Annual Garden Tour Saturday

"A Palette of Posies," the 12th annual Garden Tour, sponsored by the Mountain Home Arts Council and Beta Zeta Civic Club, will be held on Saturday, June 21.

The tour is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will showcase several local gardens. Tickets are $5 and are available at Moxie Java, Village Art Center, the Senior Center and at each garden on the day of the tour.

Featured this year are the gardens of:

* Nan and Ross Schuler, 261 NE Victor Gust;

* Dan Amoruso, 170 McMurtrey Rd.;

* Bob and Ki An Hughes, 1710 E. 15th North St.;

* Scott and Laurie Urfer, 1747 NE Idarock;

* Mike and Toni Reynolds, 2025 N. Haskett St.;

* Mike and Penny Miller, 2378 Stormy Mountain Pl.;

* Denny Brown, 480 E. 17th North St.; and,

* Earl and Kuei Cummings, 123 Baker Dr.

A map to all the homes on the tour is included in the brochures about the tour that are available at any of the homes listed.

Local artists from the Visual Arts Committee will be working in selected gardens throughout the afternoon. The artists taking part will be Niki O'Reilly, Bill Trueba, Cynthia Henstock, Marcus Mashburn, K.C. Duerig, Bobbi Kelly and Don Collins.

Their paintings will be auctioned off at the "after tour" party later in the day. All of the artists donate their time and talent to help make the fundraiser a success.

The "after tour" garden party will be held at the Basque Park, corner of North 3rd West and West 2nd North streets, starting at 4:30 p.m. It will include an auction of the created artwork, refreshments, door prizes, a silent auction and wine by Carmela Vineyards. Wines with a special garden tour label will be available for purchase.

Proceeds from the tour provide scholarships to local high school students pursuing a degree in the arts. The 2008 Visual Arts Committee scholarship recipient is Christina Anthony. The Mountain Home Arts Council/Beta Zeta scholarship recipients are Amber Wright and Elizabeth Griffeath.

For more information call 587-3379 or 587-3706.