Laurels ó or should that be buds and blooms? ó to another edition of the Symphony Guild’s Festival of Spring Gardens, which takes place this weekend. The event is always a sensory feast for the eyes and nose, offering leisurely visits to some of the community’s loveliest home gardens.
As suggested by its theme, Towne and Country Roses of Rowan, this year’s fundraiser features that most storied of horticultural delights, immortalized by poets and fastidiously tended by generations of doting gardeners. In addition to roses, you’ll find an abundance of other plants and garden features on display at the festival. Along with the lush landscapes, you can also enjoy live music by several local performers, as well refreshments. Festival hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. today and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $15 and available at the Forest Glen Club House, 200 Forest Glen. The rose parade continues at the Civic Center, site of the annual rose show, which is also taking place this weekend. Hours are 1-5 p.m., and it’s free.
And if you’re looking for yet another local weekend outing, the Cleveland Spring Festival is today, beginning at 10 a.m. and featuring lots of food, music and family entertainment. It’ll conclude with fireworks.- – –
Dart to jobs lost and dealerships closed as Chrysler and GM trim their operations in order to stay in business. Fortunately, neither Gerry Wood Chrysler nor Team Chevrolet in Salisbury have gotten the axe, but the ripples sent out by other dealerships across the country will be felt throughout the economy. As the Wall Street Journal put it Friday, “the auto-industry downsizing that is causing so much economic pain in Michigan and the rest of the Midwest is spreading to cities and towns across the country.” The GM dealerships being phased out have a combined inventory of 65,000 cars and trucks and employ tens of thousands of people. There are glimmers of improvement in the economy, but the American workforce is still going through tumult.
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Laurels to the Robertson Foundation’s continued generosity to worthy causes in the local community, even during this economic downturn. The foundation’s grants are greatly appreciated every year, of course, but no doubt even more now, when many charitable organizations are having to reduce their budgets significantly. As Executive Director David Setzer noted, the foundation board felt it was especially important to try to maintain funding as many local agencies and groups face budget shortfalls. It’s impossible to calculate how much the foundation’s work has improved lives in our local community over the years. But a glance through this year’s list of 49 recipients gives some idea of the breadth of its impact. Education, the arts, public health, youth and senior services, the environment ó all these areas and more have benefitted from the Robertson Foundation’s funding. The $1.5 million approved this year continues its extraordinary record of philanthropy.