|
Bannerman Island Garden Picnic and Tour Aug 18
by Linda T. Hubbard
 | | The Bannerman Residence |
|
The Bannerman Castle Trust is holding a garden party on Saturday, August 18, to celebrate the opening of the newly restored Wee Bay Garden. Neil Caplan, president of the BCT explains that visitors will travel to the island aboard the Pollepel, departing from Beacon at 4:30pm, have a tour, an old-fashioned picnic, and return by 8pm.
Caplan coordinated this project of the NY State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historical Preservation. Cornell Cooperative Extension of Orange County, Master Gardeners designed the gardens, keeping them as historically correct as possible. Donna Blakemore, Chair of the Garden Restoration Project, has worked tirelessly with volunteers to carry out the plans of the Master Gardeners and keep the plants watered and weeded.
The Garden Picnic is sponsored by the Newburgh Wal- Mart Green Project, Newburgh Adams Fair Acres Farms, Newburgh Pepsi Cola. The Bannerman Island Gardens have received donations from the following sponsors, The Wal-Mart Green Project, Mark Adams Greenhouses, Adame Fairacre Farms, (Newburgh), The Antique Rose Emporium (Brenham, Texas), Bluestone Perennials (Madison Ohio), The Landscape and Garden Center (Newburgh), Home Depot (Newburgh), Home Depot (Fishkill), and ShopRite (Vails Gate) and many others provided plants, garden materials and tools, food to sustain the volunteers as well as for the party. In addition, volunteers from the Wal-Mart Green Project, the Orange County Master Gardeners, the Bannerman Island stewards, and the local community have worked many hours to assure that the gardens regain the beauty they had in the early 1900's. Neil Caplan, Donna Blakemore, and Barbara Gottluck, Volunteer Coordinator for the Bannerman Island tours, will host the party.
There is limited seating available for the Bannerman Picnic. Please reserve early to secure your place on the Pollepel. Tickets cost $50 for the general public, $40 for Bannerman Castle Trust Friends. Join BCT Friends for $25 per individual, $40 per family. For reservations, call 845-234-3204
| Click ads below
for larger version
|
)