By Paul Kammerdiner
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16 May, 2024
For whatever reason, this seems like a pivotal year to me. I find myself wondering how valued the Arboretum is to the Cedar Valley. Do the majority of the people love it as much as I do? Just how much value does a Public Garden have in the overall scheme of things? While you ponder these questions, let me share some statistics taken from the recent issue of the Journal of the American Public Garden Association: In 2022 this is the collective impact of Public Gardens on communities: 6,200 Health and Wellness programs 600,000 pounds of produce donated 95,000 acres conserved 152 accredited plant collections Over 120,000,000 visitors; 10 million of whom were non-local and 1 million international. The takeaway from those astounding numbers is that we are truly blessed to have our small slice of that pie. My sincere hope is that as we move forward, we look to the future for all we still have to achieve. So away we go with this year. Let’s say hello to