Annual tour soon to bloom again Tracy-centric gardens & quilts tour is July 9 — and, of course, there will be pie
I t’s close to that time again, when gardens are blooming and quilts are swaying in the wind. The Tracy Area Gardens & Quilts Tour, sponsored by the St. Mary’s CCW, is scheduled for Wednesday, July 9, this year. The sites will be open from 2-7:30 p.m., with tickets set at $20 each. Drive-up ticket sales begin at 2 p.m. at The Caboose in Tracy and at each site. Advance tickets will not be sold. Tickets include St. Mary’s Pie and ice cream served at The Caboose.
This year is uniquely convenient for tour takers and volunteers alike, with all but one of the stops located in Tracy.
“It’s nice to have things in a concentrated area. We don’t have teams going seven, 10 miles apart,” said organizer Jolynn Johns.
And having 50-plus volunteers makes coordinating this growing event much easier.
The only stop outside of Tracy is BIG Roots Family Farm, which grows over 2,000 feet of flowers and opens its doors during the summer blooming season, allowing the public to pick their own flower bouquets. They also sell pre-arranged bouquets for bulk orders and special events.
Quilts made by Connie Anderson will be featured on the farm. Each garden in town also boasts its own unique features, and in total displays will number over 50 quilts.
The Blomme Family and the Heiderschiedt Family will have heritage quilts from their respective family collections on display, while various other quilters will showcase their creations.
Cinnamon Hen, the Tracy antique/home decor business owned by Nancy and Tom Dobson, will display the intricately-detailed quilts of Sharon Lenertz inside and outside the shop.
Ina and Harvey Rykhus are the owners of I&H Greenhouse, a local business that sells plants and other garden accents to area gardeners, and are also a unique stop on this year’s tour. Their garden is also home to some of Harvey’s woodworking projects, multiple of which will provide a perfect place to display quilts of all sizes.
Betsy and Seth Schmidt’s garden has been a recent passion project for the couple and will display quilts from the Blomme Family collection, as well as blooming roses. Beth and Brian Lanoue’s home on Front St. is the other stop on the tour.
As always, the tour will offer St. Mary’s Pies, this year being served at The Caboose. The special guest of this year’s tour, Cynthia Buchholz, will also be featured at this stop, demonstrating how she creates her barn quilts.
“We’re just hoping for a great sunny day!” Johns concluded.
