Photo courtesy of Dallas Arboretum.
An East Dallas couple and regular volunteers at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden will be co-chairs of the garden’s spring festival, Dallas Blooms.
This year, the festival’s theme is Great Contributors, and neighbors Judith and John Umberger fit the bill. Dallas resident Gary Chapman is another co-chair.
The Umbergers have donated 750 hours of their time over about a year to the garden.
John, a retired engineer who spent 35 years working for ExxonMobil, drives at tram at the garden. Judith, whose father was the assistant director of the National Arboretum and founding director of the Chicago Botanic Garden, is a DeGolyer docent, works the Children’s Adventure Garden information booth and leads tours of the garden as an event guide.
During the spring festival, the couple will continue to help garden visitors.
Dallas Blooms, which features 500,000 spring flowers, is scheduled for Feb. 25-April 16. Most of the blooms are tulips, but there are also hyacinth and daffodils.
In addition to the flowers, the arboretum will showcase statues by Gary Lee Price, who has created bronze statues of William Shakespeare, Amelia Earhart, Harriet Tubman, Joan of Arc, Mother Teresa, Ruby Bridges, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain.
The Cool Thursdays concert series will return, as will the annual Food and Wine festival. There will also be a Shakespeare Dallas appearance and a bird show, along with garden markets and other events.
Admission to the garden costs $5 through Feb. 24.
Dallas Blooms chairs Judith Umberger, John Umberger and Gary Chapman. Photo courtesy of Dallas Arboretum.
