Festival...

Continued from 1

“Our volunteers just really coordinate almost everything out here,” Schmitz said. “They come up with special projects, children’s activities. We have a volunteer who runs our nature play area, and mud kitchen that’s down on the south end. We have an ambassador who has helped us propagate all of our plants and has taken care of all that. So, you know, I always say that our ambassadors are like the heart and soul of the garden.”

The Herb and Succulent Festival has grown to have everything from vendors to food trucks, the plant sale and children’s activities leaving multiple parking lots full this year.

Members of the Stillwater community, as well as vendors from different places, brought hand-made trinkets and home-grown plants and herbs for the public to admire and give a new home.

A lot of good business opportunities for the vendors stem from the revolving door of trendy items regarding plant life and gardening as well as jewelry and crystals. Kristen from Ponca City participated for her third time as a vendor at the festival here in Stillwater and said she greatly enjoys the traffic of people who come through the event.

“It’s such a cute event, the traffic’s always so good because they do so good putting it together,” Kristen said. “It really helps to get my name out there to the Stillwater people because it’s different traffic from what I get in Ponca [City] so it’s good marketing for me.”

The Herb and Succulent Festival at OSU’s Botanic Garden is able to come to life every spring because of donations and fundraisers that take place during these events. The money helps the event and also goes toward new improvements to the garden.

“A big opportunity is definitely to fundraise you know, every dollar that we bring in from these events goes straight back into the garden,” Schmitz said. “We’re either buying plants or we’re you know, able to prepare student workers for that, we’re able to have expansions of the gardens, things like that. It’s also really just a great way to get people out to see the gardens and know that they’re here, it brings a lot of attention and awareness.” news.ed@ocolly.com