Gala Kicks Off State’s Flower Extravaganza

By LARRY SINGER
Index-Journal staff writer

Under a clear sky, and with the blessing of an occasional cool breeze, about
150 guests gathered Friday evening in the garden of the president’s house on
the Lander University campus for the garden gala kickoff fundraiser for the
40th annual South Carolina Festival of Flowers.

The event was unique for several reasons.

“This is the 40th anniversary of the festival, but this is the first garden
gala,” said Kathryn Smith, event chairwoman of the festival gala.
“Marge Ball, the wife of the president of Lander, was gracious enough to
agree to be the honorary chair and offer her yard for the event.”
Behind the house, a massive display of blooms was assembled in one long line
of vivid and varied colors.

“We had 13 greenhouse nurseries and florists donate the planters that are on
display in the amphitheater for silent auction bidding,” Smith said. “There
are 13 different styles, themes and varieties of flowers that are just
gorgeous.”

In addition to the flowers, a silent auction took place to sell a variety of
art pieces that won in previous festival shows. This year the festival will feature performances in a variety of music styles including bluegrass, jazz, beach, chorale and gospel.
The festival will have a variety of children’s activities and sporting
events, including airplane rides, railroad museum tours, Kidfest and Emerald
Farms. Visit our Craftsmen’s Fair, Juried Art Show and Photography
Exhibition. Sporting events will include a fishing tournament, a swim meet, a 5K fun
run, golf tournaments, a bike ride through Greenwood County and an
Olympic-distance triathlon.

In his fourth year as chairman of the South Carolina Festival of Flowers,
Ruple Harley Jr. is familiar with the history of the annual event.
“The festival started 40 years ago as an idea of the Park Seed company,
which was having an annual flower day,” Harley explained. “At that time it
was held in July and the Chamber of Commerce said we ought to get together
and have a festival of flowers. However, July is the hardest time to grow
flowers because of the heat. That’s how the festival was born.”
Currently, more than 60 events are scheduled during the entire month of
June.

“Tonight is our first event, a kickoff, and one event that we’ve never had
before,” Harley said. “This is actually a fundraiser to raise money for the
festival. This is the first time the festival has had a fundraiser during
the festival.” One of Harley’s goals as chairman was to emphasize the importance of blooms
in 2007.

“It was my goal this year to try and put the flower back in the flower
festival, so we’re emphasizing gardens and this like that,” Harley said.
“Uptown is going to have a lot of floral attractions, and we have all these
floral attractions that people can put in their yards. Because this is a
brand-new event tonight, we don’t have a clue as to how much money it will
bring in. I would like to raise two or three thousand dollars. We’re almost
sold out of tickets for this event this evening. We’ve got like 10 tickets
left, out of 150, so we’re really excited.”

As chairman of an event that stretches over 30 days in a variety of venues,
Harley credits its success to the people who give their time to the events.
“The whole key to the festival … are the volunteers and the support that
Greenwood gives us,” Harley said. “It wouldn’t exist without that.”