2020 has certainly been an unusual year for all of us. This year we celebrated 30 years as a society and 20 years hosting our Pond-O-Rama tour. Even in the midst of a pandemic, this was one of our best water garden tours yet! This year we had the advantage of wonderful weather in the spring, and since many of our members were sheltering in place for safety from the Covid-19 virus, there was plenty of time to be outside and working to make their gardens beautiful.  All of our 29 water gardens on tour this year looked fabulous! We experienced a record number of visitors to the gardens and as requested in our ticket book, everyone wore masks and complied with social distancing. We wanted to ensure that not only our hosts but our visitors remained as safe as possible in the outdoors.

There were a number of new water features on tour. Our new hosts loved sharing their private gardens with so many wonderful people.  For some of our hosts, Pond-O-Rama simply has become what you do on the weekend after Father’s Day every year. Our members love sharing their water features and talking to the many visitors that admire their beautiful spaces. The bonus of being a host…..we meet the nicest people from all over Illinois and Missouri and out of state, too.  This year was an exceptional one!

We sold hundreds of tickets via our website and the many ticket seller locations that were open. Our 20th Anniversary Tour was not only very successful financially, but many visitors were so excited they plan on building a water feature and plan on being on tour next year.

We are always grateful to our many members who volunteer as hosts to share their beautiful water features the weekend after Father’s Day with the public. Our advertisers are the best and support us throughout the year and encourage their clients to join SLWGS and to share their new amazing water features. Thank you to all our ticket sellers who promote our event to their clients. Thank you to our sponsor St. Louis Home & Lifestyles Magazine and all the media who have supported us over the years. Most importantly, A HUGE THANK  YOU to our members and the SLWGS Board Members, who are integral in supporting and helping make Pond-O-Rama such a yearly success. This year was definitely the best one yet!

We look forward to an even more exciting 2021 tour with new water gardens to visit and many new members to assist on the Pond-O-Rama committee for 2021.  THANK YOU! We would love for you to be part of the planning and implementation of 2021 Pond-O-Rama. It is never too early to consider volunteering or being a host on the 2021 tour!

Contact: Ginny Mueller, vcmueller16@gmail.com

Ginny Mueller, Nov 2020

Thank you for being part of the St. Louis Water Garden Society!

We are so very grateful for your support.

2020 has been an unusual year for all of us as we navigate everything in our lives. Our SLWGS meetings were held in January and February and then the pandemic put a stop to all meetings when MOBOT closed. Currently we have no date when MOBOT will again be open for any meetings or classes.

We miss our members and while we are not able to hold meetings at this time, the board has agreed that

         all SLWGS members will have your 2021 membership dues of $15.00 each waived for 2021.

If you paid your dues already, then contact Gail Abernathy to carry the dues forward, donate, or refund.

Since we cannot meet in person, our hope for all our SLWGS friends that the rest of this year and holiday season wrap each of you in the warmth of home, family, and friendship.

Pics from the Jewel Box this year (our civic project)