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Thank You Steve Bailey

Thank You Steve & Bonnie Bailey

April 1, 2022

Steve Bailey's blog message Thank You (and more, there's always more!) provides a story of their journey and how he (and Bonnie) became the craftsman behind all of The Group's Financial Sharing Programs over the past 20+ years. Steve's observations and teachings have helped so many Garden Centers set their path for success and has laid the foundation for more to come through Tim Quebedeaux.

On Friday, April 1, 2022, The Group gathered in a GROUPtalk LIVE Session to salute Steve and Bonnie Bailey and say THANK YOU for all you have brought to The Group, our Centers, and the industry! Even on an extremely busy Friday morning, in the beginning of spring, many took the time to honor Steve and Bonnie Bailey for all they have done for their Garden Center. In the words you hear in this session, you can get a clear feeling of what the work Steve and Bonnie have done for each Garden Center, The Garden Center Group, and the Industry as a whole.

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Back to the Future

Back to the Future

by Robert Hendrickson

I liked the movie “Back To The Future”. Cool plot, great title. (Although the phrase was first coined by Ray Bradbury in his 1951 book, The Illustrated Man.) Looks like I’m going to do exactly what the title suggests beginning January, 2022.

A friend of mine operated a book store in Evergreen, Colorado where our band was located in the early ‘70’s. During the day I stocked shelves at his store. At night he was our roadie to get into performances for free. It was a nice trade-off. The first time I saw a copy of Mother Earth News was at his store, then read every new issue that arrived. The enticement of gardens, goats, chickens and woodstoves pushed music to the side, so I headed back to Illinois and found a farm house with a barn, pond, chicken coop and deep, black soil. It was a fun but difficult ten-year learning experience. (Chickens hate being planted too deep.) A forty-seven-year detour into the garden center industry followed. But that’s coming to a close.

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