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Five Private Gardens Part Of Autumn Tour
statue
One of the featured stops during the Saturday, Oct. 10 Oakdale Garden Club Autumn Tour will be at the iconic ‘Yesterday is Tomorrow’ sculpture by local artist Betty Saletta, in the heart of downtown Oakdale.

The Oakdale Garden Club (OGC) has announced its inaugural Autumn Garden Tour to be held in Oakdale on Saturday, Oct. 10 between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

As it is being held outdoors, masks are required to be worn; hand sanitizers will also be available.

Tickets for this year’s event are $25, and include a keepsake pamphlet with photos and information about the Tour that features five private gardens located in the older section of Oakdale, and three points of public interest found in the downtown area of the city. These are the Cowboy Statue, the Downtown Pots and the Blue Star Native Plant Garden at the Post Office, regularly planted and tended by OGC members.

Also part of the Autumn Garden Tour, held at one of the homes, will be a Silent Auction and Raffle of gift baskets for attendees as provided by Oakdale’s local merchants and OGC members. Proceeds for this early fall event will be returned back into the community in order to provide for more of the civic beautification and horticultural education that the century-old OGC has long been noted for.

Tickets can be purchased at Morris Nursery of Riverbank, P & L Nursery in Escalon, Park Greenhouse Nursery in Ripon, Westurf Nursery in Modesto, and The Greenery in Turlock. They can also be purchased via email at oakdalegardenclub.org. As the Club expects a good turnout, it’s advised to buy tickets in advance.

If there any remaining tickets, they will be available at the first garden stop on the tour, 242 Laurel Ave., Oakdale on the day of the tour.

Along with the gardens, one of the featured stops will be at the iconic ‘Yesterday is Tomorrow’ sculpture by local artist Betty Saletta, in the heart of downtown Oakdale.

This statue, affectionately known in Oakdale as “The Cowboy Statue” is cast in bronze, and depicts a lone rider atop his horse. This 12-foot tall statue was funded through private donations and the plaques at the base of the statue attest to the strong community involvement in Oakdale. It took the community two years to raise the money through donations and the selling of small replicas of the finished work. The work was unveiled in 1992, adding to Oakdale’s claim as the “Cowboy Capital of the World.”

The statue was originally set in a reflecting pool of water, but upkeep proved difficult, so the decision was made to plant the area around the base. The shrubs have grown tall enough to create the illusion of the horse and rider traveling through brush. The Oakdale Garden Club was gifted a sum of money in a restricted account to use for upkeep of the statue and the plantings.

To the west of the statue is the original Oakdale Train Station, dating to the late 1890’s. It was later repurposed as the Oakdale Cowboy Museum, which still operates there today.