By Melanie Penner

It may be a line out of an old Irish song, but “bread and roses” will take on a different meaning at an upcoming Chautauqua Spirit event.

The Morden and District Horticultural Society will host “An Evening of Bread & Roses” on July 17.

Chautauqua Spirit project coordinator Nancy Penner said the title for the evening is meant to represent the need for food for our bodies and food for our spirit, being the beauty of Morden roses. The evening will also lead into a weekend full of public art unveiling related to Morden’s rose heritage.

“Floral beauty is another part of our local heritage, especially the Parkland Rose series, which was developed here by Henry Marshall,” said Penner.

Monique Rampton from Morden Nurseries will present the “roses” part of the evening.

Rampton’s presentation will feature some background on the roses developed in Morden, how the development is changing as well as care techniques and photos of many different types of roses.

Rampton said the Parkland series of roses are quite popular.

“We get calls from all over from people wanting Morden roses because of their hardiness to colder climates,” noted Rampton.

She said people are really interested in the prairie hardy roses which are very attractive because they are a larger doubly rose and are continuous bloomers.

The “bread” part of the evening will consist of specialty breads from Morden’s diverse ethnic groups.

Caterer Janet Nedohin with the help of others will be doing the bread making for the event, while Tom and Lori Neufeld will be providing the musical entertainment.

Cost of the evening is $8 to cover the hospitality portion of the event.

Advance tickets are available at the Pembina Hills Arts Gallery.

“An Evening of Bread and Roses” takes place 7:30 p.m. at the Morden Friendship Centre.