Fostoria Garden Club Tour ready to bloom

FOSTORIA — "It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" was a familiar refrain from the iconic Mr. Rogers on the Public Broadcasting System from 1968 through 2001. And, rain or shine, that will be the theme July 9 for the Fostoria Garden Club's always-popular Garden Tour and Flower Show. The traditional biannual event, which has taken place for about 15 years, is scheduled for noon to 5 p.m., with seven locations scheduled on the tour The flower show, highlights the floral arrangements of garden club members and offers the opportunity to enter a drawing to win one of three hand-painted flowerpots filled with prize items, will take place at the Fostoria Learning Center, 342 Perry St. The drawing for the flowerpots is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. on July 9 at the learning center, and winners must be present. The Fostoria Kiwanis Club will offer refreshments at the flower show. Entry forms are on the tickets for the event, which are available in advance at $7 from any garden club member or at the Fostoria Area Chamber of Commerce, located in the learning center. Tickets will also be available on the day of the event at $10 each at the learning center or at any stop on the tour. "You can go in any order you want to go," Fostoria Garden Club President Linda Perrine said. "There are six homes and the library, and the flower show at the learning center. ... People can come and go as they please." The sites scheduled for the tour are spread throughout the city, said Sue Gehring, who is co-chairing this year's garden club tour and flower show committee with Carol Kinn. "Flower and vegetable gardens, garden structures, ponds and pools and rock and recycled gardens are just a few of the stunning stops on the tour," Gehring said. Perrine said the event can provide those on the tour with some possibilities for their own properties. "Everybody doesn't have the same kind of style, so you can get ideas of what to do for your flowerbed," she said. "Also, it's our six-month fundraiser for the garden club. But the main thing is to encourage people to beautify their homes and gardens." Gehring noted that the garden club attends to several flowerbeds throughout the community. "The club promotes neighborhood beautification by knowing, growing and sharing their knowledge of gardening with others," she said. Perrine said about 10 club members work on the tour and show in the years that it takes place. "It's quite a bit of work," she said. "But it's very nice and I've had people ask me in the years we weren't having one if we were having one -- even people from out of town because they like it." Perrine added that the event tends to draw well. "There have been as many as 90 to 100 people," she said. "... At the last one, we had people from Toledo, Bowling Green, down by Dayton, I believe. They come from quite a few different towns." Following are the spots that will be available to visitors on the tour. Details about each site are available on the tickets: 1, Fostoria Learning Center, 342 Perry St.; 2, Kaubisch Memorial Public Library, 205 Perry St.; 3, the residence of Linda and Steve O'Dell, 1722 Walnut St.; 4, the residence of Susie Tiell, 4731 N. County Road 25; 5, the residence of Kim and Ed Logsdon, 520 W. Jackson St.; 6, the residence of Louann and Terry Hayfield, 642 Foster St.; the residence of Carol and Bill Kinn, 211 Vickie Lane; Karla and Jason Yoakum, 23043 County Road 226 (Tiffin Street). Event sponsors are Creative Concepts Landscaping; Rich Zbigien, certified public accountant; Goddard Murphy and Company; Flowerland, Lehman Chiropractic; Mennel Milling; and Payne Brothers Florist. For more information, contact Perrine at 419-937-7162.