Kruckeberg GardenParty July 17 to feature celebrities, Mediterranean feast, belly dancing and unique auction

Carpenteria californica

If you have ever wanted to spend some time with Northwest notables such as Harriet Bullitt, David Horsey, Ivan Doig, Tony Angell or Bill Ruckelshaus, you’ll have your chance July 17.

That evening, Kruckeberg Botanic Garden Foundation (KBGF) throws its annual gala fundraiser GardenParty at the Shoreline Center. A host of celebrities will be on hand to auction off their time to join you for lunch or dinner, a studio tour, a day trip or other personal experience. A silent auction will feature rare plants, fine wine, garden art, meals, and other items, all to benefit the Richmond Beach garden.

GardenParty 2013 will be held Wednesday, July 17, 6-9 PM at the Shoreline Center, 18560 1st Ave NE, Shoreline.

KBGF Executive Director Brianne Zorn hopes the Garden will benefit from what she calls “a rare astronomical event for our region.” She says, “There will be more stars seen in Shoreline that night, perhaps than ever before. We hope people will enjoy celebrating the Garden with local celebrities.”

Attendees will be served a Mediterranean feast catered by Shoreline resident Jay Hosni, owner of Curbside Kebabs and Goodie’s Mediterranean Market. North City Bistro’s Pat and Larry Schoonmaker will provide the wine. Raks Maleka, a Seattle belly-dancing troupe, will entertain.

In keeping with the Garden’s environmental ethic, several celebrities who will attend or have contributed a “personal experience” auction item are noted conservationists. In addition to Harriet Bullitt, they include Bill Ruckelshaus, the first head of the Environmental Protection Agency; Estelle Leopold, daughter of Aldo Leopold and distinguished scientist/activist; Saul Weisberg, Director and co-founder of North Cascades Institute; and Denis Hayes, the Director of the Bullitt Foundation and first coordinator of Earth Day.

Art and Maureen Kruckeberg
Creators of the Garden

Attending writers and artists include Innis Arden residents Ivan Doig, the dean of western literature; music journalist and biographer Charles R. Cross; Tony Angell, author, sculptor, illustrator and former director of environmental education for Washington state; plant writer Arthur Lee Jacobson; award-winning science writer Peter Ward; and David Horsey, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner for his editorial cartoons while with the Seattle P-I, gifted writer, currently with the Los Angeles Times.

Featured live auction items include lunch and tour of renowned plantsman Dan Hinkley’s home and garden, Windcliff; a tour of the Bullitt Center, “the greenest commercial building on earth;” a round of golf with former Mariner star Erik Hanson at Sahalee Country Club; a paleontological expedition to Sucia Island led by Peter Ward and a two-night, all-expenses stay at Harriet Bullitt’s Sleeping Lady Resort in Leavenworth, including dinner with Harriet.

KBGF plans to add notables and auction items until the day of the event. Zorn advises checking the website  for an updated list of celebrities, the menu, auction items, registration and other details. Tickets start at $75 and $550 for tables of eight and should be purchased by July 15.