As the Sandy Springs Garden Tour strolls into its 10th year, helping the Sandy Springs Society raise funds for more than 20 nonprofits serving consumers within city limits, its volunteers also evolve.

Garden tour co-chair Robin Pollack said her journey into leadership was inevitable.
“My home was on the garden tour three years ago,” she said. “I joined the society two years ago. Now I’m the co-chair. I am a Master Gardener so it was a natural evolution.”

As a Master Gardener, who trades community volunteerism for intensive training by county extension offices, Pollack found herself among other floral aficionados.
“I’m looking forward to it,” she said about visiting the restored gardens of Glenridge Hall, a 1929 mansion featured in the current television series “The Vampire Diaries.”

Although the house is a private residence and closed to the public, owner Caroline Glenn Mayson donated the use of its garden to the tour.
“It’s amazing how much of an untamed environment it is,” Pollack said about the grounds’ 47 forested acres, although several acres are devoted to formal and informal English gardens full of cultivated plants like roses, columbine, iris, peonies, daffodils and hostas.

Lib Thompson, reprising her 2010 role as garden tour co-chair, said the other four stops are equally breathtaking.
“We have five fabulous gardens and they’re all so individual, from the grand Glenridge Hall to personal gardens,” she said. “It’s like handwriting. These gardens reflect the owners’ personalities.”

Thompson said each year, the garden tour gives her inspiration for her own residence.
“We have a yard,” she said. “I would like to have a garden. I would like to learn more. So many of these gardeners are master gardeners like Robin.”

The other gardens belong to Patricia Terwilliger, Randy and Stan Mogelnicki, Jane and Bill Knapp and Cathy and Jeffrey Korotkin.

The tour is rain or shine. Pets and strollers are not permitted. Properties are not wheelchair accessible. Walking shoes are recommended.

Tickets are $20 in advance at Ace Hardware, 6010A Sandy Springs Circle, Antiques and Interiors, 6336 Roswell Road, and Gramma B’s, 300 Hammond Drive.
Tickets on the day of the tour are $25 and available at the Glenridge Hall parking area at Kaiser Permanente, 20 Glenlake Pkwy.

If you go:

n What: Sandy Springs Garden Tour
n When: from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday
n Where: 20 Glenlake Pkwy. in Sandy Springs and four other locations
n Benefits: Sandy Springs Society charities
n Cost: $20 advance, $25 at the door
n Information: visit www.sandyspringssociety.org

It may defy belief that a sequined designer dress, an office voodoo doll or a picnic basket perfect for kitten photography are not held onto steadfastly by their original owners.

To partygoers at the Tossed Out Treasures preview event Thursday, however, such items are just waiting for ownership to be transferred to new, more appreciative households, and hostesses from the Sandy Springs Society will be eager to help.

“The kitchen shop is looking great,” said event co-chair Diane Quintana. “I love books and this year we have a ton. Home décor has some wonderful, interesting things to liven up a space.”

Unlike flea markets, this resale event features individual shops within a former retail location rented at a discount from Mimms Enterprises.

“Big, empty spaces are more challenging. With things on top of each other, we were not as successful,” co-chair Jan Stewart said about previous locations. “This doesn’t feel like a garage sale. You feel like you’re shopping.”

The society’s 200 members lend their effort, expertise and design ability to make the shops inviting.

“It’s easy to be the chair when so many people are involved and they know what they’re doing,” Stewart said.

The 20th annual fundraiser already has 100 non-member reservations for the preview party and will raise about $50,000 for 21 local nonprofits over the three-day event, Quintana said.

“One of the reasons I am so thrilled to be involved is the money raised goes directly back into the Sandy Springs community,” she said.

Quintana, who joined the society in 2009, said membership helped her connect with other women after moving to Sandy Springs from Greenwich, Conn., in 2007.

“Being new to Atlanta, it was a real boon for me,” she said.

Greenwich’s loss is Sandy Springs’ gain, as Quintana responded to society president Peggy Stapleton’s request for leadership.

"This is right up my alley,” Quintana said about Stapleton’s proposal. “As a professional organizer, I could really lend my skills to the event.”

If you go

• What: Tossed Out Treasures
• When: Preview party from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday; $30 per ticket. Sale days are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; free admission.
• Where: North River Shopping Center, 8767 Roswell Road, Sandy Springs
• Benefits: Sandy Springs nonprofits
• Information: visit www.sandyspringssociety.org