A green day in February

Sullivan Renaissance begins tenth season

By FRITZ MAYER

FERNDALE, NY — One of the sure signs that spring is not far off is the annual Sullivan Renaissance Winter Conference and Expo. Renaissance kicked off its 10th season on February 20 with the expo at the CVI Building in Ferndale.

The turnout was as healthy as ever, as hundreds of volunteers showed up to participate in workshops on gardening, volunteering and other subjects that will help them beautify the county this year.

For this season, the organization is once again emphasizing the “showing of flowers,” but they’ve sweetened the pot a bit. The group that creates the best showing of flowers, to be determined by an independent panel of judges, will win a $5,000 prize. This is in addition to the many other grant awards that range from $100 to $50,000.

In order to encourage the communities to go into flowers in a big way, Renaissance will be giving out flower dollars to communities that receive grants. According to program director Glenn Pontier, “Flower dollars are essentially coupons that will have to be on flowering annual plants, and they’ll have to be spent at local garden centers to increase our local business, and by a certain date to make sure that they get into the garden in time to bloom.”

Poniter said there have also been a lot of requests for assistance with community vegetable gardens lately, so that will too will be part of the program this year.

For more information about starting a project or joining one that’s already underway visit www.sullivanrenassance.org or call 845/295-2442.