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County Fair plant sale raises record funds

Originally published in The Chief Vol. 132

August 4, 2023

WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.

The 2023 Columbia County Fair and Rodeo has come and gone, but the proceeds from its annual plant sale will help support the fair and fairgrounds for months to come.

The annual plant sale features a beautiful variety of flowers and plants grown by Means Nursery in Scappoose, and the proceeds go directly back into supporting the fair and its programs.

Plant sale at the fair

Debbie Ritthaler helps facilitate the plant sale, and this year, the plant sale raised $60,805. The plant sale was originally started in 2008, and Ritthaler said that this year was the most money the sale has ever raised. Ritthaler explained how and why Means Nursery began the sale.

“To help the youth and different programs in the fairgrounds,” Ritthaler said. “Gina and Jim Means had kids in the 4-H program, and so they wanted to find a way to help the fair and different programs at the fair, and so they came up with this idea, they’re the ones who own Means Nursery.”

Means Nursery supplies all of the flowers and plants for sale and specially grows and prices each of the items. Putting on the sale takes a lot of time and effort, and the sale has only expanded

over the years.

“It is priced, sometimes half or even less what they charge in retail, and they bring it out, help us set it up, and sometimes even restock stuff for us,” Ritthaler said. “We have to get so many volunteers; now it’s turned into a two-week sale; it used to be a five-day sale. But when COVID hit, there was no fair in 2020, so we just did the plant sale, and it started this whole thing where we have the plant sale the week before, and then we continue it the week of fair.”

Ritthaler said that putting on the sale takes a lot of teamwork. Ritthaler works part-time at Means Nursery, but she said that when the plants arrive for sale, she doesn’t know what inventory she’ll have until the plants are rolling up on the truck.

This year there were four semi-trucks and two box trucks full of plants on donation day. Over the full two weeks, Ritthaler said there were about 40 volunteers between the fair and plant sale staff. To help unload the plants, Ritthaler said there were about 20 people there to help unload and set up.

When the sale starts, people flock to the sale to get their favorite items. The most popular item is usually the hanging baskets, which come at a major discount from the retail price.

“The first day of the sale, everyone and their mother comes out, and their grandmother and their grandfather; it’s crazy,” Ritthaler said. “Up until this year, the hanging baskets have always

been $10, and that’s always been the big draw. This is the first year that they’ve had to raise the prices on the hanging baskets, but you know what? It didn’t slow them down one bit. We still sold every hanging basket we had out there, and we had hundreds!”

Ritthaler said that during the pandemic, the plant sale “exploded” in popularity. Ritthaler said that a lot of people found a passion for gardening as they were stuck at home, and the reasonable prices and supporting the fair are just more of a reason to support the fair.

Growth and generosity

The plant sale’s popularity has grown exponentially over the past couple of years, but so has the amount of money raised. Ritthaler said in the first year of the sale, they raised somewhere

between $15-18,000. The more than $60,000 they raised this year is just another indicator of the sale’s popularity. While the sale is a fixture of the fair each year now, Ritthaler feels that Gina and Jim Means deserve recognition for their generous contribution.

“I just think the whole thing is amazing that they do this, and they’ve done it for so many years, and they never get the recognition,” Ritthaler said. “And I know they don’t do it for the recognition; that’s not at all why they wanted to do it, but I just think it’s amazing.”

When it started, the sale was intended to supplement premiums for 4-H members and open class participants. Shortly after the plan was set into motion, Means Nursery was informed the fair itself lacked the necessary funds to continue operations.

Wanting to support the fair, Means Nursery agreed to allow the Fair Board to use part of the funds for continued operations with the understanding that a portion would be utilized for premiums, fairground improvements, and open class supervisors.

The money raised will help update the pressing needs of the aging fairgrounds. Fair Board President Peggy Howell said there are key projects that need funding.

“At this time, there are 7 barns in need of new roofs, the bid a couple of years ago was $56K a roof, and we know the price has gone up since then,” Howell said. “There are many more repairs and improvements needed at our aging fairgrounds.”

Howell said the plant sale is the fair’s biggest fundraiser, and every penny

is critical to improving the aging infrastructure at the fairground. Like Ritthaler, Howell sees Jim and Gina Means as unsung heroes for the fair.

“Means have just been so generous with their product and their people and their knowledge,” Howell said. “I don’t know that people know, or that they get enough praise, because they are pretty special.”

In addition to expressing appreciation for Jim and Gina and Means Nursery, Howell also said that the work Debbie Ritthaler and her husband Don do to make the plant sale a reality is also commendable.

“Debbie and her husband Don, the hours they put in, they’re just tireless; I can’t even believe it, how much they are able to do and keep on doing,” Howell said. “They’re the real heroes out there.”

While getting the sale prepped and ready to go is a massive undertaking, Ritthaler and Means Nursery do the work because they recognize the value the fair offers the community.

“I totally think it brings people together. It gives families something to do. I know it’s just during the summertime, but they get out, they see each other,” Ritthaler said. “It’s cool just to get to visit; it’s neat. It just brings them together.”

For information on donating to the Columbia County Fair and Rodeo, visit https://www.columbiacountyfairgrounds.com/p/ get-involved/donations.

WildFlower aims to help kids flourish

Originally published in

The Chronicle Vol. 141 August 2, 2023

WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.

