AVON, Ohio –The weather was great, and so was the turnout at the 14th Annual Eagle Run held at Avon High on Saturday.

While the Bard was relegated to observer/cheerleader/ correspondent/photographer due to some minor medical issues requiring medication, which in turn would have severely hampered his ability to run — that’s his story and he’s sticking to it — it was still a very good time.

Overall winner of the 2014 Eagle Run: Andy Riggins of Cuyahoga Falls Jeff Bing 

There were an estimated 1,500 participants between the 5k and 5-mile races. Andy Riggins, 26, of Cuyahoga Falls, took the honors for the top finisher of the 5-miler. He told me it was his first time participating in the Eagle Run, but he certainly plans to be back next year (no-doubt to the chagrin of those who finished close behind him).

There didn’t appear to be any major injuries to speak of, and everyone appeared to have quite a bit of fun. Kudos to all who contributed to making the 14th Annual Eagle Run a rousing success; the fruits of your efforts were obvious.

We’re reaching that time of year when it seems like there’s something going on almost every weekend around town. Oh yeah … I think it’s called “summer.” Anyway, make sure you set aside plenty of time to hit the 11th Annual Avon Heritage Duck Tape Festival at Veterans Memorial Park between June 13th and 15th. This looks to be quite a bit of fun this year, with a ton of musical entertainment as well as other events.

Plenty of youth in the competition just after the bell rings for the 5k Eagle Run, May 24, 2014 Jeff Bing 

Which reminds me, how would you like to be a part of history? Maybe not to the extent of, say, Washington chopping down the cherry tree and then fessin’ up, but fairly memorable stuff nonetheless. Come to think of it, if George had been able to get his hands on some cherry tree-colored Duck Tape after the deed with the axe was done, he might have been able to – keeping with the spirit of American politics — “cover-up” rather than “fess up.”

Here’s what I’m rambling on about: Duck Tape is on a mission to set a record with a Guinness World Records attempt during this year’s Avon Heritage Duck Tape Festival…and they need your help! So, break out your Duck Tape best – from shirts and skirts to accessories and more – as we try to establish the record for “The Most People Modeling in a Duck Tape Fashion Show.”

To qualify, each entrant is required to create and wear an outfit consisting of at least two articles of clothing made from Duck Tape. Time’s a-wastin’, so get started now to make sure you’re ready to show the world what you’re made of. Each contestant who helps with the record attempt will receive an official Guinness World Records medallion and will be entered in a drawing to win a $500 gift card.

The details: 1) Entrants must be 8 years old or older to participate – and a minimum of 250 participants are required to set the record. An official Guinness  adjudicator will be on-site to oversee the record attempt. 2) The record attempt for “The Most People Modeling in a Duck Tape Fashion Show” is scheduled for June 14, at 1:30 p.m. 3) Veterans Memorial Park – Main Stage, 3701 Veterans Memorial Parkway.

Photo-ops and more: Outfits created from Duck Tape, entrants taking the runway and much more. In other words, you’ll feel like a star – albeit a sticky one.

You mean to tell me you’re ‘stuck’ on one or more of the details? For more information about the Avon Heritage Duck Tape Festival and to pre-register for the Fashion Show, visit DuckTapeFestival.com.

Finally, if that Duck Tape hula skirt idea of yours didn’t work out quite the way you’d hoped, and you find yourself in need of new inspiration, not to worry. You can go get inspired with ideas for your Duck Tape duds, simply by visiting DuckBrand.com.

Speaking of Duck Tape — as if I haven’t enough already – keep in mind that the Friends of the Avon Library have a special meeting scheduled on Thursday, June 5 at 7 p.m. at Lorain Public Library System’s Avon Branch. Friends, come together to plan for the Duck Tape parade.

The parade will be marching down Detroit Road on June 14. New members are welcome to join the Friends in planning this fun event. For more information, call the Avon Branch at 440-934-4743. The Avon Branch is located at 37485 Harvest Drive, Avon.

After you’re done with all of your Duck Tape shenanigans, don’t forget the upcoming annual visit from Aunt Teak and Uncle Junque the following weekend. As I mentioned several weeks ago, you’ll have the opportunity to travel throughout the city, as many residents will be part of the city-wide garage sale.

