For the International Peace Garden, 2024 was a year of getting back to normal, when activities and events returned to the Peace Garden's seasonal itinerary.
"It was a really special year," says CEO Tim Chapman. "It was kind of the first year back where we felt like we were getting beyond the pandemic impacts. Visitation from both sides of the border was up and was close to - if not exceeding - 2019 levels. So, that was really nice to see."
The season started beautifully on Mother's Day when the cacti and succulent Conservatory was officially open to the public.
"As the year has gone on more has come together in the Conservatory and so in that way it was really a banner year to be able to re-open that facility to get to the point now where we're doing free Senior Wednesdays in the winter, and that's going to come with some additional programming in the new year," he explains.
"So, after what felt like a really long three years, 2024 felt normal again, which was really nice," adds Chapman.
The highlight of the summer was the captivating theme for their flowerbeds being focused on storybook characters.
"It was an absolute blast," says Chapman, "It was definitely the most fun theme since I've been here. Just to see the look on kids' faces when they were doing the scavenger hunt and finding the different storybook characters while also stopping by the book boxes to read, was just really great to see because as a garden .... really is always going to be focused on what can we do on the educational side of things while also maintaining the fun aspect of what we do every summer."
Students from the Boissevain School's shops class built the book boxes for the Peace Garden to complement the storybooks that were included in the garden designs.
"We've got a couple of ideas on the backburner as far as other projects that we think the shops class would really enjoy, and similarly it would be the type of project where the install would last for quite a few years," shares Chapman.
Please listen to more with Tim Chapman below!