Flowery fundraiser blooms once again

Garden tour draws neighbourhoods together

Advertisement

Advertise with us

Some people see volunteering as a way to give back to the community, but Ruth Booth has a different perspective.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/06/2022 (1550 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some people see volunteering as a way to give back to the community, but Ruth Booth has a different perspective.

“I seem to be receiving more than I’m giving,” the 77-year-old Charleswood resident says.

Take, for example, the Urban Retreats Garden Tour, Tea, Craft and Plant Sale, an annual fundraiser for 1JustCity. Over the last 20 years, it has given gardening enthusiasts the chance to enjoy a self-guided tour of gardens in various neighbourhoods throughout Winnipeg.

JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Ruth Booth, 77, volunteers with the organizing committee for the Urban Retreats Garden Tour, Tea, Craft and Plant Sale, an annual fundraiser for 1JustCity.
JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Ruth Booth, 77, volunteers with the organizing committee for the Urban Retreats Garden Tour, Tea, Craft and Plant Sale, an annual fundraiser for 1JustCity.

Booth has been on the tour’s organizing committee since 2010. Although there can be a lot of work involved, it’s also a lot of fun — especially when she gets to volunteer as a host on the tour, which involves sitting in a garden and greeting ticket holders.

“To sit in somebody’s garden, it’s so attractive,” Booth says. “It’s a lovely way of spending three hours in an afternoon or morning.”

The retiree, who was born and raised in England, started volunteering with the tour in 2000.

“It’s just a very uplifting experience,” she says. “People are very enthusiastic because finally we can get outside and just enjoy the outdoors — especially after this winter, which was so long and so cold.”

The tour, which is held the fourth Saturday in June, attracted more than 600 participants in 2019. (Given COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the 2020 and 2021 tours were virtual.) More than 70 volunteers organize and facilitate the day.

This year’s tour takes place in Scotia Heights on June 25. St. John’s Anglican Cathedral (135 Anderson Ave.) will host the tea, craft sale and plant sale.

One of the great things about the tour is that it highlights a different neighbourhood every year, Booth says, exposing attendees to areas of Winnipeg they might not be familiar with.

“The tour is very walkable,” she says. “The fact that you’re walking through a neighbourhood gives you a sense of the community of the area, and that’s important.”

Tickets for the tour cost $20 each and include a map of garden locations.

The event typically raises $19,000 for 1JustCity’s West End Drop-in, formerly known as St. Matthew’s-Maryland Community Ministry. The drop-in offers health and wellness programs to meet basic needs and help individuals and families thrive in Winnipeg’s West End.

Booth has volunteered at the drop-in for more than 15 years, doing everything from greeting guests to using her background in accounting to help folks prepare their income taxes.

“Someone invited me to come down one day and said I might enjoy it. And, of course, as soon as I went there, I did enjoy it. I’ve found I’ve learned a lot from it.”

Booth and her colleagues on the garden tour committee are seeking volunteer hosts for the June 25 event. Hosts work in teams of two, sitting in a lovely garden, greeting and directing ticket holders. Shifts are three hours long and gardening knowledge is not required.

The committee also has an ongoing need for new committee members. For more information, contact gardentourvolunteers@1justcity.ca.

“The organizing committee consists of about 12 creative and strong people, but of course we’re always looking for more people to join us,” Booth says. “We’ll find an area that suits their expertise.”

If you know a special volunteer, please contact aaron.epp@gmail.com

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca

Aaron Epp

Aaron Epp
Reporter

Aaron Epp reports on business for the Free Press. After freelancing for the paper for a decade, he joined the staff full-time in 2024. Read more about Aaron.

Every piece of reporting Aaron produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.

Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.

Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Councillors say Main Street Project scuttles other agency’s efforts to house homeless

Scott Billeck 5 minute read Preview

Councillors say Main Street Project scuttles other agency’s efforts to house homeless

Scott Billeck 5 minute read Tuesday, Sep. 8, 2026

A Winnipeg outreach agency that’s been largely shut out of government funding says it has found housing for more people in the last five months than Manitoba’s homeless strategy that began last year.