The epicenter of the event will be the French Creek District, where you can continue your treasure hunt at local shops offering in-store and Sidewalk Sales. Regional antique dealers set up their wares in tents along Detroit Road of Avon’s charming French Creek District.

Avon residents are encouraged to participate from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 21, and 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Sunday, June 22. Garage Sale Registration Forms can be found at local merchants or by visiting the merchant’s website at frenchcreekdistrict.com. Note that the registration deadline of June 13th now lurks right around the corner!

One thing that the great weather allows us to do is get out and work in the yard or garden, or simply just get our homes in order, as it were. As part of the Avon Bicentennial Celebration, the Avon Garden Club is planning to have a “Gardens of the Year” awards program in October. If you have a beautiful or spectacular garden, patio garden, shade garden, water garden, vegetable garden or window boxes, this competition is for you.

Century homes, residential landscaping and complex entrances, whose green spaces are enhancing Avon with a show of pride and color, are encouraged to enter the competition also. Even though October is still a ways off, the committee would like the contact person’s name and phone number by Saturday, July 19, which is not so far off. Should you require more information, please call (440) 937-4240.

Remember to keep the Bard abreast of local events which might be worthy of note for your neighbors. Email me at jeffdbing@sbcglobal.net to get the ball rolling. Have a wonderful week, Avon, and don’t forget the SPF-30.

You might call Robert Salmon a late bloomer.

His gardening bug didn’t hit until he and his girlfriend Catherine Fuller built a new home in Penfield nine years ago. As with many new-builds, the land surrounding their house was barren.

The couple viewed landscaping and developing the garden as a challenge.

Now, the Salmon/Fuller garden on Legacy Circle in east Penfield is a showstopper. The yard now draws garden enthusiasists who love viewing bursts of color in early spring as 7,000 daffodils and tulips begin to bloom. Because of the late spring weather this year, people can still see the blooms.

Salmon, who heads the corporate communications department at Carestream, is now fully engaged in the garden, having taught himself the intricacies of growing flowers and plants through reading and taking classes at Rochester Civic Garden Center.

“I’m not the type of person to sit around and watch TV,” he says, so gardening keeps him active and outdoors.

Gardening, in fact, has become Salmon’s retreat of sorts. He’s an early riser and enjoys the morning sun, and has found feeding and watering the garden to be therapeutic.

“It’s very peaceful and relaxing,” he says.

Salmon particularly enjoys the red Triumph tulips, whose deep red color blends well against the green landscape. He sources his bulbs and plants from several local nurseries, including Grossman’s Garden Home near his house and Wayside Garden Center in Macedon. Catalogs also are a good source for bulbs, he says.

Salmon and Fuller designed the garden so they can enjoy it in other seasons after the tulips and daffodils have faded. The couple mulches the ground instead of deadheading the bulbs, and hostas are in view.

The front garden features a border made of rocks. Salmon found the rocks at construction sites in the new-build community, filled his wheelbarrow with them and pushed them home. Then the couple enlisted Christine Froehlich of Rochester Civic Garden Center for help with landscape design ideas.

Froehlich had to think creatively to design a garden that would be manageable for two busy professionals.

“It was a huge space and I didn’t want to create a maintenance nightmare,” she says.

Froehlich chose to plant masses of shrubs and perennials to fill in the space. As the couple wanted privacy, planting deciduous flowering shrubs that grew quickly, such as viburnum and red twig dogwood, gave the house some cover.

A major issue: “The soil on the site was impossible, rooty and poor quality,” Froehlich says. “Plus, the stone wall Robert had built around it made it impossible to see any of the perennials.”

The wall was over three feet tall, so Froehlich suggested raising the garden with good soil to solve both problems.

Salmon and Fuller decided on a “controlled wild look” for their plantings, and included grasses and plum and apple trees among the shrubs. The couple purchased an additional three acres behind their home to keep it undeveloped.

Fuller is now building a shade garden on the side of the home, and Salmon has beehives and a vegetable garden in the back.

When they do have time to relax, Salmon enjoys sitting at the bistro set in front of the home, watching their Welsh corgi pups Lilyrose and Morgan William play in the yard.

“This helps me recharge from everyday activities,” Salmon says.

