41 RHS student volunteers logged 113 hours; 40 adult volunteers logged who knows how many hours; 8 host families likely worked hundreds more hours preparing for this event. Senior Principal Ramiro Lucio's Interact Club volunteers were terrific RHS Ambassadors the day of the tour. RHS Orchestra members provided an hour of beautiful music in the Cooke backyard. What a treat for our tourists in that gorgeous setting! We thank the RHS Orchestra directors and booster club, especially Trish Acosta and her daughter Samantha Jimenez for organizing this wonderful entertainment.
The Backdoor Garden Tour exceeded our expectations. Not only was it an event that renewed old friendships, created new ones, and got folks out walking the neighborhood like a scene down Wisteria Lane, but it provided us with a view into 8 visionaries' art in living color. A family's yard gives us a view of their passion and personality, and our eight great host families have plenty of both. This collection of gardens will be hard to top in years to come.
In addition, we exceeded fundraising expectations for our senior class. With approx. 550 tickets sold/distributed, 250 bottles of water and a table full of baked yummies sold, one Calloway's decorated pumpkins auctioned, and 7 wonderful underwriting businesses, we netted $4,750.00! That is more than double any one Eagle Flight fundraiser ever. We estimate that approx. 400 tourists visited the gardens, and EVERYONE enjoyed it immensely. No complaints. How rare!
Special recognition goes to Cathey and Catelin Welch who took a HUGE behind the scenes role. They solicited a majority of the underwriting, totally organized Carl's Cafe with lots of baking and cute food wrapping, sold tickets, and donated the massage gift certificates and extra goodies for the gift baskets. They are directly responsible for over $1,000 of the fundraising effort.
The NeighborsGo cover story was our saving grace, thanks to Kathy Schneider and Carl Youngberg. Kathy also served as editor of the Tour Guide stories about our host homes, and she and her senior Gary outsold all other seniors. Carl was my biggest promoter and got the word out to hundreds far and wide. And, he and David McNair put on a great after party poolside. Thank you.
With lots of notes to pass on to next year's senior class Eagle Flight Committee, we hope this is a new tradition for years to come. One final note... if you have suggestions, please pass them on to us. It's hard to improve on perfection... for goodness sake, we even had fresh picked vegetables from the Halff garden on our garden tour.
Thanks to all who donated water, time, encouragement, smiles, food for the after party, your homes and hospitality. The Class of 2009 students and parents thank you for helping to keep them safe graduation night, one of the most deadly nights of the year for teenagers.
Shout Out to Inaugural Year Host Families:
Melanie and Steve Brown, parents of Julia, Class of 2010 and Clare, RHS Alumnae
Barbara and Ed Garahan, parents of 4 grown daughters
Theresa and Phil Halff, parents of Phillip, Class of 2009
Carl Youngberg and David McNair, parent of Erin and Morgan McNair, RHS Alumni
Cindy and Ben Fry, parents of Christy and Matt, RHS Alumni
Carla and Rob Cline, parents of Christian, Class of 2010, Garrett, Class of 2011, and Ryan, RHS Alumnae
Laurie and Jay Cooke, parents of Chase, Class of 2012, and Christin and Chandler, RHS Alumni
Glenda and Harry Kranz, parents of Katie and Sophie, RHS Alumni