Landis Arboretum Fall Plant Sale Success

ESPERANCE, NY (10/01/2007)(readMedia)-- On a weekend as memorable for its mood-altering weather as for competing social events, the Landis Arboretum’s annual two-day Fall Plant, Used-Book, and Bake Sale on September 15 – 16 proved to be an unqualified success.

Despite the nearby Garlic Festival and Art Show, antiques fair, Larkfest, and a car show, visitors to the Arboretum’s two-day fall fundraiser drove the gross receipts beyond the $14,000 mark – showing a penchant for used-books and a hunger for home-baked goods, which benefitted the perennial gardens fund at Landis). Twenty-four plant sale visitors joined the ranks of Arboretum membership, and seven visitors purchased raffle tickets for the 2007 MINI Cooper.

Compliments abounded on the sale offerings – from beautiful ornamental, cold-hardy grasses such as Miscanthus, Calamagrostis, Pennisetum, Panicum, and Festuca — to the great buys and closeouts. The presence of subject-matter experts continues to be a winning sales strategy.

Spirits were high, and Sunday’s excellent weather after Saturday’s gray clouds disposed visitors to linger and enjoy the sweeping rolling countryside that provides the alluring backdrop of the sale. Visitors who previously had come to Landis for the first time -- for Lape Day and for the Arboretum’s inaugural high-spirited 5K Forest Run -- retuned, some with friends.

Success – like heaven – is not reached in a single bound, and the five-day lead-up to the Fall event required the work and dedication of scores of volunteers led by the Plant Sale Committee members: Carol and Bob Olsen, Bonnie Keller, Bern Allanson, Donna Vincent, Jeff Schworm, Lawson Harris, Maria Kuethe, Scott Trees, Sonja Javarone, Sue Gutbezahl, Tom Edmunds, Thom O'Connor, and Fred Breglia.

Volunteer Driven

New Arboretum Volunteer Coordinator and Office Manager Vicki Hazzard demonstrated her mettle and assembled legions of volunteers to support the event, a task initiated by former volunteer coordinator Judy Puddester, who herself participated in the event. Close to 70 volunteers supported the September event in addition to Landis-sponsored Boy Scout Troop 510.

Key consignors to the event include: The Nursery at Liddledale Farms, Behn’s Best Perennials, Glenfinnan Farms, SUNY Cobleskill, and Glenbrook Farms. Visitors enjoyed the opportunity to talk one-on-one with these and other on-site experts.

Bookies in Force

The annual Fall Plant Sale brought in hundreds of bibliophiles and browsers, attracted by the generous book donations from throughout the Capital Region from many individuals nd businesses, including The Owl Pen of Greenwich, The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, and Catnap Books of Cobleskill – all of whom have contributed to the success of the sale each year.

The annual used book sale, too, is possible only through the generosity of the Arboretum’s friends, tireless volunteers, and supporters, who gather books throughout the year with the sale in mind. Volunteers clean and categorize the offerings – both hard and soft cover – with a price range that few can refuse. Categories include, but are not limited to, science and nature, gardening, reference, poetry, children's literature, mystery, self-help, diet and nutrition.

“It was a good weekend,” said Plant Sale Chairman Fred Breglia. “Now, it’s time to look ahead with the goal of achieving new benchmarks of success in the year ahead.”

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