Back in the mid-nineties, our sale started on one family’s driveway in Hamilton, selling some perennials that had been dug up and split from their own gardens. The idea was to raise a few extra dollars for the school where their children attended.
But just like a healthy perennial, the sale itself grew… and grew… and grew. Soon enough it had to be transplanted to a larger driveway in Ancaster, down on Lion’s Club Road. Some people who have come to our sale for years still remember that “growth phase” very well. During that time it expanded from an effort that involved a few families to one that involved a small army of volunteers from the school community.
In 2017 the sale was transplanted once more, this time to Mt. Hope on the property of the Bellstone Christian School, which is the present location of the sale. Here the sale has matured even further. Many new loyal customers have joined the crowd.
The school is located on a well-travelled road, so some are just driving by and stop in. Others have some connection to the Bellstone school, also from the time it was a public school. Former students, (grand)parents, and teachers often express how thankful they are that the school is up and running again, and they buy a few plants to show their appreciation.
The sale has also grown to offer more gardening options:
● Volunteer-potted and nursery stock perennials
● Annual bedding flowers and vegetable starter plants
● Planters and hanging baskets
● Water plants
● Seed packages
● Mulch and soil, both in bags at the sale and bulk delivery by the yard
● Flagstone
● Various donated garden ornaments
As you can see, over the years many things have changed with our sale, but just as many have remained the same.
● We are still a fundraising effort to support Christian education
● We are still entirely run by volunteers, many of whom have their (grand)children attending the Bellstone Christian School
● We still dig up and split our own perennials to sell at the best possible price
● We still do not charge you any tax
Finally, in and through it all we acknowledge that “neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives thee growth” (1 Corinthians 3:7).