Family, fun and togetherness are at the heart of Artful Arrangements’ Down Home Day, an event celebrating the centennial of a 4-acre Penngrove homestead on Sunday, May 31.
The home at 205 Orchard Lane was built in 1915 on a parcel split from acreage that fronted Washoe House Road (now Stony Point Road). Artist and author Diane Davis established her business, Artful Arrangements, on the property in 2007. She came up with the idea of celebrating the homestead’s 100th anniversary as a way of bringing people, especially families, together to enjoy a day together as a community.
Down Home Day is free, open to the public and geared toward old-fashioned fun with games, activities, contests, tours, photos, food and live music for all ages.
“There’s something for everyone in the family,” said Davis, who propagates plants on site and is a member of Sonoma County Farm Trails and the Sonoma County Farm Bureau. Her purpose is unique in that instead of cut flowers, she specializes in living plant arrangements.
“Everyone loves flowers, but they die and you have to throw them out,” she said. “Living plant arrangements live for awhile. When you accept a living plant from a loved one, you’re accepting responsibility, and with that responsibility comes a reward. Someone you loved gave you this living thing to remind you of them.”
In addition to propagating plants, Artful Arrangements operates as an event center and helps children, families and aligned nonprofits through donations and hosting child-centered programs and activities with a focus on agriculture. Some of the many nonprofits she supports through Artful Arrangements include 4-H of Sonoma County and the Petaluma Educational Foundation.
“The thing that’s important to me is to remind parents to spend time with their children when they’re little,” she said. “We keep putting that off until next week and before you know it, the years have gone by. The window of opportunity for influence has gone by. I love creating economical opportunities for parents to bring their kids over to my place and let them plant a plant to take home. It’s just something that’s important to me.”
She considers Artful Arrangements to be a nonprofit, and she hopes to seek official 501c3 nonprofit status for Artful Arrangements in the near future. Though Down Home Day is not a fundraiser, David said that any profit made above expenses during the event from donations will be given to Harvest Christian School in Petaluma.
“I’m not out to make money for myself,” she said. “That’s not why I do it.”
Down Home Day will feature live music in a 142-seat amphitheater Davis had built on the property earlier this year. Scheduled to perform are Petaluma-band Hot Grubb from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and The Spyralites from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m., with a drop-in by country singer Scott Gerber.
Children’s entertainment will be held in the garden and feature James K from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; and Los Guachis from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
There will be games at $1 each, such as an egg toss, a hugs and kisses booth, best hat photo contest, homestead coloring, a self-guided tour map of the homestead, pet photos, cutest baby photos and other activities. Game prizes have all been donated by local merchants.
Preferred Sonoma Caterers will be serving lunches. The cost is $10 adults and $7 for kids.
The event’s main highlight is the Portal of Time art installation, which will be held at 10:30 a.m. The Portal of Time is a 12-foot-diameter wreath Davis created out of redwood branches from the property and is located near a kiosk displaying the homestead’s history. Davis said that the portal is a symbol for the passage of time - from the past into the future.
“When I envisioned ‘The Portal of Time,’ I saw it as a symbol to help people recognize the importance of giving each choice in life due consideration, so the decision made would be a responsible one,” said Davis. “The present is such a thin slice of time. The past is stacked behind us and the future is in front of us. We only have today and the future unfolds based on the decisions we make today.”
Admission to Down Home Day is free. The public, including pets, are welcome.
For more information, visit artfularrangements.org or call 664-8656.
(Contact Yovanna Bieberich at yovann.bie berich@arguscourier.com)
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