By Jon Johnson
THATCHER – Most people know about the Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center Auxiliary’s Christmas House, but did you know the group also holds a spring fundraiser?
The Festival du Jardin (or garden party) will be Saturday, April 28, in the backyard of 3210 W. Coyote Ln. in Thatcher from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. The residence is just off Robinson Ranch Road between 8th Street and Golf Course Road.
According to Honey Marchetti, MGRMC Auxiliary historian and public relations chairperson, the event will be a splendid time where visitors will find numerous lovely items for sale, including yard art and garden crafts, yard games, plants and flower pots with solar lights, baked items, and lemonade. She said the purpose was to have an event like the Christmas House but held in the spring. Unlike the Christmas House, there will be no entrance fee, but Marchetti encourages those who attend to remember to bring their wallets to purchase the items as all proceeds go to the auxiliary. Additionally, there will be $1 raffle tickets for three different items, including a yard cart, Mexican turtle, and metal flowers.
“The idea here was to have something to do that wasn’t at the Christmas holiday,” Marchetti said. “We were looking for something that wasn’t at Christmas to have something for the community to do at a different time of year.”
According to the MGRMC website, the auxiliary purchased more than $30,000 worth of equipment for the hospital in 2015 and has purchased more than $725,000 worth of patient care equipment since its inception. Marchetti said the last pieces of equipment the auxiliary purchased for the hospital was a microscope that can send what it sees directly to a patient’s medical record and allows a doctor to view the results from wherever he or she may be.
“We bought it and it’s been so successful that they came back and said, ‘Can we have another one?’ We were only too happy to say yes,” Marchetti said.
So ladies, don your favorite garden hat, gentlemen, dust off those ascots and join the festivities while helping a good cause that helps everyone in the community by attending the Festival du Jardin on Saturday, April 28, from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.
