2023 Program & Activity List
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07/01 Grantham Old Home Day (Pictures)
06/10 Grantham Town Wide Yard Sale (Flyer) (Pictures)
05/27 New Civic Gardens Sponsorship Program (Pictures)
05/27 Civic Gardens Planting Weekend (Pictures)
05/14 Jane Verdrager's Personal Flower Sales (Pictures)
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04/17 Van Berkum Perennial Sale (Flyer)
04/14 Growing Dazzling Dahlias (Flyer)
03/10 Tips for Growing Great Flowers in NH (Flyer)
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Posted 09/19/2023
SUMMER FUNDRAISER
We served up homemade cookies and many other sweet treats for Music in the Meadows again this summer. Thank you to our many generous club bakers who volunteered to whip up some fresh batches for us each week. Many thanks also to our members who attended the festivities and handed out our goodies to many appreciative concertgoers. While the weather cooperated nicely, the event organizers did move the August 8th concert to August 29th when Mother Nature threatened a washout! Terri was happy to announce the club made many new friends this summer and our efforts brought in $979 in donations for our scholarship fund.
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JULY ACTIVITY
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Emily Rinde-Thorsen, the Recreation Director for the Town of Grantham, asked the garden club to join other nonprofits and local businesses on July 1st as part of Grantham's Old Home Day festivities. After the parade, and stopping at the chicken barbeque and children’s activities, many families visited our table to learn what’s what. Renee Gustafson and Terri Munson greeted lots of old friends and made some new ones. We greatly appreciated this opportunity to share our GGC news about what we've been doing and our upcoming plans.
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JUNE FUNDRAISER
It was fingers crossed up until the day of the 2023 GGC Tea Party but the skies cleared, and the sun shone brightly over the Clews’ lovely gardens. Forty Garden Club members and their guests enjoyed hot and iced tea, tasty savories, and sweet goodies. The menu was skillfully designed and prepared by Kathy Houghton who made all the delicious food with the one exception of Kristina Cole's yummy raspberry brownies. Tina Gliech was the hardworking sous chef. Waitresses were Jane Altobelli, Sue Berg, Kristina Cole, Elise Kendall, Sharon Parker, and Penny Willoughby. Heavy lifters were Jim Berg, Don Clews, and Bob Munson. We can't thank all of them and our gracious hosts Anke and Don enough. Definitely a day to remember!
JUNE FUNDRAISER
Early on Saturday, June 10th, we had eight tables loaded with vegetable plants, annuals, succulents, and perennials ready to sell. By the end of the day, our many volunteer hours had paid off beautifully, helping us generate a tidy profit for our scholarship and grant fund. In all, nineteen members participated with setting up the night before or working at the yard sale, and it was wonderful to see several additional members who stopped by to say hello or do a little shopping!
According to Emily Rinde-Thorsen, the Recreation Director for the Town of Grantham “Your presence at the Yard Sale is clearly a big traffic generator for all of the other sales.” You can see many more pictures and read about the club's transition from the spring plant sale we ran for many years prior to the pandemic to our participation in the community yard sale in Terri Munson's A Not So Mini Plant Sale blog.
The yard sale raised $1,553 for the scholarship and grant funds. Here’s the breakout:
$325 Jolly Farmer Annuals
$649 Vegetable Plants
$410 Succulents
$115 Van Berkum Perennials
$54 Siberian Irises
The club runs the plant sale including the yard sale and Jolly Farmer and Van Berkum sales to fund scholarships and grants, but has the added benefit of happy plant owners enjoying the flowers and succulents that are now brightening their homes and gardens. And what about the vegetables! Just imagine all the people who will pick thousands of tomatoes, cukes, peppers, squash and zucchini; and enjoy them with their family and friends.
Thank you to the following members who volunteered to make it such a success! Jim and Sue Berg, Betsy Fowler, Marty Gearhart, Tina Gleich, Marcia Hanke, Kathy Houghton, Elise and Mark Kendall, Lee Ann Kerr, Amelia Lantz, Nancy Menton, Ray Miner and Pete LePre, Michael Mulcahy and Susan Terwilliger, Bob and Terri Munson, Cheryl Wilson.
