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Parade Around Door County’s Ponds

Water feature at the home of Marilynn & Jim Slappy.

Parade of Ponds takes place on June 25. Presented by WaterScape Designs, the self guided tour takes pond enthusiasts to a variety of backyard gardens with water features.

“What differentiates this event from most home tours is that the owners are on site to talk about how they got interested in ponds,” said Gina Wautier, executive director of The Family Centers.

Visitors will learn how each pond or water feature was built and what it takes to maintain it. The water features include ponds, streams, waterfalls and floral gardens.

Justine Mancheski, co-owner of WaterScape Designs, said, “The ponds are a living, breathing, birthing experience. The spawning and eggs hatching – you can see hundreds of fish swimming around. And the frogs! It’s attractive to kids and interactive.”

Parade of Ponds is one of the Door County Family Center’s major fundraisers. Children are invited to participate.

“[Kids] love seeing and feeding the Coy fish,” said Wautier. “It’s a great family day.”

Most owners are also avid gardeners who enhance their water features with a variety of perennials.

“A water feature can be as complicated as a full-blown pond, or a nice little waterfall that helps you relax and spruces up your backyard,” Wautier continued.

All four homes featured are newcomers to the Parade of Ponds. One home even has a natural, spring fed pond.

“Most of the homeowners that are on the tour are really animated and excited about what they’ve done and love showing it off,” said Wautier. “We get people from all walks of life and all over the state that come to this every year, rain or shine.”