Written by Jan lee

This year, it will be 100 years since the Fillmore Flower Show began. However, there have not been 100 Flower Shows. There were a few years the show did not go on because of war. Another few years, there just weren’t enough workers to put the flower show together.

Linda Nunez shared the following information about how the Flower Show came back to life after a few years’ hiatus.

“In 2008, members of Vision 2020, Civic Pride Committee began to talk about the Fillmore Flower Show which began around 1919 just after WWI had ended in November, 1918.

Some members knew that this long standing annual event had continued into the late 1990’s under the sponsorship of the Fillmore Garden Club, until leadership waned and expenses climbed.

The committee searched for people who had been involved, records and albums that would describe all the planning necessary, as well as props, banners and bottles for the cut flowers that were supposedly stored in local barns.

We discovered a treasure of information in the meticulously kept scrapbook belonging to Conway Spitler, who had been a chairman of the event, working years with his wife Tillie, to produce this valued community event with the Garden Club members. We learned that the event was so well thought of, that Sunset Magazine even sent a photographer and writer to gather information for an article that was published in their magazine. And we fostered a new “friendship” and enthusiasm with another former flower show chairman and former president of the Garden Club, Joanne King.

She had a beautiful scrapbook and left over ribbons and props in her barn! As the word spread, we had many others contact us with vases in their barns and a desire to help bring back this well loved event!

This gathering enthusiasm enabled us to collect bottles (thanks Cindy Klittich and the Boy Scouts who washed them), to obtain judges’ commitments, to create brochures which Patrick Maynard formatted, to secure the Senior Center (Active Adult Center) and to line up helpers for all the many tasks from publicity, to set up, and clean up. Otto & Sons Nursery provided rose bushes for decoration and for sale which gave us a donation for each sale. Asher Smith, a local student, added ambiance with lovely melodies on the violin and mandolin for the 2009 & 2010 shows.

Through these last years, hundreds of gardening enthusiasts, young and old, have enjoyed displaying the “fruit” of their labor and creative skills in arranging displays, bouquets, and carefully groomed single stem cut flowers at the flower show. Live music continues to add ambiance.

Vision 2020, Civic Pride Committee is proud to have revived this tradition that helps people learn the pleasures of gardening, the pride of entering a show and the sustaining power of valuing the beauty around us.“

As you walk around the Flower Show this year, notice everything that is in the room. There is a dedicated group of volunteers who store, clean, haul, set up, take down and just generally work to make sure everything is ready for people to bring their flowers, plants and other creations to share with the public. It is truly a labor of love. And it is not just the Flower Show. The Civic Pride Committee also makes sure the planters around town have plants. They try to coordinate with the City if there are areas that needs to be “spruced up”. Fillmore is a beautiful city for many reasons. We hope many of you will join your neighbors at the Fillmore Flower Show, April 13 and 14, 2019 at the Active Adult Center on Santa Clara Street. Go to fillmoreflowershow.org for rules, times, divisions and photos.