Free Home & Garden Show Comes to Katy’s Merrell Center; Donations Accepted for Brookwood Community

KATY MAGAZINE

March 19, 2021

By Jennifer Miko

This year, the Katy Home & Garden Show and Spring Gift Market welcomes guests of all ages, for FREE! Organizers of the popular event decided to waive the admission fee in an effort to help the community “recover, repair, replace, and renew.”

The 15th Annual Katy Home & Garden Show and Spring Gift Market takes place Saturday, March 27 from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sunday, March 28 from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. at the Merrell Center at 6301 South Stadium Lane.

Guests can browse exhibitors for kitchen and bath remodeling, flooring install and cleaning, roofing, and much more. In the gift market, popular vendors will display exciting merchandise for decorating, and finding the perfect graduation or Mother’s Day gifts. The booths will be filled with handcrafted decor, jewelry, clothing and more.

Local artists from Houston’s Archway Gallery will show guests how to be “wall-wise” with custom art pieces. Artists will be onsite to explain how to curate a unique art collection.

The Brookwood Community returns this year to host a plant sale at the Katy Home & Garden Show and Spring Gift Market. Shoppers can stock up on colorful flats and beautiful hanging plants to brighten up their yards that are recovering from the deep freeze that destroyed so many residents' landscaping.

The Great Harvest Food Truck will also be onsite, so shoppers can take their time and make a day of the event.

For a complete list of exhibitors and more information, visit the Katy Home & Garden Show and Spring Gift Market website here.

Brookwood Community Benefits from Donations

The not-for-profit Brookwood Community will benefit from the sale of concessions at the Katy Home & Garden Show and Spring Gift Market. Guests of the show can also participate in a supply drive at the Merrell Center to help the community replenish supplies.

Recently, the community, located just outside of Katy, at 1752 FM 1489, in Brookshire, suffered damages from the historic freezing temperatures in the area.

Photos: The Brookwood Community

The community, described as “a God-centered educational, residential, and entrepreneurial community for adults with disabilities,” is well-known for its onsite café, flourishing greenhouse, and beautiful merchandise and handmade artwork in their gift shop.

Freezing Temps Caused Millions in Damages

The winter weather event in February that paralyzed most of Texas, interrupted power at the beloved community for nearly three days. Residential Manager, Kevin Coleman, reported there was significant water damage due to broken pipes in most Citizen homes as well as the Brookwood Café.

“The freezing temperatures took many of our beautiful plants in Horticulture, and an electrical fire in the Streit Educational and Enterprise Building has delayed the re-opening of our day program and affected some of our merchandise inventory,” says Kevin Coleman. “The estimated cost of the damages is nearly $2 million dollars.”

Coleman said insurance will cover much of the expenses, however, there will still be significant “out-of-pocket” costs.

The Brookwood Community has also set up a Walmart gift registry for people to purchase art supplies. Their studio building has been closed due to a fire during the recent ice storm. Some of the needed items include: detail paint brushes, chip brushes, round sponges, sponge brushes all sizes, acrylic paints, paint trays, and canvas packs.

Brookwood Community CEO Vivian Shudde recently said, “We may have lost electricity, but we did not lose power…the power of the Holy Spirit or the power of our Citizens’ contagious joy no matter what the circumstances. We continue to be “Brookwood Strong.”

For more information about the Brookwood Community, visit their website here.