Opinion: Nearly $16,000 Raised
Record High For Garden Walk Ticket Sales In 2023
By Jean Ercolani
Park Hill Garden Walk Organizer
The Park Hill Garden Walk committee is thrilled to announce another fantastic year. We hit a new high in ticket sales, with nearly 750 tickets purchased — equating to almost $11,000.
Between the Garden Walk event and the sales from our 2023 Garden Walk calendar, the Garden Walk team delivered an estimated $19,000 in gross revenue. After all expenses, the net income was nearly $16,000. The funds support the work of the Greater Park Hill Community, including the registered neighborhood organization’s community programs, sustainability initiatives, and general operating costs.
GPHC, Inc. promotes the character and vibrancy of Park Hill through its resources, information and advocacy, while preserving the quality of life and the history of the neighborhood through community participation. Learn more and get involved at greaterparkhill.org. (GPHC also publishes the Greater Park Hill News, the neighborhood’s award-winning newspaper. The newspaper does not receive money from Garden Walk proceeds, but rather survives and thrives with the support of its advertisers — many of whom are also actively involved in the Garden Walk.)
The generosity from the Garden Walk’s many sponsors is tremendous — both longtime and new. Additionally, many Park Hill businesses provide in-kind donations. A big thank you to all of our sponsors. Your new and long-standing support of our community is greatly appreciated.
We would also like to give a special shout out to our garden photographer, Ed Demafiles. Ed graciously donated his time and skills to the Garden Walk this year by photographing each of the gardens as well as the gardeners.
Check his work out at edwindemafilesphotography.zenfolio.com.
The Park Hill Garden Walk committee is comprised of 10 people, who work for months to make the event a reality. However, our success would not be possible without the small village of people who make it happen. We would like to offer our sincere and deepest gratitude to all involved in this year’s event, including the gardeners who graciously volunteered to open their beautiful spaces for all to see, and the people who came out on the day to volunteer, and to admire the gardens.
Seeking Gardens For 2024 and 2025
Identifying gardens to feature during the annual event is a key component of the Park Hill Garden Walk. Our committee co-chairs, Carla Finch and Patty Mead, are continually looking for potential gardens. Ideally, we would like to lock up next year’s list of gardens now so that we can take photos of the gardens in bloom. These photos are used in the brochure, news articles and advertisements that are produced during the winter and spring months — which as you can imagine is not a good time of year for garden photos. If you are interested or if you know someone with a beautiful yard whom we should contact, please reach out to Carla Finch at carla.j.finch@gmail.com or Patty Mead at prmead416@gmail.com.
Looking For Volunteers
We are also continually looking for volunteers to work the day of the event. Volunteers work in half-day (three hour) shifts so they can go and check out all the gardens on display the other half of the day (volunteers get a free ticket to the event.) If you are interested, contact Kate Blanas at klblanas@gmail.com.
Again, thanks to ALL. We hope to see each of you next year. In the meantime, happy gardening.