Warm days. Warming soil. Spring officially appears today.
It's time for the 2009 Home and Garden Expo at the Career Education Building on the Iowa Central Community College campus. The show opens today and continues through Sunday.
Sponsored by The Messenger, Iowa Central and the Fort Dodge Home Builders Association, the show will run from 4 to 8 p.m. today, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. It is free, and more than 60 vendors will show off all kinds of home and garden products.
Rich Seltz, of the Home Builders Association, said the home expo gives "the homeowners a chance to get out and see some new products and some ideas if they're thinking of remodeling or building. They should come out to see if we have what they're looking for, the projects they have in mind, and see if there's anything that interests them."
The Home Builders Association and Iowa Central, he said, will give away a garden shed. The association provided the materials, and students in the carpentry classes at Iowa Central built the shed.
Those attending may register to win a 42-inch LCD Toshiba TV from SP Electronics, and St. Paul Lutheran School will provide breakfast and lunch as a fundraiser.
In addition to vendor booths, four speaker presentations are planned, two on Saturday and two on Sunday. They include:
Bill McAnally, chairman of the industrial technology department at Iowa Central, who will discuss "going green" at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Linda Thomas, owner of Wild Birds Unlimited in Ames, who will talk about attracting hummingbirds and orioles at 2 p.m. Saturday.
At 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Jan Riggenbach, of Glenwood, gardening guru and writer of Midwest Gardening for The Messenger's Sunday lifestyle section, will give a slide presentation called "50 Fabulous Finds: Plants and Products for a Delightful Garden."
At 1 p.m. Sunday, Rick Lamoureux, manager at Earl May Seed and Nursery in Fort Dodge, will talk about getting ready for spring and the continuing movement to go organic in the garden, from seeds to fertilizers to weed control.
In addition to The Messenger, businesses signed up to participate in the Home and Garden Expo are:
Advanced Door Systems, Aerus Electrolux, Air Storm Vacuum, All Season Gutters, American Family, Anchored Walls Inc., Avon, Better Living of Des Moines, Carpet World, Casady Brothers, Complete Exteriors Inc., Computer Works and Vinyl Signs, Crystalwood Creations, C's Landscape, Culligan, Designeresque, Diversified Homes of Iowa, Doyle Construction, Earl May Seed and Nursery, Energy Doctor of Iowa, Evertek Inc., Frontier Communications, Fort Dodge Garden Club, Griffin's Landscapers Inc., Harcourt Equipment.
Hjelmeland Flooring, Home and Garden Party, Homemade Gourmet, Hy-Vee Foods Inc., Iowa Energy Center, Iowa Spray Foam Insulators, Iowa State University Extension, JD's Tree Service, Laurel Mors, Linn County Public Health, Meyer Home Improvement, Milestone Images, Moeller Furnace, Mort's Water Co., Mr. Tubbs, Nordaas American Homes, North Iowa Lumber Building Systems, Patio Pros, Pure Water, Regina Smith.
RoJohn Home Improvement Inc., Ross Appliances, Satern Exteriors, Screenbuilders, Simpler Thymes, Smitty's Lawn Care, Solutions Etc. Etc., Spray Seal, Stone Creek Landscape and Nursery, Stony Creek Landscapes, Superior Siding, Tastefully Simple, The Country Store, The Pampered Chef, Thrasher Basement, Triple C Construction, Tyler Sandrom, Wild Bird Unlimited, Window Depot USA of Southern Minnesota, Windows by Pella and World of Windows.
The Webster County Historical Society will bring local authors to the show to talk about their books and sign copies.
"It's really neat to see the elaborate displays vendors put up," said David Jakeman, advertising director for The Messenger. "You can get a good sense of the things you can do for your home to make it nicer or more efficient."
Contact Sandy Mickelson at (515) 573-2141 or smickelson@messengernews.net
