SALEM - The Salem Storybook Museum will lead visitors to beautiful gardens and places of history during A "Jack & Jill" Summer Garden Tour from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. July 12 and 13, all to raise money for the museum's future home.
The 10-stop tour will travel in an 18-mile loop including gardens at two museums and seven private homes, along with a stop at the historic Teegarden-Centennial Covered Bridge located on Eagleton Road off of Teegarden Road.
"A lot of people from this area have never been there," tour event co-chairman Ginger Grilli said.
Article Photos
Salem Storybook Museum board members JeanAlice Fehr, left, and Connie Sanor, board secretary, along with Mitzi the Maltese, enjoy the view of Connie’s garden at the home she shares with Jim Solmen on Homewood Place. This garden and eight others in the Salem area will be stops on A “Jack & Jill” Summer Garden Tour from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. July 12 and 13, along with the historic Teegarden-Centennial Covered Bridge. Proceeds will benefit the museum. Tickets cost $10 in advance and $12 at the door. (Salem News photo by Mary Ann Greier)
When organizers were mapping out the tour route, they noticed they weren't that far from the bridge and thought it made sense to include it. The bridge built in 1875 and restored several years ago remains in its original spot, with the road diverted as a way to help preserve the historic span. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
"It's a lost treasure," Grilli said.
The tour begins in the backyard garden at the Charles Burchfield Homestead Museum, located at 867 E. Fourth St. where the famous artist grew up and where the views from the home ended up in many of his paintings.
The next stop is the Warren Milburn home at 1637 N. Lincoln Ave. which includes a cobble paver front walkway and rear patio with arbor and a back garden lined with pine trees, arborvitae, fire bushes, rhododendron and hosta. From there, visitors travel to the home of David and Kathy Gano at 343 Highland Ave., which features a pergola at the rear of the house, fountains and many gardens and entertainment areas.
Grilli and her husband, city Councilman Rick Drummond, will plays hosts to visitors at the fourth stop since the garden at their home on East State Street is included on the tour, with entry from Cleveland Street.
"Rick and I are looking forward to having our home on this year's tour. This is one more way for us to support The Salem Storybook Museum. We hope many people will come out to see the interesting gardens," she said in a press release.
Known as the Della Walker House, the home includes a Tuscan patio and shade garden, a Zen garden, checkerboard patio and other features. Stop number five is the Connie Sanor and Jim Solmen home at 110 Homewood Place, with 1,200 square feet of outdoor living space featuring a fireplace and full kitchen and gardens.
Next is the home of Gordon and Vivienne Dunn located at 2391 state Route 45, south of Salem, featuring nearly three acres of lawn and gardens, including vegetable, hosta, shade, herb and perennial gardens. Stop number seven is the Lou and Jean Wardingly home at 36365 Teegarden Road, where there's a gazebo and a small pond with gardens that have been the site of several weddings.
Next up is the Teegarden-Centennial Covered Bridge, followed by the Herb and Joyce Bott home at 4428 Depot Road featuring vine-covered pergolas, trees, hostas, ferns two pavilions and benches among the gardens.
The last stop is the gardens of the Salem Historical Society at the corner of Broadway Avenue and Pershing Street, which feature many pieces from Salem's history.
Tour event chairman Robert Viencek said in a press release that one of the amazing things about the tour will be the "many unexpected things within the gardens."
"This promises to be a wonderful tour," he said.
Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door at the starting point located at the plaza at the Kent State University City Center on North Lincoln Avenue. Tickets can be purchased at the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce and Vivian's Antiques & Collectibles in Columbiana.
Reservations may also be made by calling 330-332-4723 or 330-332-1632.
Tour Proceeds benefit the restoration of the Victorian house at the corner of North Lincoln Avenue and Fifth Street which is the future home of The Salem Storybook Museum. The museum is currently housed in the KSU City Center.
