This theme was created to encompass ideas and programs that promote the beauty, safety, welfare and maintenance of the Villa Marina Community.
To plant a garden is an act of hope and faith in the future. To nurture a garden is an act of giving calm, joy and beauty to the souls of many.
Handmade, limited edition, tote bags were given away to lucky drawing winners. The totes were conceived and hand made by resident seamstress Penny Agulia. Each bag featured a unique original design (pictured above) which were individually hand crafted by villa artist Mary Slater-Kenny. Tote bag contents included goodies by neighboring businesses. (A CD by Grammy and Tony award winning artist Dee Dee Bridgewater – yes she is related to the community; a bag of Pete’s coffee, valuable gift certificates from Home Depot. Separately, the Marina Garden Center – a loyal sponsor of this event – provided several absolutely beautiful "color bowls" which were awarded to lucky attendees. The color bowls are large clay bowls with an array of many growing colorful flowers.
What kind of community would go to all the trouble of organizing a garden walk that also featured the work of resident artists and resident crafts? The answer – a community that has dedicated volunteers who contribute making this Award Winning Community a beautiful place to live and enjoy.
The June 3, 2007 event brought out those who wanted to take the time to enjoy the beauty of the area produced by an army of paid gardeners and a much larger army of volunteer villa gardeners. With an estimated average $12-$15K annual budget per villa for gardening and plants (budget estimated for 34 unit size villas), the owners at Villa Marina commit to an estimated one quarter of a million dollars per year to insure the legacy of its landscaping ( a landscape that would be the envy of nearly all of the entire population of the world – no kidding – have you seen how most of the world lives?). Add to that number, the value of the hundreds and hundreds of hours of volunteers + the out of pocket money they contribute, and we see that homeowners and volunteers view this as a good return on their investments. This investment not only improves the value of the condominium units, but contributes to a very high quality of life at Villa Marina.
By all measures, this event was a big success and credit goes to Chairperson Pat Allinson and her volunteer committee of dedicated volunteers. The garden walk gave villa marina residents an inside peek at various villa courtyards, an opportunity to meet neighbors at each villa and enjoy their hospitality, get good ideas for their own villa’s landscaping and learn about neighbors who are gifted artists and craftsperson’s.
A painting by resident artist: Johann Cuhrt
Resident artists displayed some of their work either at a central location at Villa Atibes, or they opened up their home for walkers to enjoy a gallery of their work.
City Councilman Bill Rosendahl enjoys the optimism, humor, and the work of artist Al Greenberg who opened his home to garden tour walkers. Mr. Greenberg’s sculptures are displayed in galleries throughout the world.
