俱乐部缘起与社区定位
The Inland Empire Gardeners（简称 TIEG）成立于美国华盛顿州东部斯波坎地区，活动范围覆盖 Spokane County 及周边 Inland Northwest 一带。与同名加州 Riverside-San Bernardino 大都市圈的「Inland Empire」不同，TIEG 的「Inland Empire」源自 Spokane 早期地理称谓，特指 Cascade 山脉以东的内陆帝国地区。俱乐部自我定位为「We aren’t your Mama’s garden club」（我们不是你妈妈那一代的园艺俱乐部），主打开放、轻松、不拘泥传统的社区风格。
核心活动：Spokane Garden Expo 与花园巡游
TIEG 长期主办两项斯波坎地区年度大型园艺公众活动：一是 Spokane Garden Expo（斯波坎园艺博览会），围绕斯波坎本地苗圃、园艺供应商、园林设计师和手工艺人展开；二是 Spokane in Bloom Garden Tour（斯波坎盛放花园巡游），组织会员和公众参观本地私家花园与公共绿地。2019 年时活动档期为 Garden Expo 5 月、Spokane in Bloom 6 月。
会员、志愿者与讲者
俱乐部采用会员制，会费为 25.00 美元，邮寄另收 1.50 美元运费。除本地志愿者外，TIEG 历年邀请的演讲嘉宾来自全球多个地区。VincaVi 是俱乐部最后一任会长（former TIEG Prez），在告别信中感谢了所有讲者「字面意义上来自世界各地」，以及长期赞助 TIEG 活动的本地商业伙伴。
2024 年末解散与 Spokane Garden Expo 移交
TIEG 在公告中确认：在为 Inland Northwest 带来 30 年园艺推广之后，俱乐部决定于 2024 年底正式解散，原 tieg.org 网站同期关闭。年度 Spokane Garden Expo 已移交给斯波坎本地一家活动承办方继续举办，2025 年档期定于 5 月 10 日（周六）上午 9 点至下午 5 点，地点为 Spokane Community College（地址 1810 N Greene St, Spokane, WA）。Spokane in Bloom Garden Tour 也可能由其他组织在后续年度延续。
联系方式与社区档案
TIEG 公开联系邮箱由 comcast.net 提供（address: tieg@comcast.net），用于活动咨询、媒体联络与历史资料查询。俱乐部现已成为 Inland Northwest 园艺社区历史档案的一部分；原 nurserylist 目录、告别信以及历届 Spokane Garden Expo 与 Spokane in Bloom Garden Tour 相关信息，可通过 fieldtrips 与 conference 公开档案源访问历史快照。
Origins and Community Positioning
The Inland Empire Gardeners (TIEG) was a community-based garden club based in the Spokane area of eastern Washington State, with activities spanning Spokane County and the broader Inland Northwest. The “Inland Empire” in its name refers to the historical geographic designation for the inland region east of the Cascade Range, not the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area in Southern California that shares the same popular nickname. The club positioned itself with the tagline “We aren’t your Mama’s garden club,” emphasizing an open and informal community style rather than a traditional horticultural society.
Core Activities: Spokane Garden Expo and Garden Tour
TIEG organized two major annual public gardening events in the Spokane area. The Spokane Garden Expo gathered local nurseries, gardening suppliers, landscape designers, and craft vendors. The Spokane in Bloom Garden Tour invited members and the public to visit private gardens and public green spaces across the Spokane region. In the 2019 schedule, the Garden Expo was held in May and the Spokane in Bloom Garden Tour in June.
Membership, Volunteers, and Speakers
The club operated on a membership model, with annual dues of $25.00 plus $1.50 for shipping of membership materials. Beyond local volunteers, TIEG hosted speakers from regions around the world over the years. VincaVi, the final club president, signed the farewell letter as “soon to be former TIEG Prez” and thanked the speakers “from literally all over the world,” along with local business sponsors that supported TIEG events across many seasons.
End of Operations in 2024 and Expo Handover
TIEG announced that after 30 years of bringing the joys of gardening to the Inland Northwest, the club would dissolve at the end of 2024, with the tieg.org website scheduled to go off-line at the same time. The annual Spokane Garden Expo has been transferred to a Spokane-based event planner and is scheduled for May 10, 2025, from 9 am to 5 pm at Spokane Community College, 1810 N Greene St, Spokane, WA. The Spokane in Bloom Garden Tour may continue under different organization in future years.
Contact Information and Community Archive
The club’s public contact email was provided by comcast.net (address: tieg@comcast.net), used for event inquiries, media liaison, and historical records requests. TIEG now exists as part of the historical record of the Inland Northwest gardening community; original nurserylist directory, the farewell letter, and references to past Spokane Garden Expo and Spokane in Bloom Garden Tour editions remain accessible through public archives such as fieldtrips and conference wayback snapshots of tieg.org.
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