The Power of One

I've been thinking a lot lately about the difference that one person can make in the lives of others, as well as in their community. My dad certainly proved that with his "outreach" to dahlia growers in the communities we lived in over the years. His main priority, after getting settled into our new home and his new job, was always to establish a dahlia society in the area. He would cruise around town in the summertime, eying the gardens and yards, to see if he could spot any dahlia gardens or even a few dahlia plants growing. Then, he would "boldly go where no man had gone before", marching up to the front doors of these unsuspecting gardeners, to introduce himself, and start talking dahlias. People who knew my dad would agree that he never met a stranger, and this was certainly the case with all these folks who opened their doors to Dad and their hearts to growing the best dahlias they could. By the time he passed away in 2006 at the age of nearly 86, he had been instrumental in the establishment of 3 different incarnations of dahlia societies in North Central Washington,as well as local ADS affiliates in Seattle and St. Paul, and was a founder of the Pacific Northwest Dahlia Conference. He was a leading member of the Snohomish Dahlia Society during the 1950s and 1960s. He also believed in public gardens, and whenever possible, took part in establishing these at his workplaces (Rocky Reach Dam, Great Northern properties in Monroe and Everett) and in his community (Emerson Street and Russell Street in Wenatchee). His commitment was to bring people together and encourage competitive growing and showing as well as improvement and development of this amazing flower.

During our lifetimes, I'm sure that we have all known people who have singlehandedly facilitated great change with exponential outcomes. One of these people is Bernie Wilson, a member of Snohomish County Dahlia Society. Bernie has been a a friend of NCW Dahlia society ever since its inception, having judged for us on numerous occasions. I stopped by Bernie's garden last weekend to pick up some tubers that he was sharing with us, and had a chance to chat with him a little, and pick his brain about "all things dahlia." Bernie's involvement with our club came out of his friendship with Dad, and I was curious about how Dad had first come to know him. Bernie is closer to my age than he is to Dad's, so I had to ask him how they met. It seems that Bernie's father worked for the Great Northern RR, as Dad did, and from time to time, he would go with his dad to Monroe, where Dad was in charge of the greenhouses for the railroad. He also had extensive dahlia gardens on that property, and Bernie remembers going to the gardens, and walking through the greenhouses as a boy. Later, as an adult in Snohomish, Bernie bought some property down the street from an older lady that also knew Dad. She gave Bernie a few dahlia tubers to plant in his garden, and from there on, he was hooked. He joined the Snohomish County Dahlia Society in 1970, and although Dad was living in Wenatchee at that time, he still participated in shows and visited with the growers over on the westside. He and Bernie became good friends and fellow growers, exchanging tips and tubers, even seedlings. Dad had a lot of respect for Bernie, and Bernie has since been a great support for our club. It was his idea for our club to have a tuber auction as a fundraiser, and he took the lead in soliciting donations of tubers from other Snohomish County growers. These tubers were very special to us, many of which are first or second year introductions, show winners, and ADS award winners. After gathering up all the tubers, he boxed them up and sent them over to Wenatchee. His idea spurred our members on to donate some special tubers of their own, and by the end of the auction on Thursday night, we had made $331.00 that we wouldn't have otherwise had. We also had two guests at the auction who picked up some special tubers, which they will grow in their yards, and possibly even show, if they turn out nice enough. Our mission of promoting the showing, growing and enjoyment of dahlias in NCW was supported at every level by this auction, all due to Bernie's idea and his willingness to pull it all together for us. Oh, and while I was at his garden, he also shared a bunch of his own tubers with us to sell at our April 30 Tuber Sale - some very nice flowers.....Whatta guy!

We have been having some more springlike days, although it continues to hover around freezing at night. We have a work party scheduled for this Wednesday, and I'm looking forward to having a whole day with other club members, getting things ready for the sale. I've been spending a lot of hours getting the tubers from our DeRooy Gardens on Russell Street, as well as those from my own garden organized, and ready for the sale. I'm itchin' to get things planted, but it still just too darn cold, so playing around with tubers, sawdust and marking pencils makes me feel like I am involved, eagerly anticipating the day when I can dig the holes and set the stakes - that day can't come soon enough for me!