WILNO – If you live in a small town, you may have experienced the frustration that comes with organizing an informal gathering and having no one show up. Sigrid Geddes, owner of the Wilno Garden Gallery and Sigrid Naturals, knows this dilemma all too well.
“I’m from the area, but I’ve lived in Wilno for just over two years, and what I’ve discovered is that in small towns, if you want people to come to a show or a party, you have to make it an official event. People just won’t come if you don’t make it into an official event,” Geddes said.
Geddes, originally born in Cape Breton, has been a resident of the Wilno Hills area for most of her life. When she bought the Wilno Garden Gallery two years ago, she saw the need to work with local Wilno artists and gardeners to display their abilities.
After a discussion with local artist Joyce Burkholder this past winter, Geddes decided to go ahead with the idea of the Wilno Wander.
The Wilno Wander is a self-guided tour of the Wilno area that promises to feature seven different art and garden-based locations. The venues included on the tour are Pickles and Quilts, The Wilno Craft Gallery, Sigrid Naturals and the Wilno Garden Gallery, The Red Canoe Café and Bakery, Fraser Knives, Hillside Paintings and Pottery and the Wilno Hills Gallery.
It will be happening on June 30 and July 1 between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Although it is a choose-your-own-adventure of sorts, there are a few special events. At the Red Canoe Café and Bakery, there will be a live baking demonstration with the use of a stone oven. The demonstration will also be featuring local organic greens from five minutes up the road.
Story continues in the June 13, issue of The Valley Gazette.