The hilltop oasis that is Ohme Gardens turns 96 years old this year, but after being battered by budget cuts last year and a wind storm late last month it’s unclear if the local landmark will make it to 100.
The storm uprooted large trees and left debris strewn across paths that can only be cleared by hand and cart, due to the steep terrain. To clear the larger tree trunks a helicopter had to be hired – at about $11,000 an hour.
Most of the work is being done by a small group of volunteers who run the gamut from retirees to young mothers with babies on their backs. That same group started a GoFundMe campaign to pay for the helicopter through crowdsourcing because last year Chelan County’s Lodging Tax Advisory Committee, or LTAC, voted to cut Ohme’s from its budget “framework.”
Chelan County Commissioner Tiffany Gering told NCWlife last June that Ohme lost $33,000 in county dollars in 2023. It also received $150,000 in tourism and convention grants, which are administered through the LTAC committee, and will also most likely go away since Ohme was cut from the framework.
That decision is one that Chelan County Administrator Cathy Mulhall warned against when it was first floated about a year ago, according to the minutes for the LTAC meeting on April 25, 2024.
“Troy votes Ohme, Entiat Chamber and Cashmere Chamber out of the framework. Cathy states that if Ohme is out of the framework, it may stop existing,” the minutes read. “Cathy states that she thought the City should be approached to take it over, but that won’t happen. Cautions LTAC committee to cut out Ohme as it would be like saying to Commissioners that they don’t support the county.”
Here’s a photo of the minutes from that meeting.
Although the LTAC committee has stopped supporting the Gardens last year a photo of the local landmark is still the featured photo on the committee’s page of Chelan County’s website.
But while county officials decided to pull their support of the Gardens, a dedicated group of supporters and volunteers have stepped up to try to fill the void.
Jean Lehecka is president of the Ohme Gardens Friends Society and on Tuesday I met up with her and other volunteers at Ohme during their Tuesday morning work party.
I interviewed her and a young woman named Lisa Hartvig, who had her one-year-old son on her back as she raked debris and helped get the Gardens ready for opening day on April 15. Hartvig created the GoFundMe page, which has raised a little over $1,400 so far.
You can find a link to it here, watch the video above and learn more about the history of Ohme Gardens here.
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