When I received an electronic press kit for Northwest Flower & Garden Show I thought it was a mistake until I read the words, "Ballard-based Salmon Bay Events has grown the show from a small local event to North America's third-largest flower and garden show." The more I learned, the more my interest grew. How had an established Ballard business that grosses nearly $3 million per year escaped my notice, and too, how had I never noticed the attractive building by the Ballard Bridge featuring a three story salmon?

As for never noticing the building with its three floor salmon configured in windows, in turned out that was my oversight. As for not knowing about the business with roots in Ballard, well sometimes we can see the tree but not its roots.

Major media along the Pacific Coast are quite familiar with the work of Salmon Bay Events but they don't usually draw the attention of local (well, neighborhood) press. The Northwest Flower & Garden Show was founded by Duane and Alice Kelly of Salmon Bay Events in 1979. The 2008 show which runs Feb. 20 to 24 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center marks the twentieth anniversary.

In keeping with such a major event a publicist arranged for me to interview Chairman Duane Kelly by telephone. We spoke. He was very gracious; telling me about his path from English Major at the University of Washington, to publisher of Pacific Fishing Magazine, to producer of the two major garden shows in North America. But what I wanted to know was whether he'd ever eaten at Mike's Chili Parlor just four blocks southeast of his office? He confessed that he hadn't, but felt he should.

Exactly one week before all seven full-time Seattle employees would literally pack up and move to the convention center to prepare for the event, Duane Kelly walked briskly against the wind to meet me at Mike's Chili. As soon as we'd introduced ourselves he thanked me for helping to put an end to "the travesty" of his having worked in Ballard for 30 years but not yet frequented Mike's. I could feel that I was in the presence of a man who loved words as much as gardens. Neither of us ordered the Big Ass.

Along with a copy of The New York Times he was carrying materials for me; a special edition of Sunset Magazine in which every photo was from a display at either the Northwest or San Francisco Garden Show and a copy of an article from USA Today about the shows. He apologized for repeating anything he'd said over the phone, "I've done a lot of interviews lately."

We sat at a back table by the pool table. Duane has silvery hair that was a bit blinding backlit by the windows, and such lovely manners that he made me feel like I was making time to meet him, rather than the other way around. He grew up in a Navy family, mostly along the Atlantic Coast. He came west to attend the University of Washington with the intention of becoming an English professor, focusing on Victorian literature. Then, according to him, he fell in love and wanted to be earning money before he got married. He took a job in advertising. Then he founded Pacific Fishing Magazine; for years their office was in the Ballard Building, above where Lombardi's is now located.

Then in 1990 came an opportunity to buy into a building near the Ballard Bridge, along with a fishing company. A former residence was remodeled into an attractive building that is headquarters for Salmon Bay Events; the fishing business is still located on the third floor. Hence the three story salmon, from tail formed by entry way to mouth pointing toward the sky.

Aware that with the commercial fishing industry "contracting" so would demand for a fishing magazine, Duane was considering his options at a time when he and his wife happened to attend the Philadelphia and New England garden shows. Already an avid third generation gardener he remembers telling his wife, "If somebody were to do that in Seattle, I bet it would be a success." The family-owned business became those "somebodies," somewhat belying the perseverance and smarts of their success.

Duane took only one phone call during lunch, apologizing first, "the show's in just one week." Twenty-six gardens will be built over the space of four days for a show that will run five days, draw 60,000-70,000 attendees, and then end. Take-down goes quickly. Then all seven Ballard employees will join two full-timers in San Francisco to prepare for their show in the Cow Palace that opens just three weeks after Seattle.

Until the brief lull before preparations for 2009 start in April, Duane will not have enough time for his own garden, but every morning he'll rise at 4:30 a.m. and work for an hour on another passion; his playwriting. His writing is on issues and set around the world, often addressing the emotional toll of war. The rest of the day he'll negotiate the details necessary to produce these massive events, ever adjusting the themes and focus of shows - as attendee's age, purchase homes on smaller lots, garden in containers, take composting to a new level. The logistics of an event with "shelf life of just five days" are astounding but Duane was extremely calm. We talked about writing and the value of community.

Duane praised the chili and said he would definitely eat there again. He thanked for me "righting a wrong" - his not eating there in his first 30 years as a business owner in Ballard. Back in their office everyone was on the phone with delivery talk that involved cubic yards. Duane thanked me again for my time. I thanked him for his and wondered, did he sacrifice that hour from his writing life or from his business life? Then again, maybe we were just two former English majors meeting for lunch over chili.

Peggy can be reached atlargeinballard@yahoo.com. She writes additional pieces at http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/ballard.