In less than one month, the garden gates will open on Thursday May 19, when the Beacon Hill Garden Club will host its 87th annual tour of the Hidden Gardens.
New this year is the addition of a special twilight viewing of three private gardens for working professionals and neighborhood friends. The Garden Soirée will take place the evening before the tour on Wednesday, May 18, from 5 to 8 p.m. After a stroll through the gardens, guests are invited to a cocktail party in the historic garden of the King’s Chapel Parish House off Branch Street.
This year’s tour chairs, Alicia Towns Franken and Christy Nicholas, created this event as a way to capture the tour’s spirit and vitality in a very intimate setting with neighbors. Neighbors and the businesses of Beacon Hill play an essential role in welcoming as many as 3,000 guests every year on tour day. The Garden Soirée will provide a chance for neighbors to enjoy a few gardens before the crowds and celebrate spring in the gorgeous garden of King’s Chapel.
The Beacon Hill Garden Club has two lead sponsors for this year’s tour who have made Garden Soirée possible. The region’s best loved catering and event-design company, The Catered Affair is the generous in-kind sponsor providing the catering for the night, which will include a specialty cocktail, raw bar and many of their signature hors d’oeuvres. Bistro lights, lanterns and a jazz duo will add to the ambience of the evening.
Independent wealth management company Fiduciary Trust is the other lead sponsor. Like the Beacon Hill Garden Club, Fiduciary Trust was incorporated in 1928 and has a proud tradition of providing sophisticated investment management.
“We’re delighted to sponsor this event to support the Boston community,” said Austin V. Shapard, president and CEO of Fiduciary Trust. “As a Beacon Hill resident, I also hope the Garden Soirée will strengthen ties between neighbors.”
Like the Annual Tour, the Garden Soirée is a fundraiser. All net proceeds will go toward “greening” Boston through restoring public spaces, environmental education and outreach. Tickets to Garden Soirée on May 18 are $125 and include a ticket for the Hidden Gardens of Beacon Hill annual tour on May 19. Tickets are limited. Purchase tickets at www.gardensoiree.eventbrite.com. For information on the Hidden Gardens of Beacon Hill Annual Tour and to purchase tickets, visit www.beaconhillgardenclub.org.
Beacon Hill Garden Club’s Garden Soirée committee members Carroll Pierce, Christy Nicholas and Janet Veasey.