Thank You for Making the 2026 Plant Celebration a Success!

A Message of Appreciation

Thank you to everyone who volunteered, contributed, and shopped during the 2026 Centre Furnace Mansion Plant Celebration. We are grateful for the many people who helped make this year’s event such a success.

At the heart of it all was the extraordinary dedication, talent, and teamwork of the Centre Furnace Mansion Garden Committee. Despite a cool, wet spring, the gardeners planted more than 1,200 plants with care and determination. They devoted countless hours to planning, preparing, potting plants from both the Mansion grounds and their own gardens, and thoughtfully labeling each selection for shoppers. Many of the Centre Furnace Mansion Gardeners are Master Gardeners who generously shared their knowledge and experience throughout the day, helping visitors choose plants best suited to their gardens and growing spaces.

A special bouquet of thanks goes to all of our wonderful volunteers and contributors. Your generosity made a lasting difference—whether you donated beautiful plants, brought snacks for volunteers, helped with planning and preparation, guided tours through the Mansion, helped with parking to guide shoppers in and out safely, or welcomed new members into our community. And a special thank you to Tom Reyburn for providing a “bagpipe prelude” to welcome shoppers at opening! Every act of kindness and support helped create a warm and memorable event.

We are also deeply appreciative of the vendors who added their own special touch with a wide variety of plants and garden-inspired treasures that enriched the celebration for everyone. (Scroll down to see the 2026 Plant Celebration Vendors.) And heartfelt thanks to the Penn State Master Gardeners of Centre County for hosting an informative and welcoming question-and-answer tent throughout the day.

Because of each of you, the Plant Celebration was not only highly successful, but truly joyful. Thank you for sharing your time, talents, and enthusiasm in support of this event and of the Centre Furnace Mansion’s gardens and grounds.

On behalf of the Centre County Historical Society Board of Governors—thank you, thank you, thank you!

Co-Chairs: Beverly Lipski and Katie Frieden

Staff:
Mary Sorensen, Executive Director
Johanna Sedgwick, Marketing and Events Coordinator
Katy Stager, Archives Coordinator

Explore Our Plant Celebration Vendors

Use the search feature below to find your favorite vendor, discover new businesses, or learn more about the plants and garden products offered during this year's event.