Annual Community Event to Be Hosted by Knights of Columbus
The second annual Garden Fest is growing as the community event blossoms with more things to enjoy.
The 3-day event in April will be hosted by the Knights of Columbus 2319 in the rear parking lot at Holy Rosary Hall, 35 Queen St. S., Thorold.
In support of local charities, the sale will be open to the public on Friday, April 1, 4 pm – 8 pm, and run Saturday, April 2, 9 am – 5 pm, and wrap up on Sunday, April 3, 9 am – 2 pm.
This year the Walker Family Cancer Centre through the Niagara Health Foundation has been added to the group of charities to receive proceeds from the fundraising event. Garden Fest will also donate to the Special Olympics, St. Vincent de Paul Food Book, Wellspring Niagara. Overall, in its first year, our Garden Fest donated $4,100 to local charitable organizations in 2021.
Tony Scalzi, Grand Knight, Knights of Columbus 2319
Great Deals on Fertilizer
A wide variety of high-quality lawn and garden fertilizers will be on sale at Garden Fest. Fertilizer options will include
- 10-20-20
- 15-15-15
- Hi-Cal Nutralime
- Corn gluten
- 28-4-8 60% SCU
- 10-10-10.
Prices and pre-order forms for the sale will be available in mid-March.
The product mix will also offer the public a selection of compost donated by Walker Industries. Bags of compost will be available for a cash donation or non-perishable food items for the SVDP Food Bank. Premium grass seed supplied by Hydro Lakes Hydro Grass Seeding will be on sale.
Bottle Drive
To help keep the environment clean and safe, Garden Fest will also feature a bottle drive and used battery collection. The convenient drive-up in the parking lot will have K of C volunteers on site to assist donors to drop off donations.
The bottle drive is an opportunity to do our part to save the environment by dropping off beverage alcohol containers purchased in Ontario on which a deposit has been paid. All collected wine, beer, and spirit containers over 100ml have a deposit value of 10 or 20 cents. All proceeds from the collection will be donated to the Garden Fest charities.
Food Bank Drive
Garden Fest is an opportunity for everyone in our community to grow together and help our neighbours across Thorold continue to access the food they need. Non-perishable food items will be collected at Garden Fest to support the St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank in Thorold.
Most needed items include peanut butter, rice and pasta, canned stews and soups, canned meat and fish, juice boxes, lunch snacks, toiletries, and baby formula. Recipients are extremely grateful for the support that they receive through the SVDP Food Bank. The people in need welcome donations of safe, high- quality foods so that they can feed themselves and their households healthy, nutritious meals.
Barbecue on Saturday, April 2, 12 pm to 5 pm
A barbecue will be fired to up to grill hamburgers and hot dogs on sale Saturday from Noon to 5 pm.
Thanks to Garden Fest Sponsors
Financial support from our event sponsors helps the Knights cover expenses to run Garden Fest. This way all the net profits raised from the community sale can be donated to our charities. Thanks to Bocchinfuso Funeral Home, Big Red Market, and Henderson’s Pharmacy for their generous support.
As a group of Catholic men, the Knights volunteer to get things done in their community. In doing so, the Knights are guided by the principles of charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism. If you are interested in joining the Knights of Columbus 2319, please contact any member of our council including members of the Garden Fest event committee Paul Carfagnini, Tony Scalzi, Tim O’Brien or Bob Merrill.