Tomato Festival

​Thank you to all who came to the Tomato Festival and helped with our annual fundraiser that keeps the garden going each year. This year was really fun, and the cooler weather and calm winds helped make the festivities comfortable.

Our club members really stepped up to the plate with your donations of items for the silent auction, goodies for the Goodie Tent, and your valuable time in putting it all together.

The Garden Club will have funds for improvements and repairs thanks to a successful Garden Goodies tent and the Silent Auction. The Goodies Tent brought in $2700 and the Silent Auction was a huge achievement by bringing in $4200. This year, we had a “winebarrow,” a wheelbarrow full of bottles of fine wine donated by Garden Club Board members and others. The winebarrow raffle tickets netted $1000.

We are very grateful to our many donors. Some of the most significant donations were:

• 2-night stay at Club Wyndham Canterbury; value: $600 (Linda and Ed Boulé
• A trio of summer wines including Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial. Dutton Goldfield Rose of Pinot Noir, and Chandon Garden Spritz; value: $400 (Pam Ovalle)
• A frog statue fountain for yard décor; value: $200 (Ted and Judy Bentley)
• 5 home-cooked meals; value: priceless (Jane Witbrodt)
• Autumnal dinner for 6-8 people; value: priceless (Cathy and John Tienken and Kathryn and Jim Gschwend
• 2 single-malt scotch whiskey tastings; value: $120 (Lucy and Joe Friedman)

We also had 36 gift certificates that were either included in gift baskets or auctioned off on their own. Pizza, car care, garden supplies, and spa treatments were all included. And our very own wood shop donated gift certificates for knife sharpening!

Business Supporters – Several businesses donated gift certificates for the auction. The major donors include: Randy Carlos – Re/Max Realty, Maria Eberle – Berkshire Hathaway Properties, Pizza Olive, Rossmoor Chevron, Mountain Mike’s Pizza and Mc Donnell’s Nursery.

We also had generous gift certificates from Orchard Nursery, Sloat Nursery, Lafayette Park Hotel, The Kitchen Store at Ace Alamo, UPS Store, Luxury Nails and Spa, Rossmoor Safeway, Lafayette Car Wash, Texaco Car Wash, Yogurt Spot, Walnut Creek Ace, and Rossmoor Starbucks.

We were fortunate to have about 65 volunteers who worked very hard at their jobs. From planning meetings beginning in April until dusk on August 27, members and other volunteers were dedicated to helping out.

Again, thanks to everyone who helped make this a successful event for our Garden Club!

Please enjoy the photos. Most of them were taken by Georgette Howington, Freddie Delamain, and your president.