Aproject started by five local moms is coming into bloom as WildFlower Play Collective celebrated its one-year anniversary and kicked off a big fundraiser with a ribbon cutting from the South Columbia County Chamber of Commerce.

WildFlower Play Collective is a member based 501c3 organization that aims to provide an indoor playground for families with young children. It has been made possible by grants from Columbia Pacific CCO’s Community Wellness Investment Fund.

Situated in an old school house at 58751 South Bachelor Flat Road in St. Helens, the charming and warm environment is perfect for kids 0-6 to play. Leasing the 100-year-old schoolhouse was made possible through a partnership with the St. Helens School District.

Emilia Ponti is a founder and Executive Director of WildFlower Play Collective; she is a mother of two and co-owner of Cloudcap Mushrooms, a culinary mushroom farm in St Helens. Ponti was inspired to start the project when she struggled to find places in the area to take her children to play.

“We’re the only indoor playground in Columbia County. People would have to drive 30 miles to access any kind of indoor play,” Ponti said. “It’s really important to have a place that we can, basically, build community and meet for playdates and just let kids get their yayas out.”

An indoor playground is critical, especially in the cold, wet winter months when outdoor playgrounds aren’t a very comfortable option for parents and their kids. The indoor playground is accessible to members

from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily and runs on a staffless model. Members are free to drop in during regular hours, and the guardians or parents accompanying the kids are responsible for supervision.

The space is equipped with educational toys, an indoor play structure, a play kitchen, baby dolls, dressup clothes, trains, an art room, and a “Share Closet” where other families can reuse clothing and gear donated by members.

Coping with COVID

In 2018, spurred by the lack of opportunities for children’s play spaces, Ponti connected with other moms on Facebook to put together a plan. In early 2019, Ponti and four other mothers entered the St. Helens Economic Development Corporation (SHEDCO) business plan competition in St. Helens.

“We made a business plan, started a non-profit -with the help of local CPA Dan Garrison- and we decided to model our program on a successful community play-space in St. Johns,” Ponti said. “In September of

that year, we were awarded our first grant from Columbia Pacific CCO, but finding a suitable space for our program took us six more months!”

Finally, when they were only two weeks from their grand opening, COVID shut down the world, and the plans for the play space had to be put on hold, and the toys and play structures went into storage.

“I joined in later after they’d already had the initial idea. But I was definitely one of those moms raising kids in Columbia County, remodeling a house with nowhere to play other than the library. It’s definitely filling a need,” Board Member Kandace Manning said. “COVID shut down a lot of resources for kids.”

Ponti said that one of the lessons learned through COVID was the importance of socializing for kids, and when the project finally got going as things opened back up, the community showed how great that need was.

Covid showed everyone the importance of social connection for mental health, but connection and support are especially crucial for families with young

children. Every parent truly understands that it does ‘take a village to raise a child,’” Ponti said. “Clearly, we are filling a need; we had 130 families sign up for a membership in the first three months we were open without any advertising.”

WildFlower Play Collective membership operates on a sliding scale, with the goal being that the space is accessible to all without financial barriers. For new members, there is a $25 registration fee, and memberships range from $25 a month to $55 a month. There are also Columbia Pacific CCO grant-funded free memberships available to those with financial limitations.

“We want to partner with our business community to offer free memberships to low-income families because we want every family experiencing early childhood to have access to indoor play,” Ponti said.

The idea is that members can pay what is comfortable for them; however, people who select a plan for $35 and over actually help support those who are paying a lower fee. Through this sliding scale, the play area

is open to more families and keeps WildFlower sustainable.

“That goes into the village component. We’re trying to all do this together,” Manning said. “And that’s the other aspect of WildFlower; building a village, supporting each other in memberships, supporting each other in parenting.”

Seeking support

Now, almost a full year into the project, WildFlower Play Collective is facing a substantial challenge. The old schoolhouse they are based out of has no air conditioning, and the heat in the building is causing membership to drop.

Families have been less inclined to use the space as the blistering summer heat can cause the building to sometimes get up to 90 degrees during the heat of the day.

“It’s a safety issue that we don’t have AC. Don’t want any little people getting heat stroke. It can get up to 90 degrees in here because we can’t leave the doors open because it’s a secure space,” Ponti said. To address this issue,

WildFlower has started a fundraising initiative to try and raise $16,000 that would see the building fitted with two ductless heat-pump systems. While the model itself is self-sustaining, high costs like new air conditioning put a strain on the organization.

While the AC project is a high priority, one of the other components that is important is building community partnerships. On Thursdays at 9:30 a.m., they host a drop-in, free (open to non-members) postpartum support group, a partnership with Baby Blues Connection, and they are partnering with Columbia Health Services to offer a free 20-week parenting class.

“Our deeper vision is really about building community, supporting families with young children, supporting families through early childhood, and hopefully preventing adverse childhood experiences,” Ponti said. “That’s the heart and soul of the project; to prevent harm.

Courtesy photo from Debbie Ritthaler

The plant sale at the Columbia County Fair raised more than $60,000 this year.

Will Lohre / Country Media, Inc.

Emilia Ponti and her children cut the ribbon during a celebration at the play space July 31.

Will Lohre / Country Media, Inc.

Children frolic on the play structure in the old school house turned play ground.

FARM AUCTION ALLISON ROAD DAIRY