Two decades gives a nonprofit endeavor a good, long time to evolve. And from humble beginnings, Bainbridge in Bloom has blossomed.
“It’s become its own entity in a way,” said Bloom coordinator Cynthia Herrick. “More than just a garden tour.”
Whether it’s the seamless matrix of tour busses, a building commitment to putting on a “green” (read: environmentally sound) tour, or an ever-growing roster of educational offerings by renowned experts, Bainbridge in Bloom has become a well-oiled machine.
And whether it’s a rare glimpse of a master gardener’s paradise, or a walk-through of a local farmer’s all-organic spread, the tour is one that organizers believe gives locals and visitors a taste of Bainbridge’s very essence.
So it’s hard to envision that the Bloom, the largest yearly fund-raiser for the Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council, began with the question, “How are we going to raise enough money to stay afloat?”
Janice Shaw, an early BIAHC board member, recalled that when the organization was two or three years old – back then it was just known as the Arts Council – the board sat down in someone’s living room, anxious to devise another source of funding for the organization, which at the time relied entirely on earned income.
Board member Joanna Newnham, Shaw remembers, was the one who first came up with the idea of a garden tour. Bainbridge had developed an increasingly fine reputation as a gardening mecca, especially with retailers like Bainbridge Gardens and Bay Hay & Feed, along with the recently opened Bloedel Reserve.
“The minute she said that, it clicked,” Shaw said. “Nobody was doing a garden tour, and it felt very bright.”
Shaw, along with board president and long-time community activist Nan Wooldridge, agreed to co-chair the event. Shaw came up with the name “Bainbridge in Bloom” as a nod to “The Garden in Bloom,” a then-recent publication by island garden expert Ann Lovejoy.
To organizers’ collective surprise, the tour netted $11,000.
“We were dancing in the streets,” Shaw said. “We knew we would do it again… we didn’t anticipate that someday it would be a 50 or 60 grand thing, but we knew that it would be a tremendous success. The community loved it.”
Herrick estimated that the 2007 Bloom netted roughly $40,000. That money benefits the endeavors that the BIAHC undertakes year to year, which span educational programming to artist grants to publications.
But Shaw and Herrick agree that the Bloom’s economic impact on the island is far broader in its reach, and Shaw only has to point as far as the 2006 national Economic Impact of Nonprofit Arts and Culture survey to highlight the correlation between cultural events and the island’s economy.
Take a local perspective, for starters. If a couple with young kids gets two tickets to a show at Bainbridge Performing Arts, chances are they’ll begin the evening with dinner nearby, and perhaps stop off for coffee afterward. They’ll also spring for a babysitter, and possibly even buy new duds or get a haircut beforehand.
Off-islanders, meantime, may see a notice for a weekend-long event like Bainbridge in Bloom and get a two-night reservation at a B&B. They, too, will eat at local restaurants, and likely invest a portion of their getaway time spending dollars at local retail shops.
Every single ticket sold to a resident for a local cultural event, the survey cocludes, results in $19.51 in local spending, much of which is taxed and goes back to the city and state.
Thus, when a nonprofit cultural organization like BIAHC solicits funds, “we’re really not looking for a handout, we’re looking for an investment,” she said. “People who aren’t drawn to the inherent value of the arts for their own sake…definitely get it when you start talking dollars.”
Shaw acknowledges that with more and broader events revolving around the Bloom, not to mention more money involved, the proceedings have grown more complicated.
But, she added, the core spirit of the Bloom remains the same, and very few of the original tour-related events – the book and art sales, for example – have changed. Instead, worthwhile elements have been added, like the plant sale, the patron party and various educational components, none of which have detracted from the “generosity, courage and common-sense” of both the Bloom’s organizers and its gardeners.
When events are successful, she says, it’s because “they’re authentic and ring true to the community – what the community is about, its values and its interests.”
“The more events we can launch, create and sustain, the more our island is recognized as a place of interest, a place where the community has valued its history, its cultural traditions and its artists,” Shaw said. “That’s the kind of place people come to visit, and that’s the kind of place people want to live in.”
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Do the Bloom
The 20th annual Bainbridge in Bloom tour runs July 11-13 in venues throughout Bainbridge, including a selection of five local gardens.
On Patron Day, Friday, enjoy barbecue, wine, a live auction and a performance by Chele’s Kitchen, $65. With a Garden Enthusiast ticket, add English Cream Tea in the garden, with two sittings available for $30. Other highlights include lunch with Little and Lewis in their famous garden for $35; Bloom Plants 101 with plant expert Wendy Tweten with a box lunch for $35, and a photographer-led tour with Harry Longstreet for $35. Patron day activities have limited availability; visit www.gardentour.info soon for tickets and info.
Bloom Features for Saturday and Sunday include a a peek into the Little and Lewis garden – the last year their garden is open to the public – and a plant sale; a demonstration by plein-air painters and education events from plant experts.
Tickets and a complete weekend lineup are at www.gardentour.info, at local outlets, and by phone, 842-7901.
