throughout the day as well, and Joni Lowe will be on hand to demonstrate the stripology quilting technique throughout the day, also at Key Largo.
“It’s a technique using a certain type of rule for cutting when you’re quilting,” said Johns. “She goes around the Upper Midwest showing this technique and others. She’s going to have a trunk show with the quilts she has done.” We try to do different things … it just gives an added feature to the whole event.”
Raffle prizes ($2 per ticket) include a 42-inch garden bench and pillow; a quilted tote; a 52”-by-52” quilt, hosta plants and St. Mary’s pie certificates.
Visitors will each receive a booklet that describes the gardens and quilts.
“Instead of putting all the information on a quilt, we’ll have it all in the (quilter’s) bio,” Johns said. “Hopefully, it’s less confusing.”
Tickets are $20 for all ages; ticket sales begin at 2 p.m. at the Lake Sarah Park, Valhalla Road and at each site.
“We have never had to totally cancel it; we’ve had a few rain showers maybe come in at the end of the tour, but we’ve always managed to survive,” said Johns, noting that the only year the tour didn’t take place was during the pandemic. “I remember a couple years ago we were by Currie, there were two ladies with their umbrellas who had come from Fargo; they were so happy we didn’t cancel it.”
Johns said one of the nicest things about the tour is the interaction between tour hosts and guests.
“The guests want to talk to them,” she said. “The guests can ask, ‘What kind of tree is this?’ or ‘What kind of plant is that?’
