I am happily planning what has become the busiest day at St. Albert Botanic Park. July 1, Canada Day is our second annual "Strawberry Tea in the Park," and it has become a must-attend event!
Last year, our first effort in helping the city celebrate Canada’s birthday, we had hoped to attract maybe 200 people to tour the gardens, enjoy a snack of tea or coffee and strawberry shortcake and see what we are all about. Instead, to our delight, more than 1,000 visitors came to the park and we managed to feed 500 of them. It was our own version of the story of loaves and fishes — somehow our tiny budget managed to feed the multitude. Our volunteers were put to the test and thrived on the challenge. Just as importantly, many St. Albert residents and visitors were delighted to discover what a gem we have in our botanic park.
This year, thanks to a city special event grant, we are able to expand our festivities. We are anticipating feeding strawberry tea to 700 of you. We are excited to be hosting local artists and musicians, expanding the ‘Budding Artists in the Park’ event that we have hosted on Sundays in June. We'll have a craft area for kids and we're setting up a scavenger hunt too. We will also be joined by volunteers from the St. Albert Senior Citizens’ Club, and the I.O.D.E. ladies will be selling fudge. Volunteers are working, as they do daily, to maintain and beautify our grounds, so we expect the gardens will look fabulous. Tours of the park will be offered. If you've never been to St. Albert Botanic Park, this is a great day to come and see what we are all about.
I'm looking forward to seeing you on July 1 between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. Admission to St. Albert Botanic Park is always free, however the Strawberry Tea will be admission by donation. We can always welcome another volunteer, so if you're looking for some fun work that day, please call me at 780-459-5427 or call the park at 780-458-7163.
Happy Birthday Canada! Let’s keep our fingers crossed for lovely weather! I hope you will join me at St. Albert Botanic Park on Canada Day — it’s definitely a growing experience!
