Dinner to raise money for flowers planted around Geneva

With the layer of snow currently blanketing the area, it's nice to remember the beautiful blooms that grace so many of our intersections and streets.

They'll be back. All those flowers will brighten our town once more.

In the meantime, we can do something to make that future beauty possible.

It's the "Pasta for Posies" all-you-can-eat spaghetti supper, set for 5 to 8 p.m. Feb. 27 at Riverview Banquets on Route 25 in Batavia.

Diners will enjoy spaghetti, served with sauce created from an old recipe from one of the members of the Knights of Columbus Batavia-Geneva Council 2191, olive oil donated by the Olive Mill store, salad and bread.

Organizers are asking for donations of homemade goodies for dessert, which may be dropped off at the club anytime after noon Feb. 27. Gardening expert Mary Stavenhagan also will dish dirt about seeds, plants and gardens.

Cost is $10 for adults and $5 for children. There will be a cash bar.

Carpooling is encouraged, as some of last year's prospective diners couldn't find parking.

This is the second annual pasta dinner to benefit the Geneva Beautification Committee, the all-volunteer organization of more than 150 residents and business owners and employees who plant and maintain more than 50 gardens in Geneva's business district.

The committee's work has caught the attention of more than just those who live and visit Geneva. The group, which gives more than 4,000 hours to plant and tend the gardens, in November received a Governor's Home Town Award.

While volunteers by and large supply the elbow grease, and the organization does receive some donated plants and seeds, the closing of area greenhouses -- especially the Geneva Greenhouse -- has hit the group hard, said organizer Dorothy Flanagan.

"Geneva Greenhouse used to give us (many of) our flowers," she said. "That's the reason to try to raise money."

Thus, the approximately $5,000 raised from last year's dinner all went to buy three seasons of flowers. Last year, "just to buy pansies was $3,000 to $4,000," she said.

The 14 or so people who organize and coordinate the volunteers used to be primarily a "roll up your sleeves and get dirty" group, Flanagan said. "But now we have to get into fundraising, too."

Flanagan praised the people who come out and plant, weed, trim and deadhead the beds of flowers. Where beds aren't irrigated, volunteers -- from a family to groups of five or even 10 people -- also water. They also remove plants when the season is over.

"It's such a great feeling to see all those people out on Saturdays doing the planting," she said. "There's a lot of activity in the downtown, and people passing by come over and thank you. It's very rewarding."

You can purchase benefit dinner tickets at Farmer's Insurance, 316 W. State St.; Geneva Chamber of Commerce, 5 S. Third St.; Geneva History Center, 113 S. Third St.; Graham's 318, 318 S. Third St.; the Olive Mill, 315 James St. and Viking Office Supply, 124 W. State St. Call (630) 208-9453 or visit www.plantgeneva.org.