According to Emily Rinde-Thorsen, the Recreation Director for the Town of Grantham “Your presence at the Yard Sale is clearly a big traffic generator for all of the other sales.” You can see many more pictures and read about the club's transition from the spring plant sale we ran for many years prior to the pandemic to our participation in the community yard sale in Terri Munson's A Not So Mini Plant Sale blog.
The yard sale raised $1,553 for the scholarship and grant funds. Here’s the breakout:
$325 Jolly Farmer Annuals
$649 Vegetable Plants
$410 Succulents
$115 Van Berkum Perennials
$54 Siberian Irises
The club runs the plant sale including the yard sale and Jolly Farmer and Van Berkum sales to fund scholarships and grants, but has the added benefit of happy plant owners enjoying the flowers and succulents that are now brightening their homes and gardens. And what about the vegetables! Just imagine all the people who will pick thousands of tomatoes, cukes, peppers, squash and zucchini; and enjoy them with their family and friends.
Thank you to the following members who volunteered to make it such a success! Jim and Sue Berg, Betsy Fowler, Marty Gearhart, Tina Gleich, Marcia Hanke, Kathy Houghton, Elise and Mark Kendall, Lee Ann Kerr, Amelia Lantz, Nancy Menton, Ray Miner and Pete LePre, Michael Mulcahy and Susan Terwilliger, Bob and Terri Munson, Cheryl Wilson.
JUNE PROGRAM
Many folks who heard about last year’s visit to Jim Daigle’s hosta gardens asked that we arrange for another visit so that more members could go on Jim’s delightful tour. Jim offered a gift to each person on the tour—a bag of three or four different plants—all small and looking for a good home. Jim is spreading hostas all over Grantham!
MAY ACTIVITY
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Many local residents know about the Grantham Garden Club because of the civic gardens the club has maintained around town each summer for over 20 years. This year for the first time five Grantham businesses provided us with funds to buy plants and have new signs made for the gardens. The sponsorships cover all five locations, so signs for CG Shepherd Realty, Coldwell Banker Lifestyles, Bar Harbor Bank, Lady Grantham Apiary, and Willis Auto Repair are being rotated every three weeks to make sure they are seen by as many people possible. When you see any of these wonderful folks, please thank them for their generous support!
Preparations for civic gardens begin in late autumn when a new design is planned for the following year and plants are ordered. In late May volunteers fill the planters and spruce up the triangle garden at the intersection of routes 10 and 114. From June through September, many volunteer members care for the plants at the post office, fire station, library, and town hall, by watering, deadheading, and fertilizing as needed to ensure they thrive and look their best throughout the summer season. We rely on Mother Nature to water the triangle garden! 
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MAY ACTIVITY
Many thanks to the GGC members who planted the containers and prepared the triangle garden this spring. They are Jane Altobelli, Sally Findley, Betsy Fowler, Kathy Houghton, Martha Sweeney, Susan Terwilliger, Penny Willoughby, Sela Young-Putnam, and Erin Zagadailov.
The GGC members who have volunteered to water the containers for a week this summer are Jane Altobelli, Christine Bachrach, Sue and Jim Berg, Clare Weed Castleberry, Janie Clark, Andrea Conger, Kate Cricco, Michele Dominy, Elise and Mark Kendall, Martha Gearhart, Marcia Hanke, Sue Johnson, Amelia Lantz, Michael Mulcahy, Terri and Bob Munson, Sharon Parker, Jeanne Raymond, and Susan Terwilliger.
As you can see, it takes a small army to make this happen each year!
The GGC members who have volunteered to water the containers for a week this summer are Jane Altobelli, Christine Bachrach, Sue and Jim Berg, Clare Weed Castleberry, Janie Clark, Andrea Conger, Kate Cricco, Michele Dominy, Elise and Mark Kendall, Martha Gearhart, Marcia Hanke, Sue Johnson, Amelia Lantz, Michael Mulcahy, Terri and Bob Munson, Sharon Parker, Jeanne Raymond, and Susan Terwilliger.
