Great ideas for projects and how to help out in the community can be hatched when friends buddy up for a walk around the local track, play golf or take a class.
But when four women in a water fitness class at the Everett YMCA decided to band together and hold a plant sale, they didn’t know that the idea would blossom like the flowers and plants in their own gardens.
What began as a small plant sale that raised $40 its first year is now an annual Everett Family YMCA event with a goal of making $1,600.
The money goes to the "Invest in Youth" campaign run by the YMCA and pays for about 45 children to take a session of swimming lessons.
"It really began with us sharing plants with each other," said Sandy Schumacher of Camano Island.
Schumacher is one of the core group, along with Everett residents Shirley Liska, Lois Sugars and Barbara Piercey, who grow many of the plants themselves.
"We love to garden," Sugars said.
Now in its seventh year, the plant sale is booming. Husbands, friends and other volunteers load, haul and help at the sale. Staff members from the Y set up tables.
The women admit that once the plant sale idea was up and running, they would eavesdrop on conversations in the locker room and approach unsuspecting YMCA patrons.
"We’d say, ‘Let me tell you about our plant sale,’" Schumacher said.
No one was safe. Men could be trapped while trying to relax in the whirlpool. There was no escape.
"Oh, no. It must be plant sale time," they’d say, Schumacher said.
Approaching people at the YMCA has paid off when it comes to recruiting volunteers. One man donated boxes of dahlias while another made and donated a trellis, a bird house and planter boxes now on display at the Everett Y. Raffle tickets will be sold for $1 for the donated items, said Debbi Whitcombe, senior health and fitness director at the Y.
"We wouldn’t be able to do it without them," Whitcombe said. "They believe in it so much."
The volunteer hours and effort speaks volumes in times when the economy is down, Whitcombe said.
The Everett YMCA has raised more money in the last two years for the "Invest in Youth" program than in any other years.
"These volunteers go out and say, ‘I believe in this so much won’t you help us out?’" Whitcombe said.
The women acknowledge how much time and work goes into the event and say they couldn’t have done it this year had someone else not have stepped in.
That someone was Ann Boyce of Lynnwood, the newest member of the group. It’s no surprise where she met the plant ladies: water fitness class at the Y.
Boyce specializes in native plants and, among other things, has brought her expertise to the group, offering plant samples that have been made into hanging baskets.
With three of the four women in their 70s leading active, full lives, they are hoping that Boyce and others who are younger will carry on the plant sale.
"It’ll last as long as we do," said Schumacher, the youngest of the group.
Each year the plant sale has brought in more money than the year before. Thirty-eight of the $40 raised the first year came from one person. That year the group didn’t sell everything so members of a local church came by and took what was left.
One year the takings went up to $75, then a prime location on Broadway resulted in profits jumping to $500.
The women have been steadfast through all kinds of weather during their sales. Wind and rain didn’t deter them even when they had to chase some of their items down the street.
The plant sale is appealing to gardeners on many levels. Prices are affordable and variety is plentiful.
The women don’t sell annuals unless they are donated at the last minute. They do have a rich selection of perennials, shrubs, trees, peonies and other plants for shade and sun.
Getting ready for the annual event takes a lot of work that begins months before the event.
"I start on the first warm day in January," Liska said.
The majority of the work is done in February and March.
The women describe themselves as home gardeners who like to share and benefit the YMCA. The fellowship in the group, blanketed in warmth and laughter, is evident. They still take the water fitness class and meet at The Sisters restaurant on Grand Avenue for brunch on Wednesday mornings.
Although many volunteers help with the plant sale by donating, hauling and writing plant tags, the four women are the cornerstone of the operation that takes a lot of time and hard work to put together.
"This is not just a fun thing for the blue-haired ladies," Schumacher said.
Reporter Christina Harper: 425-339-3491 or harper@heraldnet.com.
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