Avalon Keep Botanical Gardens – Creating Beauty for All

BY JACLYN ROSE –

Michael Cate grew up in Mena, a 1976 graduate of Mena High School, he attended a private college in New Mexico where he gained an Associate’s Degree in Communication and met his wife, Melinda. Upon graduation the couple moved back to Mena, where Cate spent some time working for KENA Radio before purchasing The Looking Glass, a local history magazine that Cate published for eight years. He then went on to publish the Waldron news for eight years.

Cate is also a published writer, specializing in historical books and biographies, he has written 25 books, including the Centennial History of Mena. “Writing biographies has been very rewarding. I wrote one for a man who was a retired Colonel in the Army and his wife was a military nurse. She told me that he had not ever slept a full night because he would wake up with nightmares. This man was a POW and a Senior Officer in a German Prison Camp. We released the biography on the 50^th Anniversary of his escape. His wife told us that after his book was published, he slept his first full night. Hearing that, I had to go to another room, I had spent time with the man and learned his story and care for him. Writing biographies has been very rewarding,” explained Cate.

Along with his gift of writing, Cate is a Certified Professional Photographer, a feat that only two percent of photographers accomplish. A member of the Professional Photographers Guild of Houston, he has judged printing and taught classes on the art.

The Cates married in 1979 and have four children. They have also been blessed with one grandchild and two more on the way. They had moved from Mena some time ago, but were brought back after the devastating tornado in April of 2009 destroyed the house of Cate’s mother. “The tornado in 2009 brought us back to rebuild my mother’s home. In the process, so many people were helpful. My youngest son and I stood in the middle of the devastation one day and were at the end of our rope. We stopped and prayed together in agreement, ‘Lord, there is no way we can do this, we need 12 guys.’ Within the hour, down the street came a van with 24 men that helped clean up. During that time I fell in love with my hometown again and my wife and I moved back in 2012.

Along with his passion and skill for writing and photography, Cate is a Master Gardener and he and his wife have taken this love and the property that his great granddad owned and have created Avalon Keep Botanical Gardens. Located 7 miles past Louise Durham Elementary on Highway 8 West, Avalon Keep is a property with the goal to keep and preserve nature and provide a place in Mena where people can learn to grow things, to garden and learn new landscape ideas. They hope to work with local Master Gardeners and continue to develop a beautiful property that Cate describes as, “a giant portrait studio.” Cate hopes this property, which officially opens in the spring of 2016 but is currently accepting reservations and bookings, “will be a beautiful place where people will forget about their inhibitions and enjoy each other and from that create a photograph to hang on the wall and remember.”

Avalon Keep Botanical Gardens has something for everyone, a wedding venue with several different locations, an area for family portraits, family reunions, corporate events, even a small Christmas Tree Farm for their customers. They also have a small nursery, where clients can purchase the native-to-Arkansas plants they see in the landscaped area of Avalon Keep. They are recreating Monet’s Bridge and have a Pergola on the dam of their pond. They also have a small vineyard and orchard in town. Avalon Keep will be hosting workshops on gardening and landscaping and they rent chairs and different items for weddings and other events.

Most important to Cate is capturing the essence of a family and creating a portrait for their home, through the beauty of their land, he does that very thing. “My children can be scattered all over the place, but when I walk into my house and look at my family on the wall, we are all together. That is the best investment I have ever made for my family. I want to create a family portrait where people can remember that they had a blast, and be distracted from all worries and inhibitions and just be a family,” Cate explained. “It gets people out in nature. We love it and want to share it.”

For more information visit www.avalonkeep.com or their facebook page, www.facebook.com/AvalonKeep.

About Author

Jeri Pearson

Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.

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