Read
Tuesday, Sep. 8, 2026

Winkler-based internet provider delivering high-speed service to 30 rural and First Nations Manitoba communities

Nicole Buffie 3 minute read Preview

Winkler-based internet provider delivering high-speed service to 30 rural and First Nations Manitoba communities

Nicole Buffie 3 minute read Tuesday, Sep. 8, 2026

Valley Fiber says it is undertaking one of its largest fibre optic projects and is building infrastructure that will deliver internet to 10,000 homes and businesses in rural and First Nations communities across Manitoba.

“These communities will now have access to the fastest internet network in Manitoba, and it will power their lives and their business,” Ryan Klassen, chief executive officer of the Winkler-based internet provider, said Tuesday from Fisher River Cree Nation.

The province has granted Valley Fiber use of two of its underused cables on the existing Manitoba Hydro fibre optic network for up to 20 years as part of the project, which will connect nearly 30 communities — including Buffalo Point, Hollow Water, Black River and Peguis First Nations, along with Fisher River and Fox Lake Cree Nations — to high-speed internet.

Construction should be finished by 2027.

Read
Tuesday, Sep. 8, 2026

Ferraro, Skinner getting lay of the land before training camp starts

Mike McIntyre 8 minute read Preview

Ferraro, Skinner getting lay of the land before training camp starts

Mike McIntyre 8 minute read Yesterday at 5:45 PM CDT

They’ve both been around the NHL block a bit, but make no mistake, Stuart Skinner and Mario Ferraro are experiencing some “new kid at school” type jitters this week.

The pair were prized July 1 free agent signings by the Winnipeg Jets and are now quickly trying to get the lay of the land — from teammates and systems and structure to restaurants, schools and the best routes to the rink — in what is a frantic time on both a professional and personal level.

“It’s a big change, right?” Ferraro said Wednesday following a pre-training camp skate at the Hockey For All Centre.

“Like moving cities, getting settled somewhere else, with my family, my wife, my daughter, our two dogs. But I think it’s gone really well and smooth. We found a great place here, and we’re really happy with where we’re living.”

Read
Yesterday at 5:45 PM CDT

‘Dynacare sucks’: premier muses about bringing lab services back into public system

Carol Sanders 5 minute read Preview

‘Dynacare sucks’: premier muses about bringing lab services back into public system

Carol Sanders 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 7:45 PM CDT

Premier Wab Kinew says Manitoba may bring Dynacare’s diagnostic lab services back into the public system rather than continue to sign contracts with the for-profit company.

“Dynacare sucks. They’ve made an absolute mess of this situation,” the premier said Wednesday, the day the company’s 350 employees reported back to work after the labour board halted their strike after just one day.

Kinew first made the remark about Dynacare in a CBC radio interview Wednesday morning and added he is “not happy with them.”

Dynacare performs the majority of non-emergency blood and urine tests in the province.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 7:45 PM CDT

‘Huge resource gaps’: judge shortage leads to circuit court cuts

Dean Pritchard 4 minute read Preview

‘Huge resource gaps’: judge shortage leads to circuit court cuts

Dean Pritchard 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 6:33 PM CDT

A shortage of judges is forcing Manitoba’s provincial court to slash sittings across the province.

The court announced in a notice to the profession Wednesday that it will be reducing the number of annual court sittings at nine rural circuit locations and St. Boniface provincial court in Winnipeg by 68 sittings, effective April 1, 2027.

The reductions are necessary to balance “access to justice needs with the complement of judicial resources currently insufficient to maintain the current court schedule,” said the notice, signed by provincial court Chief Judge Ryan Rolston.

Affected circuit courts include Altona, Arborg, Beausejour, Easterville, Cranberry Portage, Lundar, Grand Rapids, Moose Lake, and Pine Falls.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 6:33 PM CDT

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read Preview

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

MOON ALERT: There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions today. The new moon is in Virgo.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

Discussions with partners and close friends will intensify in the next few weeks and financial discussions will favour you. In fact, money might come your way. The new moon is perfect for making resolutions to improve your health.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Read
2:00 AM CDT