Year End Appeal 2025

My belly is full of acorns and mushrooms and nibbles of vegetables from the Kitchen Garden (shhh. . . don’t tell the volunteers it was me chewing on the tomatoes and corn!). I’ve started hiding my favorite foods around Sara’s Storybook Garden and Herbie’s Garden. There are lots of good hiding places under the flowers and bushes. My hideaways will keep me fed all winter long.  Harvest season is a good time of year for a squirrel like me to live at Monk Botanical Gardens! 

If we haven’t met yet, I’m the white squirrel who lives in the most beautiful place in all of Wausau. The little kids who walk the Gardens every morning at the Sprouts Garden Preschool call me “Snowball”. They like to point at me and say hello whenever they see me running along the Garden paths. The Sprouts seem to be learning the strangest things. I’m not really sure why they need to know “colors”  or “leaf patterns” or “numbers”  or “bugs” or “how to be a friend”. All you really need to know in life is where the best food is. 

I get to see hundreds of people walk around the Gardens. They stroll the paths and talk about the plants or their lives. Sometimes they wave and say hello to me! (Not to brag, but I’m kinda popular around the Gardens.) The longer people stay in the Gardens the more relaxed they seem to be. I try to show everyone where to get the best acorns, but no one seems to take any home with them. 

I hope that the Gardens can keep being an inviting, beautiful home for all my friends. You can help me keep the Gardens growing (and my belly full!) with a special year end gift of $100 today. Harvest season is the perfect time to invest in your future fun at the Gardens. 

There is one person who seems to be everywhere in the Gardens, and she’s always having fun. She has red hair and seems to smile at everyone! I overheard the Sprouts kids call her Ms. Jennifer. Have you met her yet? She might care about the Gardens and the people who love the Gardens as much as me. I think her job is to take care of the Gardens. She’s always talking about planning for the future and helping the plants and people thrive right now. 

I like to plan where to put all my winter food. When I’m not digging holes in the quiet spots of the Gardens, I’m relaxing in my favorite trees. Occasionally, I debate with the songbirds the best ways to avoid getting eaten by the fox who visits. Sometimes I gossip with the butterflies and bumblebees about which human volunteers are the best at weeding. I know that my home is special because all of us wild creatures have found a secure place to live and grow among the plants at Monk Botanical Gardens. It’s a safe and peaceful place (ok, well it’s not as safe on the days when the fox visits!) 

Your special year end gift of $100 will protect the Gardens so that our whole community can enjoy this wild, beautiful home that is welcoming to everyone. 

I love my home here at the Gardens. It’s even nicer now that the construction is done! Last year the humans built a new parking lot so more people can safely visit. They also planted a whole new garden, the English Garden. I saw roses and lots of other pretty flowers blooming this year. While the deer chewed on the arborvitae border a little last winter, those trees are green and lush now. The humans like the new garden too! They all get together for something called a “wedding” in the English Garden. It looks like a nice way to have a party. However, if you are invited to a “wedding” be sure to bring your own snacks. No one ever has a pile of seeds for me! 

It’s been fun to spend a little time chatting with you, but I have to get back to harvesting my food for winter. There are always more seeds to hide away for the cold months. Plus it’s the perfect month for picking crab apples. I’m so grateful that the founder, Mr. Robert W. Monk III, started the Gardens with his family. He loved crab apple trees. I love how delicious crab apples are. 

And I love my home and all my friends who come and visit me at Monk Botanical Gardens. Be sure to say hello next time you visit! I promise to share some crab apples and seeds with you. 

See you in the Gardens,

“Snowball” 

P.S. Keep me safe, fed, and happy by making the Gardens grow with a special year end gift of $100. Share your harvests with the community today!