September 8, 2023 - The School Children’s Flower and Vegetable Association (SCFVA) celebrates student dedication and long-standing cultivation of student interest in nature with the 2023 City-Wide Blue-Ribbon Show. It is planned for Saturday, September 9, at the McMillen Community Center, 3901 Abbott Street in Fort Wayne. It’s open to the public beginning at 2:30 p.m. and a presentation of merit awards is scheduled for 2:45 p.m.
This show represents the work of top student gardeners from over 60 elementary schools including area home schools. In the spring, every Fort Wayne student in kindergarten to grade four receives one of ten varieties of plants grown by staff at the Lawton Park Greenhouse for the SCFVA. Students may also order 12 types of seeds for vegetables, herbs or flowers. Students are responsible for growing their plants and seeds which they enter in their schools’ annual Plant, Flower and Vegetable Shows. All of those shows culminate in the City-wide Blue-Ribbon Show at McMillen Community Center.
Over 19,000 plants and over 4,000 seed packets were delivered to students in April of 2023.
Lynda Heavrin, Manager of Landscape and Horticulture for the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Department and SCFVA Executive Committee Advisor said “We love to see the plants that come back for the Blue-Ribbon Show—and even more, we love to hear the stories from the children. What did they learn? How did they solve a problem? What do they want to try next? Whatever the outcome for the flowers or plants, we seek to increase their interest in and respect for nature through this program.” She continued “We are grateful to all the parents, school chairpersons, judges and other volunteers who invest time in teaching the benefits of gardening.”