Saturday's massive sale helping Healing Garden grow

For many area residents, the Healing Garden at Bonner General Hospital has become more than just a garden.

True, the landscape is lovely, the flowers divine, the views spectacular. But it is more than these things that give the garden its heart. It is the knowledge that our community came together to help the hospital build the beautiful refuge that the Healing Garden has become.

On Saturday, May 5, the Healing Garden will benefit from a massive "Spring for the Garden" liquidation sale taking place at the former Idaho Country Resort, near Trestle Creek. The sale takes place from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and includes such items as: two Massey diesel tractors, furniture, tools, appliances, picnic tables and other outdoor items, assorted housewares, bedding, and much more.

Though the Healing Garden has at last retired its debt, funds are needed for new plantings, site cleanup and expansion, safety precautions and possibly even a future Children's Garden.

"We've been so lucky with the support we've had from the community and beyond," says Healing Garden committee member Linda Plaster.

In fact, Plaster recently attended an awards ceremony in Montana where the Healing Garden was honored with a design award from the Arizona-based Sonoran Institute. The Institute's Building from the Best of the Northern Rockies program awarded projects throughout our region that best demonstrate how communities can grow in a way that conserves rural landscapes, enhances neighborhoods, and sustains our unique quality of life.

The Healing Garden, through its thoughtful, community-driven design and accessible location fulfills all of the qualities listed above, and more.

For many of us, the Healing Garden is a place to remember lost loved ones. For others, it is an inspirational tribute to the beauty of nature. For all, the hard work and efforts of the hospital and community volunteers that made it possible are greatly appreciated.

The upcoming Spring for the Garden Sale is the perfect opportunity to show your support for the Healing Garden and also find treasures for your own garden and home.

"This year's Spring for the Garden sale will be massive," Plaster explains. "Both in the sheer amount of items for sale as well as the generosity of the donation."

This weekend please come out to the Spring for the Garden Liquidation Sale at the former Idaho Country Resort. (At Trestle Creek, just past mile marker no. 42 on the right-hand side.) Again, the sale will be held on Saturday, May 5, opening at 8 a.m. and closing at 3 p.m.

The Healing Garden Committee and the staff of Bonner General Hospital would like to extend our sincere thanks to the Idaho Club for their extremely kind donation and for making this sale possible. Their generosity will live not only within the Healing Garden, but in all who visit there now and in the years to come.