Setting up for the Sunset Celebration Weekend begins many months before the event. For this year, we created the Seahorse mural specifically for the event during the winter before the event.
On Thursday before the event, we load the truck so that at 6 a.m. on Friday the crew can leave the nursery for Sunset headquarters to set up the display. When we arrive at about 7:30 a.m. we look over the area we have been assigned to and begin the set up process. The crew does most of the work while I say "Move this to the left, move that to the right. A little up, a little down." Within about four hours the gazebo is up and ready.
I spend a little time wondering how the weather will be for the weekend and making a list of the things I have forgotten. I visit with Sunset staff and other participants that I have gotten to know and work with over the years. Once the schmoozing is done, I head back to the nursery hoping I can make it in time to meet with Debra Prinzing who is visiting the nursery and picking up a few plants for her talk at Sunset.
Saturday morning I meet with my sales staff about an hour and a half before the event opens. We tweak the display, putting on the finishing touches, and compare notes on restocking, who is going to do what, and looking for a good cup of coffee.
This year's Sunset Celebration was greeted with perfect weather, big crowds, and a very well organized Sunset staff. This year's event was the best ever and that's saying something because last year's event was pretty spectacular! You might want to put next year's event on the calendar. It will be held the first weekend in June, June 1 and 2, 2013.
