Tacoma show kicks off a season of exhibitions

SARAH JACKSON, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Saturday, January 19, 2002

OLYMPIA -- If you're bored with winter and can't stop thinking about all the garden and home projects you want to start this spring, wait no longer for some serious inspiration.

Show season, dear readers, is here.

South Sound residents can glean innumerable ideas from three major shows coming up soon.

Check out the 2002 GMC Tacoma Home and Garden Show Jan. 30 to Feb. 3, the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle at the Washington State Convention Center Feb. 6-10 and the Seattle Home Show Feb. 16-24 at the Seattle Exhibition Center.

This year's Tacoma show stands to be as big and beautiful as ever, with a colorful array of exhibits and speakers covering topics from outhouses to orchids.

"It's the largest combined home and garden show in the state," said Bob O'Loughlin, the show's producer. "If you want home and garden, this is the place to go."

This year's GMC-sponsored event features a multitude of hands-on demonstrations and continuous seminars along a broad spectrum of gardening projects, in addition to a plant sale and the eighth-annual patriotic-themed "Spring Floral Design Contest."

Check it all out, and don't miss these attractions, new this year:

- Who knew there was a Puget Sound Garden Railroad Society?

Railroad enthusiasts and children alike will enjoy getting a close-up look at the Roaring Garden Railroad by Rock-N-Block and the garden railroad society on display in the exhibition hall.

Two model trains, complete with steam locomotives, will travel through a scale model town and countryside in a stunning display.

"I don't know that I've ever seen that in the 20 years we've produced the show here -- or anywhere," O'Loughlin said. "This is huge. This is 1,600 square feet. It's going to be gorgeous. Plus, they're also bringing what's kind of a children's activity area for the train. Children can come up and just push a button to start a train on a certain track."

- Photographer and author Dottie Booth will present humorous outhouse stories, while sharing the history and folklore behind privy relics she photographed for her 1998 book "Nature Calls: The History, Lore, and Charm of Outhouses." (Ten Speed Press, $12.95)

Tara Leiser, a promoter for the show, said showgoers will enjoy Booth's seminars.

"She's a kick," Leiser said, "a Pennsylvania grandma who decided to take it upon herself to go out and photograph the history of outhouses."

Whether they're hexagon-shaped, two stories high, Victorian, stone or wood, Booth has photographed nearly all of them.

Outhouses, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, will take center stage at the show in a display of full-sized outhouse replicas.

Booth's journey to becoming an outhouse expert began on a lark in 1988 when she decided to take a photo of an old, dilapidated outhouse on her family's property in the Adirondacks.

"Before I knew it I had photographs of over 450 outhouses within a 26-mile radius of my family home," said Booth, a former English teacher. "Not many people know that George Washington's outhouse is still standing at Mount Vernon. It's quite an elaborate affair made of white brick, a domed roof and mahogany seats."

- Log homes aren't just for mountain getaways anymore. That's the message from Maurer Log Homes. They'll showcase the durability, warmth, character and quality of a log home by displaying a 1,200-square-foot cabin in the northeast corner of the dome.

- Several popular speakers will be returning to talk about new topics, including: "Lasagna Gardening" by Marianne Binetti, "Pruning 101" by James "Ciscoe" Morris and "Great Ideas for Perennial Gardens" by Mary Robson.

- Lowe's "Great Safety Adventure" offers an interactive home safety demonstration to educate children and parents about hazards in the four safety-risk areas -- fire and burns, poisonings, choking and suffocation as well as slips and falls.

Rover, the home safety hound, and tour guides will be on hand to help lead children through the adventure.

- Finally, WSU-Pierce County Master Gardeners and Cooperative Extension volunteers will be conducting hourly talks and demonstrations throughout the show.

Children can participate in several activities such as building their own worm-composting bins, bug jewelry and bird feeders in the Nature Projects Activity Area.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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