The Topeka Area 2019 Pond Tour is back this weekend
The Topeka Area Water Garden Society’s (TAWGS) 28th annual Pond Tour 2019 is this Saturday, June 29th from 9am-4pm & Sunday, and June 30th from noon-4pm. Attendees will have an opportunity to visit seven area water gardens on a two-day tour that will showcase ponds, streams, falls, and fountains.
“This year’s tour will feature five homeowner ponds, one (pond) at the V.A. Hospital that the Topeka Area Water Garden Society built fifteen years ago, and some (water features) at Ward-Meade Park that we have worked extensively with the county on for a number of years,” said Jim Mowder, treasurer of the Topeka Area Water Garden Society.
Several of the houses on the tour will be open to the public for a nighttime stroll.
“People are always attracted to the sights and sounds of the water,” said Mowder. “These days with all of the low-voltage LED lighting, these lights can go underneath the water so they’re down in the pond where your fish are swimming around or on top of your waterfalls or around your perimeters… Those really light up well. There’s a lot of neat features.”
This year, all the proceeds from the Pond Tour are going to Kay’s Garden at the Topeka Zoo, which was established by former TAWGS’ member, Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Kay McFarland. It was her dream to leave a legacy gift of a world-class Japanese garden in the capital city of the state she served.
“This year, everything that we make on the tour is going to go to the benefit of Kay’s Garden,” said Mowder. “The Japanese garden is going to be a $6.5 million investment that’s going to cover two acres near the parking lot of the Zoo. It’s going to have a very elaborate water garden, which kind of fits right into what we try to promote and we’re, also, always interested in promoting Topeka and this will be a big draw to Topeka.”
For more information about Pond Tour 2019, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/340926466571445/354793405184751/?notif_t=admin_plan_mall_activity¬if_id=1561723203751410.
