Garden fun for a good cause

A green thumbs delight.

GREEN THUMBS: Visitors were treated to a stunning garden at the Warra Spring time in the Garden day on Saturday. Picture: Brooke Duncan

NOTHING says spring time better than blooming flowers in green gardens.

While it's delightful just to get out and soak it all in with friends, it's even better when those garden parties are aimed at supporting a good cause.

The Jandowae Uniting Church did just that on Saturday.

The church held a Spring time in the Garden event at Jeff and Marilyn Bidstrup's Warra property, which was organised to support both the Leichhardt Patrol and Jandowae Kindergarten.

The Leichhardt Patrol is a ministry running between Goondiwindi, Taroom, Chinchilla, Surat, and Yuleba.

Jandowae Uniting Church's Coral Brownhall said after deciding to hold a garden party to support the two groups, the next decision was figuring out where to hold it.

"Marilyn Bidstrup is a very close friend of mine and I lived next door to her for many years and she just said 'well, if you want to have a garden party why don't you have it in my garden silly girl', and it just snowballed and this is where we've ended up.”

Despite 23ml of rain the night before the day turned out beautifully, as the vibrant garden, delicious food, and fantastic stalls drew in a crowd.

"Marilyn's worked really hard to get her garden ship shape... we were really worried about people getting bogged and all that sort of thing but it's all turned out so it's really wonderful,” Mrs Brownhall said.

The event featured talks by a couple of garden gurus, multi-draw raffles, lunch, a look at some vintage cars, and an address by the Leichhardt Patrol's Graham Slaughter.

Rev Slaughter said he appreciated the ongoing support of the Jandowae Uniting Church, which often provided fresh drinking water for him to take to those in areas where water wasn't potable.

"Every now and then a load appears and I distribute it, so I've appreciated their support very much,” he said.

Rev Slaughter also leads worship in small churches around the region.

"And then I visit on properties and work with people in different things,” he said.

"I go to cattle sales and all sorts of things, and just connect with other people.”

Both Rev Slaughter and Mrs Brownhall were pleased with the turnout, and thankful for the volunteers who made the day possible.

"I'm just overwhelmed by the support that we've had and all the workers who've turned up to help us out, because we're only a small congregation but we've got lots of helpers and friends and family so it's all just wonderful,” Mrs Brownhall said.

Originally published as Garden fun for a good cause