Minnetrista Cultural Center Garden Fair

 

 

2008 Garden Fair - Rain or Shine!
 
The Ball® Brand participated in the Garden Fair at the Minnetrista Cultural Center in Muncie, Indiana the weekend of June 6th. The Garden Fair is an annual event that is free to the community and brings in more than 3,000 people from East Central Indiana. This “growing” event is a way to bring garden-minded people together in one place for free advice, gardening information and tips, how-to demonstrations, garden tours, and a chance to peruse several vendors selling hearty plants, luscious flowering baskets and garden-related products.
 
The Garden Fair started off Saturday on a very wet Spring morning. Even with the pounding rain and thunderstorms, about 1500 people showed up, red wagons in tow, to get the very best plants and baskets – you have to get there early they say! Plus, no one wanted to miss the first farmers’ market of the year which was happening simultaneously a few feet away.
 
While braving the elements, we still had many visitors to our booth throughout the day.
 

Each person received a packet of free stuff including:
 
  • $1.00 off coupon on any two Ball Plastic Freezer Jars, $1.00 off coupon for any Ball or Kerr Glass Preserving Jars, 10% off Complete Book of Home Preserving (at local gift shop)
  • Freezing brochure promoting NEW Freezer Storage Containers and Jars with recipes, tips and more!
  • Strawberry recipe brochure featuring all four Ball® Pectin products
  • Kitchen magnet with our web site and 800 number for fresh preserving questions and information
  • Opportunity to sign up for our free E-newsletter
    

 
 
    
Not only could people visit us at the booth, but they could watch us in action while we performed a live 30-demonstration on how-to make Strawberry Freezer Jam. This was just one of many demonstrations in the educational programming tent. With everyone trying to get under cover and out of the rain, we had a crowd of people waiting around the demo stage to watch. Afterward, everyone could sample the freshly made jam (with many of them coming back for seconds!).

 

With Saturday’s activities dwindling down, our hope was for a rain-free Sunday. We got our wish! Sunday’s blue skies and sunshine made for a perfect garden fair day, and gave us a chance to greet many more visitors at our booth.
 
 

 

 

Cooking in the Courtyard
 

In addition to Garden Fair, we had the opportunity to not only sponsor but also attend the kick-off dinner, Cooking in the Courtyard, on the evening of June 6th. This enchanting multi-course dinner prepared by chefs from the American Culinary Federation was quaintly located in the garden courtyard for refreshing ambience.
 
When we arrived to the Orchard Shop Courtyard, we sampled recipes from the Ball® Complete Book of Home Preserving, including orange rhubarb chutney and roasted red pepper spread. It was very warm out, so we helped ourselves to a glass Ball® jar filled with ice cold strawberry lemonade and entered the tent.
    

 

 Once everyone was seated, the chefs introduced themselves and began preparing our meal. As they took us through the step-by-step process of each recipe, guests were encouraged to ask questions, as well as volunteer to assist the chefs. One of our interns even had the chance to help prepare our meal! Throughout dinner, glass Ball® jars were used as serving dishes from drinking glasses and dipping saucers to soup bowls. We ate our delicious dessert with Diamond®  Renew™ Dinnerware and were given a complimentary box of
cutlery to take home as well.
 
  

 

Thanks to Minnetrista Cultural Center for giving us the opportunity to play such a large part in the Garden Fair and Cooking in the Courtyard events. We look forward to working with you on many more exciting events throughout this year.
 
Sincerely,
 

The Ball® Garden Fair Team