Founded 1962
Nothing daunts a gardener from being outdoors. Thirteen members of the Garden Club braved the chill and drizzle to visit New Pond Farm Education Center in Redding on Thursday, April 18. Decked out in rain gear with some of us carrying umbrellas, we traversed the trails in the woods and meadows to seek out spring ephemerals. We did manage to find such specimens as: mayapple, gill over the ground, trout lily, rue anemone, and red trillium.
The Garden Club was happy to welcome Cheryl Basztura to our March meeting. Cheryl gave a lively presentation about the birds that she has seen and photographed in her backyard and on her world-wide travels. Interesting and sometimes amusing stories accompanied the varied species that we were able to see and learn about. It may have been chilly outside but had a lovely springtime-themed spread provided by our refreshment hostesses. And our creative raffle committee found the best bird and springtime-themed items this month. It was our club’s first attempt at a photo display for our artistic exhibits and they gave the judges a workout to try to decide on the best. Our horticultural exhibit asked for the expression of spring in branches with buds. Members braved the chill to search their gardens for the best specimens to show. All-in-all a great meeting and a wonderful morning.
The Garden Club was really pleased to finally kick off our 2024 meetings on February 15. We were treated to a lively and fact-filled presentation (not to mention some really great photos) about Bears and Bird feeding given by Phil Robbins of Brookfield’s Wild Birds Unlimited. Valentine themed artistic exhibits, evergreen horticulture exhibits, a pink/red food feast, and a wonderful raffle rounded out the morning. Thank you, Phil!
The Garden Club’s 2023 Holiday Program, Luncheon and Fundraiser was held on Thursday, December 7. Twenty-five of our members welcomed twenty-five guests to the Portuguese Cultural Center in Danbury for a lovely, seated luncheon. Tables were decorated with orange and clove pomander centerpieces made by our members and a favor describing the history of the pomander. Throughout the morning guests could peruse a wonderful choice of raffle items. We thank our members for curating many of the raffle items and Adam Broderick Salon, Bridgewater Chocolate, The Pottery Factory, The Danbury Sports Dome, The Bakehouse, and Pucinella’s Restaurant for donating raffle items in support of the club’s fundraiser. Before lunch we were regaled with a lively talk on “The Language of Flowers” by Kandie Carle, The Victorian Lady. It was lovely to be together to enjoy conversations and good company. Happy Holidays!
The holiday season has started and the Garden Club members gathered at the Newbury Church community room on a sunny Thursday morning to decorate wreaths for various buildings in town as well as to make and decorate the large wreath that is displayed over the entrance to Town Hall. As usual we had a great time. Wreaths are destined for the Historical Museum, Williams Park Memorial, the Library, the Senior Center, Parks and Rec, Public Works, the Ambulance Station, Police Station, and Fire Departments, as well as Newbury Church, Saint Paul’s Church and Brooks Quarry Housing.
The club would like to extend its thanks to Girl Scout Troop 50227 for helping with the painting of the pinecones we collected to use on the wreaths. Thank you Addie, Emily, Gigi, Isabel, Kaiti, Lily, Nicole, Nicole, Riley, Ruth and Sammi. We appreciate you taking on the task for us.
Happy Holidays!
The Garden Club of Brookfield held a seasonal session at the Brookfield Senior Center on Tuesday, November 14. The theme was “Holiday Hanging”. Participants made wall hanging from a wood shingle base and adorned it with material found in our winter gardens and added festive ribbons and bows. Thank you to this hard-working team for putting together another creative session. Looking forward to what’s in store for 2024.
On Thursday, October 19, the Garden Club was pleased to welcome Karin Pyskaty, current president of the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut, to its annual meeting to preside at its installation of officers. The membership had voted in May to re-elect the current officers for another two-year term. Joanne McKendry, Norma Jean Macauto, Sheila Stamboni and Dianne Mariano were installed as President, Vice-president, Treasurer and Secretary, respectively. Karin presented each officer with a symbolic key and words of wisdom for their roles. The officers are looking forward to serving the membership in the coming year. The Club awarded an outstanding service award to Laura Vogler-Marston and a certificate of lifetime achievement to Gail and Don Winkley. The meeting room was decked out in lovely autumn colors and the hostesses set out some very tasty treats. Members showed great creativity in their pumpkin-themed artistic exhibits and some members still had beautiful dahlias, sedum, and mums from their gardens to display as horticultural exhibits.
What a great meeting we had on Thursday, September 21. Our presenter, Peg Townsend, who is a National Garden Clubs Accredited Flower Show Judge, a member of the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut Board of Directors, and Chairman of the CT Flower Show School, led us in a dynamic and fun presentation titled “Understanding Flower Show Designs and Exhibits”. The experience will certainly help us with our own personal flower designs and arrangement, but it will also help us to better understand all the beautiful flower entries that are on display at the annual Federation Flower Show in February. Peggy not only donated her designs to be raffled, but she graciously agreed to an impromptu judging of the club’s artistic exhibits. We were so pleased to welcome members from neighboring clubs as well as residents of the town, and with delicious autumn-themed treats provided by our hostesses to munch on the gathering was able to be both informative and social.
Being a member of the Garden Club of Brookfield isn’t just about attending meetings and presentations, submitting artistic and horticultural exhibits, and working in our civic gardens. Sometimes its about just having fun – and on Thursday, July 20, with the weather cooperating, we did just that. Members gathered at Newbury Church and car-pooled to visit six member gardens. Beautiful. Unique. And very much fitting the personality of its gardener. And we ended the morning with a true garden-party with a dessert cake that looked too pretty to eat.
It is National Garden Week (June 4 to June 10) and the garden club kicked off the celebration with a table at our town’s Spring into Summer Block Party. NGW was front and center with a displayed flyer and on seed packet tags. The team made beautiful bouquets to sell they went like hotcakes. Thank you to all who attended, to the Friends of the Library who shared their spot with us, and to the great volunteers who made the day happen.