As you can see, it takes a small army to make this happen each year!
MAY FUNDRAISER
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IT ALL STARTED ON MAY 17th WHEN THE JOLLY FARMER TRUCK ROLLED INTO THE GRANTHAM TOWN HALL PARKING LOT FILLED WITH OUT ORDER!
Ray Miner and Pete LePre were the team leads who saw to every aspect of this successful sale. Work on the Jolly Farmer plant sale began early last autumn, with several club members putting in countless hours of detailed preparation. These are some pictures of the behind-the-scenes volunteers who unloaded the Jolly Farmer truck when it arrives from Canada, sorted all the plants into individual orders, and assisted buyers with pick up. Along with lots of happy customers, this sale generated $1,320 ($325 were sold at the yard sale). Thanks to all of Ray and Pete’s efforts, once the flowers arrived, every aspect of this event ran perfectly! |
SUMMER FUNDRAISER
Bee on Verbascum in Jane's beautiful garden (photo by Terri Munson)
Multiple times this summer, GGC member Jane Verdrager divided and gave away some of her gorgeous perennials with all the proceeds going to the garden club. Although she asked for only a small donation for each plant, Jane reported that most people donated extra, so she ended up raising a total of $440 and recruted a new member. ($410 for the scholarship fund and $30 for membership fee)
WOW! Thank you Jane! |
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MAY PROGRAM
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Twenty-four garden club members attended the field trip we had to Jenny Cooke's wonderful garden in Lyme, NH. We had perfect weather that morning and everything from the carpooling arrangements to the lovely lunch we had at Stella's Restaurant afterwards ran as smooth as silk thanks to all of Emma's tremendous efforts ahead of time. We definitely enjoyed our opportunity to chat with Jenny about her beautiful blooming spring plants and her creative garden design. You will find many more pictures in Terri Munson's blog Pardon My Garden where you'll learn more about Jenny's garden and find out how the name for this blog came about.
Thanks to all the GGC folks for coming! |
Jenny chats with Sharon in front of Jenny's stone garden birds
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Julie, Jane A, Deborah, Martha, Marcia, Sue, Maryellen, Janie, Marty, Nancy M, Jane V, Jim, Nancy Mc, Michele, Michael, Susan, Jeanne, Barb, Karen, Jenny Cooke, Sharon, Kathy, Emma, Diane (not pictured is Terri who took this picture)
MAY ACTIVITY
For the first time in its brief 3-year history, the 2023 Clean Up Day had gorgeous weather which made picking up trash that much more pleasant. Fifty-four wonderful volunteers collected more than 65 bags of trash. The lesson learned from everyone is that there’s tons more trash out there than at first glance. A great big thank you to Diane Bilotta who presented the idea of a cleanup to the club and who has spearheaded it every year. And another shout out to the fabulous volunteers.
APRIL FUNDRAISER
Van Berkum perennials - Astilbe and Chocolate Snake Root
Despite being a brand new member of the garden club, Cheryl Wilson took on the lead role and ran the Van Berkum Perennial Plant Sale. The club is so grateful to Cheryl for keeping this tradition alive which was hours away from being abandoned. The sale raised more than $500.
FEBRUARY PROGRAM
Bill Weeks, a New Hampshire master gardener and GGC member, made his presentation to GGC members at Grantham Town Hall on February 10, 2023.
JANUARY PROGRAM
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The Grantham Garden Club started off the new year on January 13th by hosting its first, in person, general meeting at the Town Hall since March 2020. Forty people traveled to the Town Hall despite the rainy, slushy weather and another 25 joined in on Zoom for our first-ever hybrid meeting. Thanks to all who attended and participated in our first 2023 meeting and to our guest speaker who provided the inspiration to do more to help pollinators. Dr. Erin Zagadailov provided us with many ways to make gardens and yards more pollinator friendly.
Read more about the Lady Grantham Apiary in Terri Munson's blog. 
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