Once again, a wide array of flowers and quilts loaded with eye-catching hues are celebrated at Tracy Area Gardens & Quilts Tour
Alita Lenertz might be gone, but she certainly has not been forgotten — especially when the annual Tracy Area Gardens and Quilts Tour comes around.
Lenertz, who died just under a year ago at the age of 94, once asked how she could help out with the tour even though she wasn’t able to do much hands-on work because of her age.
The mission given to her was simple: Pray for good weather. And once again, Alita came through, as this year’s tour took place under ideal conditions.
“She felt bad because she couldn’t help,” said tour organizer Jolynn Johns. “I remember saying, ‘I’m going to give you an important job — pray for good weather. Of course, she was a prayer warrior, and she said, ‘Well, I can do that.’ I always had to give her credit.
Johns and Elise Lanoue are two of the people who are the muscle behind the ever-popular event that draws people from hundreds of miles away. And, like the others, they woke up last Wednesday morning to rain and dark clouds, there was no avoiding the thought of having to put the rain date into effect.
“Five-thirty it was raining, and I’m like, ‘Oh dear God, please!,’” said Lynn Verlinde. “But it ended up just cloudy, and it was perfect.”
By the time the tour started, the early-morning storm was just a wet memory. Even without bright sunshine, workers were more than pleased with how the day turned out, as the muggy, heavy weather was replaced by something much more tolerable. That weather has returned this week, so it’s clear Alita continues to look out for her friends.
“I think she created the day,” said Lanoue.
The tour is sponsored by the St. Mary’s CCW. Stops this year were Sheila and Mike Holland; Janna and Marc Milbradt; Terry and Tom Rothmeier; Teresa and Bob Liesenfeld; and Kim and Scott Ruppert. Maps with information about each tour stop were made available.
“I enjoy all the gardens — the flowers, and the plants,” said Arlene Williams of Tyler, who was touring with her friend, Pam Bush. “I don’t garden as much as I used to because I’m getting too old … it’s a lot of work.”
Williams jokes that her thumb is more black than green, but her passion for gardening is strong, so she appreciates all that goes into large gardens.
“I know how much work goes into it,” she said. “A lot of work. And I just like to see what they do with the different flowers; you can do millions of different things.”
Verlinde is a long-time quilter and enjoys the blend of quilts and flowers that are offered up at the annual tour.
“I’m a quilt lover, others are garden lovers — you put the two together and it’s just magical how you can get all the colors to pop,” Verlinde said.
At Key Largo, St. Mary’s pies and ice cream were served, and Joni Lowe gave demonstrations on the stripology quilting technique. What happened indoors beautifully complemented what was happening outside.
“There are people who look for this stuff,” Verlinde said. “I ask everyone, ‘Which one was your favorite garden,’ and they honestly couldn’t tell me this year. That says something.”
This year’s tour brought 328 guests. They came from everywhere, too — from the Twin Cities area to the east, to numerous South Dakota cities to the west, to Iowa from the south, and from Grand Forks, ND, to the north.
Raffle winners included Gusty Gilbertson of Walnut Grove (garden bench and pillow); Lois Timm of Granite Falls (a hosta donated by Jesse James); Rebecca O’Heran of Inver Grove Heights (quilt and tote); and Cherry Klasse of Benson (St. Mary’s Pie certificates).
Johns, Verlinde and Lanoue are joined on the tour committee by Carol Buyck, Denise Weedman and Therese VanNevel.
“Our committee cannot do this without all the help that we get,” Johns said.
“For us, this isn’t just a parish, it’s a community,” Lanoue added. “We can’t do it without everyone — all the hosts, none of them are our parishioners.”
