by
Rachel Hansen | Sep 13, 2024
Rocky Reach Discovery Center and its grounds crew were honored with a Commemorative Medal Saturday by the American Dahlia Society in recognition of outstanding contributions to the promotion, growth and expansion of dahlias.
Rocky Reach is known for its 37 acres of gardens and green space, including a dedicated dahlia garden planted by the late Tony DeRooy.
“Rocky Reach has really increased the visibility of dahlias beyond what could have been,” said Linda DeRooy Holmes-Cook, past-president and trustee of the North Central Washington Dahlia Society.
Dahlias grow from tubers that multiply during the growing season. Every autumn, volunteers from the local dahlia society divide and store the tubers from Rocky Reach for winter. In spring, they sell the tubers as a fundraiser and plant any remaining tubers in a public garden at Confluence Health Hospital.
For DeRooy Holmes-Cook, the connection to Rocky Reach is personal. Her father, Tony DeRooy, was the first person to landscape and keep the grounds of Chelan PUD. He designed the iconic American flag bed and the Chelan PUD flower logo at Rocky Reach Park.
The dahlia garden at Rocky Reach was one of the first flower beds planted by Tony DeRooy, and the first public dahlia garden in North Central Washington. He launched the local chapter of the American Dahlia Society to promote the growing and showing of dahlias in North Central Washington. The American Dalia Society presented DeRooy Holmes-Cook with the President’s Award in remembrance of Tony DeRooy on Saturday.
DeRooy’s legacy lives on at Rocky Reach Park, where the flower beds and grounds managed by Parks Foreman Todd Shales. Every year, Shales and his eight-person crew plans each flower bed, orders supplies and grows about 30,000 to 50,000 plants a year in the PUD’s three greenhouses.
