Five little girls talked garden talk with first lady Jeannie Ritter on Wednesday afternoon.
They discussed snails and lady bugs and worms, and helped fill flower pots on the front porch of the Governor’s Residence.
And then Ritter, dressed in shorts and a tank top, kicked off her shoes, plunked down on the lawn and read the Brownie Scouts from Troop 3250 a poem from “When We Were Very Young” by A.A. Milne.
The girls were at the mansion to help spruce things up in advance of a July 9 fundraiser for the Governor’s Residence Preservation Fund.
“I was excited,” said Gabby Gates, 7, of her day spent filling pots on the front porch with petunias, golden Japanese forest grass and Snow Princess Lobularia, a new alyssum hybrid. “I never planted flowers before, I don’t think.”
Staff from Tagawa Gardens, which donated all flowers for the event, spent the morning planting pink roses around the fountain on the back lawn.
Theresa Marchetta, a local television reporter and mom to three Brownies, is on the board of the Governor’s Residence Preservation Fund. She said she supports Ritter’s effort to open the mansion to all people — especially the little ones.
“Her goal is to get as many kids here as possible,” Marchetta said. “She wants them to have an experience here and make a memory.”
Colleen O’Connor: 303-954-1083 or coconnor@denverpost.com
Stop and smell the roses
• Governor’s Residence Preservation Fund’s annual Garden Party
• 6-8 p.m. July 9
• 400 E. Eighth Ave., Denver
• Tickets: $100, for cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and live music
• Reservations: 303-837-8350 or grpfund@yahoo.com
• Proceeds go for stewardship and preservation of the historic Boettcher Mansion
