Get ready to get a dirty in your gardening clothes because Keep Opelika Beautiful is hosting its annual Garden in the Park event at Opelika Municipal Park on Saturday, April 6.
Garden in the Park will begin at 10 a.m. and continue until 3 p.m., and according to Raven Harvis, Keep Opelika Beautiful board member, this event will be fun for the family.
"Garden in the Park is a family activity that brings people from all walks of life together united to support the efforts of Keep Opelika Beautiful and their children who are performing," Harvis said. "And it gives everyone a chance to interact with those in their city."
Vendors will sell a variety of handmade, natural and garden-related products, such as jewelry, artwork and birdhouses at the park.
"We'll have everything from children's clothes to headbands to trees and other plants to natural honey," Miller said. "We'll also have face-painting and other arts and crafts and live music. It's a broad spectrum of things, but everything is related to that handmade, natural, garden-related core. That allows us to keep out resell stuff or the stuff you see in larger stores. These are things that you may only be able to purchase at this event, and these may be vendors you otherwise wouldn't know were out there."
According to Harvis, this emphasis on homemade and homegrown goods is a key factor in event.
"I love meeting the local vendors," Harvis said. "Many of them make and sell such unique things and you can only find them by coming to events like Garden in the Park."
Harvis said this is not an event exclusively for families and gardeners. She said college students would also get a lot out of this event.
"This event is perfect to give [Auburn University] students the feel of a welcoming community," Harvis said. "And it's also great for networking. They will learn so much about the talents of the city schools in Opelika and be exposed to its finest residents."
If that's not enough to persuade college students to show up, maybe the free admission will be.
"This is the first year that we have not charged admission," Miller said. "Which I think is just huge because, obviously, that will attract more people."
It's the sense of connecting people to their community that makes Garden in the Park so vital to the Opelika-Auburn area, and according to Harvis, it's events like this that will keep our community alive and active.
"It is essential to meet and greet your neighbors, support community activity and expose yourself and your family to things that further the beauty of our great city," Harvis said. "People often get inspired to get involved when they connect a cause to an event. We are hoping that Garden in the Park is an event that connects people to continue to 'Go Green' and 'Keep Opelika Beautiful.'"
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