FREDDY ZALTA
THE ANTICIPATION WAS BUILDING. THE THIRD ANNUAL RUTH JEROME GARDEN & POOL TOUR WAS SCHEDULED FOR 11 O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING AND BY 10:30 THERE WERE ALREADY 40 PEOPLE MINGLING AT THE MEETING SPOT, THE SIDE YARD OF KIM AND JON KUSHNER’S HOME. FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS, COMMUNITY MEMBER ABE JEROME HAS PUT THIS EVENT TOGETHER SO OTHERS CAN SHARE HIS MOTHER’S LOVE OF GARDENS.
As I walked around speaking to the participants of the tour, most had experienced it in the past and had brought along friends to show them how beautiful the gardens are. Prissy Sutton was very curious to visit the homes in the area since she had spent most of her life in New Orleans. Raquel Dabbah wanted to learn more about gardening. “I try but the deer always end up eating up everything.”
Everyone was admiring the beautiful, landscaped backyard, the flowers, the pool, tennis court and the playground area for the younger kids.
“I have known Abe since 1995, he was one of our first clients.” Pam Hall from Capital Gardening Products said. “He is a wonderful, generous person and an incredibly talented artist.”
Mayor Sam Cohen of Deal said, “Abe wanted me to make the introduction, but he truly does not need one. I have known him for over 20 years and what you see is what you get. He is incredibly talented, generous with his time and never ceases to amaze with his creativity.”
Everyone paid attention when Abe began to speak. “Welcome to the Third Annual Ruth Jerome Garden and Pool Tour. I just want to give you some background on the tour you are about to experience. I used to travel with my parents and every trip involved visiting local beautiful gardens. My mother loved gardens and all kinds of outdoor spaces. So instead of a plaque or a bunch of books with her name, I wanted people to have an experience that was reminiscent of my mom and her love for the outdoors.”
As we traveled from one home to another, Abe would describe the beautiful landscapes to us. He would point out the garden design and the history of each site. He found a way to describe the details and to make it interesting and even invigorating.
He explained that “this tour has become a must, and has grown in popularity with each yearly event. The first year there were 80 participants wearing masks on a 98˚ day. This year we thought we would have 75 people, 100, at most, but we actually had 170 people show up and we had to turn people away.
Abe’s clients spoke about his talent and dedication.The mind of an artist is a mind that never rests. Gayle Krost remembers when he worked on the landscaping of her home. “When he works on a project, he lives and breathes it. One day he called me and said, ‘I was sleeping last night and I thought, you know where we’re putting that tile? I want to add some mirror in there, so that you see the reflection of the arborvitae.’”
The owners of the homes we visited were generous to allow a group of almost 200 people to walk around and learn about their homes. Thank you to Kim and Jon Kushner, Annie and Elliot Azrak, Lisa and Lee Cohen, Renee and Albert Laboz, Rachel and Jeff Sutton, Marilyn and Joey Harary, Shella and Toby Cohen.
At the conclusion of the tour each participant was given a denim bag provided by Tile Bar which was filled with a throw from the Turkish Towel Collection, and a natural spray from Mario Badescu. What people really wanted was to sign up for the next event for the summer!
Freddy Zalta is a biographer for hire.
