Grandma Bonnie’s 100th Birthday

Hi, Everyone,

July 16, 2008 is Grandma Bonnie Longaberger’s 100th birthday.  There have been quite a few of you that were wondering about the date, so there you go.  In fact, Longaberger has reissued the 1998 Daffodil basket for the month of July. 

For those of you that aren’t familiar with Longaberger or are rather new to it, Grandma Bonnie is the mother of the late Dave Longaberger (1934-1999), founder of the Longaberger Basket Company.  Many of the the company’s special baskets and pottery pieces have been inspired by Grandma Bonnie’s love of flowers or baking.    The May Series baskets are a just such a tribute, and in 1998 the company came out with the feature Grandma Bonnie Two Pie Basket in honor of her 90th birthday.

Below is information from a press release issued by the company:

Grandma Bonnie Longaberger has Served as Inspiration Through the
                                 Years
DRESDEN, Ohio–(Business Wire)–
Bonnie Longaberger, mother of the late Dave Longaberger who
founded The Longaberger Company, will turn 100 on Wednesday, July 16,
earning her recognition on The Today Show along with well wishes from
thousands of Longaberger Home Consultants nationwide.

If you’d like to read more, please click here to read the Longaberger press release posted by Reuters.

Longaberger Basket Fest @ Greenfield Village ~ Part I

Hi, Everybody,

 Just wanted to share a bit about our first visit to the Longaberger Basket Fest at Greenfield Village on Saturday, September 15.  We arrived at the Village around 10am on the second day of basket fest with much anticipation, and we weren’t alone.  The Longaberger Boardwalks, purse baskets and fabric totes were at every turn. 

 As we approached the ticket counter, there was a nice pyramid of Street Baskets, and after passing  through the gates noticed a basket maker at the front of the village.  But after that it was pretty much a guess as to where we might find the Basket Fest.  Being pretty familiar with Greenfield Village, my first guess was to head toward the village green.  It was a good guess, as the festivities were housed in the building just to the left of the green.

Unfortunatley, we were disappointed in the size of the basket fest.  There was a nice area for the make-a-basket experience; a small homestead store area which had a few items from the homestead; a couple of places with the accessories for the Greenfield Village basket; and a few displays of the current line items.   It was easy to “do” the whole basket fest in 45 minutes or less if you weren’t making a basket.   From what we had read about the events at other venues such as the Williamsburg and Boyds events, we had expected it to be much more.   And since Greenfield Village is all about history, it would have been a great opportunity for the company to tell other visitors about their history.  

 The experience wasn’t a total disappointment though.  We were able to pick up a couple of the special baskets with the Model T tacks, and have them signed by Gary Longaberger (he was super nice).  It was also a beautiful, sunny day that was just right for a leisurely walk around the Village.  And since Greenfield Village is one of our favorite places in Michigan, we weren’t at a loss for other things to do and see.

In fact, we visited my favorite working farm–the Firestone Farm, the cider mill, the Dagget Farm….Okay, I’d better stop there, or I’ll end up listing just about every attraction they have. 

We will be back before the basket fest is over and plan to visit more of our favorite spots in the Village.  We might even treat ourselves to tea at the Cotwold Cottage.  If you do make it, be prepared to see the sites and do some walking.  It’s supposed to be a beautiful week here in Michigan!