MCHAO@DemocratandChronicle.com

Twitter.com/MaryChaoStyle

Great Gardens

Each month during the warm-weather season, staff writer Mary Chao will feature one of the region’s great gardens and profile the people behind the artistic creations. To suggest a garden or gardeners, email Chao at MCHAO@DemocratandChronicle.com.

Pest control

Keeping masses of bulbs away from deer and moles isn’t easy in Penfield. Salmon developed his organic method of keeping deer at bay, tying sachets of moth balls around his garden. Still, the moles do get to the tulip bulbs, as he points to a bald area where about a thousand tulips have disappeared. “We have the best-fed moles anywhere,” Salmon jokes.

More online

• Click on this story at DemocratandChronicle.com to hear an interview with Robert Salmon.

• Read about local gardening at gardens.DemocratandChronicle.com.

Gather premium plants and inspiration on how to arrange them at Bethlehem’s Garden Walk at Cressman’s.

The nursery, garden center and gift shop at 2349 Linden St. (former Moose Bug Florist) features two greenhouses (one to open next year) and an outdoor space that showcases some of the business’ landscaping and hardscaping work.

“We didn’t want to just put plants in a row and not give people ideas,” said manager Barbara Hare. “We wanted to educate our customers — help them to understand which plants go well together, which plants grow very large, etc.”

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The Garden Walk, which opened May 5, is an extension of Cressman’s Lawn Tree Care, a 40-year-old business that was previously based in Hellertown. All of the company’s vehicles, mowers and other equipment are now stored at the Bethlehem facility.

CEO Paul Cressman had been looking to expand his business for several years. He wanted not only to offer inspiration for customers, but also unique plants.

“Paul and I didn’t want to sell exactly what you can get down the street,” Hare said. “Instead, we chose to offer plants like lace leaf Japanese maples, weeping white spruces and dragon’s eye pines. We also offer unique colors of more common plants such as lime green lilacs, peach rhododendrons and orange azaleas.”

The displays of plants around ponds, benches and fire pits will change every few months, Hare said. In addition, the business offers landscaping consultation and a “sold” section where items can be held for future planting.

The greenhouse features a variety of herbs, vegetables, annuals, perennials and tropical plants such as mandevilla, hibiscus and pineapple trees. The facility’s second greenhouse will be overhauled to house additional plants, as well as live and artificial Christmas trees and wreaths around the holidays.

The gift shop sells seeds, books, teas and gourmet foods such as sauces, spreads and stuffed peppers. Inventory will expand to include items such as flags, Yankee candles, garden accents and local art.

The Garden Walk at Cressman’s, which hopes to add florist services starting in the fall, will hold a grand opening with door prizes and children’s crafts 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 14. Info: 610-419-8033.

For Retail Watchers looking for a new set of wheels this Memorial Day, I have some automotive news to report.

First, Rothrock held a grand opening of its new Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram dealership May 17 at 1648 Plaza Lane in South Whitehall Township. A new Nissan store under construction is set to debut in August or September.

The company, with more than 50 years’ experience, offers new and preowned vehicles, as well as maintenance, repairs, detailing, parts and accessories. Info: 866-213-1831 or rothrock.com.

Second, Kelly Automotive Group announced Kelly Mitsubishi’s new home at 536-40 State Road in Emmaus, the former Kelly Ford dealership. The move brings more inventory and parking.

Kelly has two other dealerships on State Road, as well as a location on Easton-Nazareth Highway in Lower Nazareth Township. Info: kellycar.com.

As freelance writer Kevin Duffy reported Thursday, a Mediterranean restaurant chain is coming to the former site of Mangos Coastal Cuisine at 3750 Hamilton Blvd. in South Whitehall Township.

The township’s Board of Commissioners on Wednesday approved the transfer of a liquor license to Allentown Carmel Cafe Wine Bar.

Owner John Ross of Macungie plans to use 5,700 square feet of the 8,000-square-foot structure while leasing out the rest of the space. He expects to open his 180-seat restaurant in the fall after completing extensive renovations.

According to the company’s website, the chain offers a wide selection of wine, as well as small and large plates, ranging from vegetarian and seafood platters to pastas and signature meat dishes. Info: carmelcafe.com.

South Whitehall isn’t the only area where restaurant spaces are being revived.