May 2026

Petunia Planting Day 2026 was filled with many “new” happenings! For today’s Digging Deeper, we will call it “The Year of the New.”

We had several new Block Captains! Welcome Angie, Michelle, and the United Way Emerging Leaders.

We started a Mentor program for new Block Captains!  Thank you to Monica, Katie, Michelle, and Karen for working with our new volunteers.

New Volunteers from Hardman Construction, United Way Emerging Leaders, National Honor Society, Wesco, The O-Bots (LHS Robotics team), and individuals like Sharon, Jan, and Connie.

Planting Day coincided with the worldwide Rotary EPIC Day of Service. Ludington’s Rotary Club chose the Petunia Parade as their service project and our Watering Truck Capital Campaign as their fundraiser. The Ludington Rotary Club already oversees a block of petunias near Rotary Park, but we saw additional members out volunteering.

Wesco donated 300 Donut holes, which the Boy Scouts served along with coffee – the perfect addition on a cool morning in May.

Home Depot donated 60 “Homer” buckets to be used throughout the season. Their bright orange color also makes them an excellent safety feature when placed on the curb during weeding.

WMOM did live interviews all morning long, sharing some great comments from our volunteers.

We had photographer and friend Bill in town to capture planting day action all along Ludington Avenue.

And finally, we had the official kick-off of our Watering Truck Capital Campaign!

This year's planting day was so much fun – new volunteers, new ideas, and 30,000 new petunias!