The Mountain Area Home & Garden Show Story

The Evergreen/Conifer/Bailey business community has a lot to offer its homeowners in terms of construction, remodeling, gardening services and artistic talent. The Mountain Area Home and Garden Show (MAHGS) is an event put on by the community for the community. It is a great opportunity for local residents to see what products and services that are available in their community. One of the traits of a great community is residents supporting their local businesses.

The Mountain Area Home and Garden Show is the brainchild of Teresa Kahler of Mountain Financial Mortgage and Ron Catterson. Long-time area residents and business owners in Conifer and Evergreen, Teresa and Ron were frustrated that there was not an event where local foothills businesses could showcase their goods and services, so they organized one. Wanting to give back to the local community Teresa and Ron decided to donate the net proceeds to a local charity.

This year’s beneficiaries are the Evergreen Rotary Foundation (ERF) and the Conifer Rotary Foundation (CRF). The ERF and the CRF are the entities that distribute money to the local community and internationally on behalf of the Evergreen and Conifer Rotary Clubs. The ERF and CRF give grants to worthy organizations in the greater Evergreen/Conifer community, as well as to international causes. All the proceeds generated by the MAHGS will be distributed back into the local community in the form of grants. Over the years many local organizations have benefited from Rotary grants. Here are just a few examples:

• Senior Resource Center
• Mountain Resource Center
• Evergreen Christian Outreach
• Blue Spruce Habitat for Humanity
• Evergreen Chamber Orchestra
• Conifer Trails
• Evergreen Fire and Rescue
• Evergreen and Conifer High Schools
• Mountain Area Land Trust
• Mt. Evans Hospice and many more.

Last year at Evergreen High School over 1,700 people attended the MAHGS and over 110 vendors found it to be a very worthwhile experience. It was a great community event where visitors and vendors enjoyed getting to know the other businesses in the area. Best of all, the Evergreen and Conifer Rotary Foundations were both presented with a $13,500 check for a total of $27,000. Over the last seven years, the MAHGS has raised over $125,000, all of which has been distributed back into the community. The MAHGS is a Win-Win-Win-Win for everyone involved. The attendees Win because they get to know some quality businesses in the mountain area, the vendors Win because they hopefully generate new business, the Rotary clubs Win because they are given the proceeds for grant distribution and the community Wins because 100% of those proceeds are distributed back into the community.

An event of this size would not happen without the help of some very dedicated people. Here is a list of people who are helping with this year’s show: Ron Catterson, Teresa Kahler, Bryan Hutchinson, Cliff Bowron, Lori Frease, Larry Cane, Melony Harris, Sue Barkley, Eric Listou, and Carma and Harry Scheafer. We would also like to thank all the volunteers from the Evergreen and Conifer Rotary clubs.

This year’s Mountain Area Home and Garden Show will be at Conifer High School, April 25th and 26th. Next year, the plan is to hold the MAHGS back at Evergreen High School and continue to rotate between the two High Schools in the future. Please join us at this great community event!!