Vanessa Avilez
Staff Writer

The third annual Garden Affair event was held in the historic district of San Dimas on Saturday and Sunday.

The Garden Affair, which featured vintage garden décor and yard art, was held on the 100-200 block of West Bonita Avenue. 

The historic town has something for everyone, such as many antique stores, gift shops, restaurants, bakeries, salons, a florist, a print shop, the Feed and Grain Store and much more.

Some stores offered sales up to 60 percent off items.

Most stores had raffle tickets for sale to raffle off vintage prizes and gift cards on Sunday.

“The neighborhood gets together and has a garden theme,” said Frank Sibille, owner of Nostalgia Nook Antiques.  “It’s a way for people to come down and see old town San Dimas.”

Nostalgia Nook Antiques had 20 percent off almost everything and some items were an even better bargain. 

An hourly giveaway was also part of this store’s Garden Affair.  When the bell went off, the next customer in the door would be the winner and was able to pick out a free gift from a selection on the table.

The glass bowls that were to be raffled off on Sunday were displayed for customers to see.

The store across the street, Bonita Antiques, also had 20 percent off everything and had a beautiful table to raffle off.

“This is to stimulate business in the city,” said Sam Acosta, co-owner of Bonita Antiques.  They provided refreshments such as lemonade and desserts to the customers who came in.

The antique shops were a great hit for the customers who came because there were many traditional and stunning historic items that were too good to pass up.

For the first day of the Garden Affair, there was not as much traffic, but the people who did come out shopped for great deals and got a chance to explore old town San Dimas.

“This is my first time coming and I might come back tomorrow,” said Mercedes Ruiz, a customer shopping for antiques.  “I just like how all the stores are participating in this.”

A local customer went into the antique stores and finally found something she liked.  “It’s a Mother’s Day gift for my mother in law,” said Julie Draayom.  “We love antiques.”  

To add to the Garden Affair, there were garden themed banners hanging on the poles that lined the street of Bonita and relaxing music that played in the background.

“I decided that we needed something to stimulate traffic in the area,” said Florence Quinn, owner and designer of Back Street.  “I hope it’s a success.”

Vanessa Avilez can be reached at vavilez@ulv.edu.