Gates Mills Improvement Society

Despite the pandemic, the Gates Mills Garden Club members remained engaged.  Gardening, flower arranging and community outreach seemed to be the perfect therapy!

• Arbor Day - A White Oak was planted in front of the Gates Mills Post Office and dedicated in memory of our Club member and former Gates Mills Mayor, Connie White.
• May Day Baskets - With the help of members and service department, we were able to continue the tradition of hanging baskets of daisies throughout the Village.
• Bridge Box Planting – The members continued the tradition of planting the summer and holiday bridge boxes at The North and South Bridges.
• Annual Plant Sale fundraiser went virtual.  We hosted the May sale online, and most of the plants sold within hours of opening.
• National Garden Week, June 7-13 – Special programs and community outreach were planned each day to highlight the importance of gardening.
• Scholarships – $5000 in Scholarships were given to students pursuing a degree related to horticulture or conservation.  
• Library & Post Office Flowers – While the library was closed during the pandemic, members displayed weekly flower arrangements at the Post Office.  We now provide flower arrangement to both the Library and the Post Office.
• Petite Design Specialty Flower Show- In September, we had an “invitation only” flower show at the Barn to keep our members engaged and enhance their creativity.  
• Youth & Senior Outreach – We continued our Youth Victory Garden program, sending supportive notes to seniors and decorating pumpkins for Meals on Wheels recipients.
• GMGC Library – We received hundreds of gardening books from Connie White’s library which took months to organize. We are working to include many of these books in our own library on the 2^nd floor of Esquire’s Cottage.

What to look forward in 2021

For 2021, we will continue to plan our programs and events, using social distancing guidelines, while adhering to our Garden Club mission to stimulate interest in gardening, preserve and enhance the natural beauty of the Village of Gates Mills and promote charitable, educational, and scientific endeavors related to gardening.

Kelly Siemborski will champion our efforts to partner with the Gates Mills Environmental Education Center to rebuild the “Outreach Garden”.  We will continue the “Plant A Row” project to provide produce for nonprofit organizations.  In 2020, several raised beds were rebuilt, overgrowth was removed, and soil amended.  We will provide a few educational programs for the students at the GMEEC.

On Saturday, May 29^th, we will host a Plant Sale & Vintage Boutique at Esquire’s Cottage.

We have rescheduled, Shakespeare with a Twist Specialty Flower Show for July 16^th & 17^th.

We look forward to a fruitful year!

Mary Schmidt & Janet Kirschenbaum, 2021 Co-Presidents, Gates Mills Garden Club

The Historical Society’s 2020 activities were greatly impacted by Covid-19, but we made progress nonetheless.

• Our new Endowment Fund is “up and running” under the leadership of Village resident, Lucy Lytle.  As of January 2021, we have a matching grant from The Veale Foundation for donations (up to $5000).
• In collaboration with The Western Reserve Historical Society, plans were made and postponed for a Historical Speakers’ Series at The Hunt Club. 
• Also postponed were a historical trolley tour of Gates Mills and our annual dinner including a presentation by Dan Collister on “How the Horse Shaped the Valley”.  
• We created a website and have had over 1700 viewers:  GatesMillsHistoricalSociety.org. Our Facebook page continues to post photographs and GMHS news.
• Our Facebook page was viewed by Anne Wilkinson, granddaughter of Helen Hunscher Wilkinson (village activist and great-granddaughter of Holsey Gates).  As a result, Anne sent us voluminous original materials including Gates family history and myriad photographs of Gates Mills including the historic dam, St. Christopher’s By the River, and village houses. 
• We granted Legacy Home status to 2 Village residences this year.  
• The Broadhead street sign silhouettes have been cut out, but due to Covid’s impact on production, are on hold temporarily.  
• The village’s walking bridge over the Chagrin River has been nominated for The National Historic Registry, and we await a decision.  
• For July Fourth 2020, the Society recreated Stop 21 on the interurban at its historic location in front of The Southwick House Museum.  

Residents continue to donate family artifacts and use the museum for family research.  We ask all residents to consider donating Gates Mills memorabilia to the Historical Society as they sort through their papers and remembrances.

We look forward to 2021 and the fulfillment of the projects we’ve put on hold.  

Thank you for your continued support of the Gates Mills Historical Society.

Marcia Anselmo, President