Gates Mills Garden Club
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 2nd 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 29th, we will host a Plant Sale & Vintage Boutique at Esquire’s Cottage.
We have rescheduled, Shakespeare with a Twist Specialty Flower Show for July 16th & 17th.
We look forward to a fruitful year!
Mary Schmidt & Janet Kirschenbaum, 2021 Co-Presidents, Gates Mills Garden Club