|
You are viewing
Volume 40, Issue 13
April 22, 2003
To return to the current issue please
click here.
|
 |
April 22, 2003
MCC gardens highlight of
rose gathering
By Andrew
James
For the Mesa Legend
The Mesa-East Valley Rose
Society smelled the roses on April 12, as it celebrated its 50th anniversary
year by hosting the Pacific Southwest District Rose Convention in Mesa.
|
|
|
| PHOTO
BY MATT REED/MESA LEGEND |
|
MCC’s perimeter was outlined
as attendees stopped to smell the roses.
|
The highlight of the rose show took place
on Saturday when over a hundred rose lovers visited MCC to take in the
beautiful rose gardens on the north side of campus, consisting of about
5,000 rose bushes of over 500 varieties.
“There are over 25,000 varieties of roses in the world and over 11,000
varieties are available commercially,” said Dona Inglish, director
of the event.
The festival began with a luncheon, where speakers got an opportunity
to talk about the beauty of the roses and the conception of the rose gardens
at MCC.
Mesa Community got involved in roses in 1996 as it partnered with the
Mesa-East Valley Rose Society in an effort to rid the campus from its
“asphalt jungle,” explained Larry Christiansen, President at
MCC.
The rose gardens were established by means of countless efforts from volunteers
and generous donations earning it national recognition in 2000 when the
All-American Rose Selections designated it one of only 26 test gardens
in the United States.
Landscape architect and chief designer of the rose gardens, LeRoy Brady,
explained that the garden, “is the single largest volunteer effort
in the community” and if he has anything to do with it, he will transform
it to a “rose arboretum.”
President of the National Rose Society, Tommy Cairns, credited the gardens
as “a gift from one generation to the next” and as a “national
floral emblem.”
The future of the gardens is rosy, as plans include a veteran’s memorial
that is almost complete and a three hole putting green surrounded by circles
of small roses.
Mesa-East Valley Rose Society president, Jim Kichefki, announced he thought
the school should be called “Mesa Community College at the Gardens.”
He continued by addressing the society’s anniversary by mentioning
how rare it is for an organization to not only exist after 50 years, but
to be gaining momentum after this period. He was very enthusiastic about
how great it was to be at MCC for such an extraordinary event.
After the luncheon, onlookers had about 45 minutes to walk around the
garden, many replying “that isn’t enough time,” as they
awed at the perfumed air that was dancing in their noses.
Back to Top
| Previous Page | Home
|
|
