'Spring for the Garden' blooms with plants, quilts

Sometimes our souls need rejuvenating. It’s an illusive concept because it’s not objective, but every now and again we require therapeutic activities that simply create a sense of well-being.

Luther Burbank said, “Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.”

Take a walk through the Healing Gardens at Bonner General Hospital and you’re transported away from the stress and turmoil of your everyday life. But, visit the gardens on Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and not only experience the joy of the tranquility, but also to pick up materials to help you create your own special retreat in your own backyard or to pick out a quilt for snuggling up after gardening all day.

The Healing Garden Committee will have annuals and perennials, glass totems and antique garden art on sale to raise funds to keep the gardens beautiful and plentiful.

“We’ll have some starts from the Healing Gardens itself,” said coordinator Linda Plaster, “plus some geranium baskets, both hanging and setting. All at really good prices.”

The Healing Garden depends on three fundraisers and some small grants to keep going. Spring for the Garden, Fall for the Garden and annual Christmas Home Tour provide the committee funds for the roughly $20,000 annual budget.

“One of the reasons we started the garden is because the hospital doesn’t have a chapel,” Plaster, who’s been on the committee from the start, said. “We planned it to be used not only for patients and their families but also for the doctors and nurses to help relieve stress.”

The committee is always looking for helping hands. If interested in getting involved call the hospital 263-1441.

Now let’s turn our attention to the quilt show. Several quilters are going to display their talents at the Brown House during the Spring for the Garden sale and you’ll certainly want to check out these exquisite designs.

The connection between the gardens and the quilters is the powerful word “healing”. “A quilt will warm your body and comfort your soul,” wrote an unknown author, but we do know who started Bosom Buddy Quilters who provide quilts to women going through chemotherapy for breast cancer treatment.

Verna Mae Davis and Linda Aavedal, both breast cancer survivors, made a quilt for a friend going through treatment back in 2001 and that started a tradition.

“It started by word of mouth, people telling us about women undergoing chemo and it just grew and grew and grew,” Aavedal said. “Now we’ve made around 150 quilts or more.”

Aavedal said that she and Davis used to deliver each quilt in person. They’d invite the recipient to coffee telling her that they had a “little something” for her. Of course, the woman thought the gift was going to be a scarf and was always surprised.

“Verna Mae and I both know how the treatments make you tired and how nice it is to grab a quilt and a good book and settle down,” Aavedal said.

The quilters group has now grown to about 26 women, they meet at the First Lutheran Church and if you like to sew you’re encouraged to join in. Call the church at 263-2048 for more information. This group is dependent on donations so your generosity will be gratefully accepted.

Kathy Hubbard is a trustee on Bonner General Hospital Foundation Board. She can be reached at kathyleehubbard@yahoo.com, 264-4029.