Open Gate Garden and Art Tour returns in Dryden

A popular event in the Dryden area is making its triumphant return this year. The Dryden Open Gate Garden and Art Tour is back for the first time since 2018, said Cathy Wakeman, a member of the tour’s committee.

The tour will be held June 25 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in various parts of the Dryden Municipal District.

The committee attempted to hold the garden and art tour in 2020 and 2021, but the pandemic complicated preparation for the event, said Deb Holtz. Holtz is also a committee member and one of the participating gardeners.

Holtz, who noted the tour is usually held in late summer every year, added that this year’s event is the “earliest we’ve ever had it.”

“It’s just so lovely to have community events and to have neighbors together again,” Wakeman said. “It’s something to invite them to and to share. There’s so much beauty in this area.”

Four gardens will be on display during the event. The garden representatives include:
– Deb and Corwin Holtz, 30 Lewis St., Dryden
– Bob Bobnick, 8 Wall St., Dryden
– Kelly and Gene Ritter, 27 Mineah Rd., Freeville
– Mary Squyres, 383 Hurd Rd., Ithaca

Holtz mentioned that the event brings out a diverse set of people.

“We built up the tour this year to the point where people will finally know when it’s going to be,” Holtz noted of the anticipation of the event across the community.

The event will also include a plethora of musicians and artists. Music genres range from hammer dulcimer to bossa nova, blues, country western and more.

“We have a good range of musical styles,” Holtz said. “It’s kind of eclectic.”

As for artists, the event will include oil paintings, crafting jewelry and wind chimes, woodworking, pottery and more. The art will be for sale, Wakeman said.

Participating artists are Eugene Ritter, Carlton Manzano, Jacques Schickel, Joan Shroyer-Kend, Mark Roberson and Deborah Miller.

“One of the criteria for the artists [at the event] was garden, nature, outdoorsy or farming-type related work,” Holtz said.

Holtz noted the musicians will play from 11 a.m. to noon, while the artists will take part in the tour from beginning to end.

For the gardens, Holtz said the event is basically for those “who like to play in the dirt.”

“It’s for those who like to grow things,” she said. “It’s to encourage people to try this or that [with gardening].”

Wakeman noted that each garden “has a different focus.”

“The whole intent is to just show people what the gardeners are doing,” Holtz said. “It’s not meant to be something like what your garden should [look] like.”

Each gardener on the tour will receive a garden gate, Holtz noted.

“The gate is basically there to say, ‘This is what you get to see if you go beyond it,’” she added.

Tickets for the garden and art tour are $5 each. The event is free for children 12 and under.

Presale tickets are available at the Dryden Agway on 59 W. Main St., Dedrick’s Farm Market on 19 Cortland Rd., Arnold’s Flower Shop on 19 W. Main St. and Daisy Hollow Farm on 830 Daisy Hollow Rd. — all in Dryden.

Tickets will also be on sale the day of the tour at the municipal parking lot on George Street. Wakeman mentioned that shuttles will not be available for the event.

“It was a decision we made [based on the pandemic],” she added.

For more information, go to tinyurl.com/2gp8xp8c or the event’s Facebook page at “Dryden Open Gate Garden and Art Tour.”

Dryden Dispatch appears every Wednesday in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@VizellaMedia.com.

In brief:

Dryden Senior Citizens to meet June 13

The Dryden Senior Citizens (DSC) will meet for an indoor picnic on June 13 at the Veterans of Foreign Wars building on 2272 Dryden Rd. in Dryden.

The meeting will begin at 11:45 a.m., with lunch being served at 12:15 p.m. The lunch menu includes a hamburger or a hot dog on a roll, baked beans, macaroni salad, three-bean salad, tossed salad and an ice cream sundae.

The cost of the meal is $8 for members and $9 for nonmembers. The yearly DSC membership is $5, and the group meets the second and fourth Monday of each month. Anyone in the area 55 or older is welcome to join.

June’s meeting is the last meeting of the summer. The next DSC meeting is scheduled for Sept. 12.

June meetings held in the Dryden area

The Dryden Town Board will hold its abstract and agenda meeting on June 9 and its business meeting on June 16. Both meetings will begin at 6 p.m. at the Dryden Town Hall on 93 E. Main St.

The Dryden Village Board of Trustees is slated to meet at 7 p.m. June 15 at the Dryden Village Hall on 16 South St. The meeting will take place on the second floor of the building.

The Freeville Village Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet at 7:30 p.m. June 7 at the village hall on 5 Factory St.

Dryden Town Historical Society sale

Come shop at the Southworth Homestead in Dryden, 14 North St., for Dryden Town Historical Society’s annual “OP”portunity Sale. The sale runs June 3 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and June 4 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. On sale will be antiques, collectibles, housewares, toys, furniture, holiday items, small appliances and more.

All proceeds benefit the Southworth Homestead. For more information, visit drydennyhistory.org.