Blooming show

The Home and Garden Show has grown to be one of the largest events in Northwestern Ontario because it offers the community a one-stop shop for housing needs, says the show’s co-chair.

Thousands headed towards the CLE grounds on Saturday for the 13th annual Spring Home and Garden Show. The show spread across most of the CLE buildings as well as in to the Sports Dome. With more than 250 exhibits, residents looked at all that was offered from garden art to lawn mowers.

"It is the largest show in Northwestern Ontario," Peter Mersch, co-chair of the Home and Garden Show, said. "Half of Thunder Bay is here so everyone else should be here as well. Anything that you can think of that has to do with the outside or inside of your home can be sought after."

While he kept the details of what’s in store for next year a secret, Mersch said they would continue to improve and change the show so it wouldn’t become boring.

"We don’t want to be stagnant," he said. "We want to excel."

The warmer Spring weather also contributed to the number of people who attended.

Linda Bruce and Heidi West took advantage of the nice weather to look at what the show had to offer. West admired the fake grass because she wouldn’t have to cut it but Bruce had her eye on the waterfall and stone carving displays.

Both women agreed that they enjoyed the show because of the variety of exhibits on display.
"It’s nice to see more exhibits this year," West said.

Norm Tetreault went to the show with his wife, Marsha. He said they wanted to get some ideas on how to improve their home.

"The wife has the ideas, I do the work," Tetreault said laughing. "We wanted to get some ideas for an outdoor project. It’s a good venue. Everything is in one place."

One exhibit that caught some attention was the LCR Estates Garden Centre natural stone garden bird sculptures.

Jeannine Ross, who works with LCR Estates, said they started the sculptures about three years ago as a way to create one of a kind gifts. Ross made some of the birds out of amethyst for the body and moose antler for the beak.

"People love them, especially tourists," Ross said. "They’re unique to Thunder Bay. The garden art is really popular because the trend is going back to natural products. That’s what people want. No two are exactly alike."