The Tracy Area Gardens and Quilts Tour is back, and every tour site this year is in Tracy
By Per Peterson
COVID-19 was a pesky weed that choked out the 2020 Tracy Area Gardens and Quilts Tour, but the popular event is back in full force this year and will have a noticeable distinction: Every home on this year’s tour is located in Tracy.
“It’s a return to Tracy,” said Becky Averill, one of the event organizers.
“We were in the Garvin area in ’19,” said Elise Lanoue, another organizer. “That was a great event, but it’s good to have all the gardens this year in Tracy.”
Averill, along with Lanoue, Denise Weedman and Jolynn Johns are all very glad the July 7 event will make a return after 2020.
“We’re excited to bring people together,” Johns said. “With COVID being behind us, we’re just happy that our area can do this and bring people in and see what Tracy is all about.”
Having all the stops on this year’s tour in town is no coincidence. Averill said the original plan when the tour started was to have four stops — north, east, south and west of Tracy.
“We never went east, because we didn’t know of enough gardens,” Averill said.
The tour has blossomed over the years — in Tracy and in the surrounding area.
“It’s went over quite well — we draw a nice crowd from all over,” Johns said. “We have people from South Dakota, the Twin Cities, Iowa. It has really expanded.”
This is the sixth anniversary of the event, which is now sponsored by the St. Mary’s CCW after four years of Kiwanis backing. It is also receiving financial support from Catholic United Financial this year. The quilt aspect of the tour has been in place since the event’s inception.
See this week’s Headlight Herald for more on this article.