The history of the plant sale continues with the transition to purchasing the plants from Jolly Farmer in New Brunswick, Canada. Luck and timing played a major role. Plant Sale Chair Claire Vogel was shopping in Kristina Cole’s store Remembrance Fine Lingerie one day while Kristina was looking through the Jolly Farmer catalog. Kristina had been ordering plants for the Lebanon Garden Club for years. Claire looked over the catalog, was impressed, and started ordering from their nursery in addition to Pleasant View. Claire continued to order from both Pleasant View and Jolly Farmer for three years before deciding to purchase exclusively from Jolly Farmer starting in 2008.
The next multi-year lead was Kristina Burgard. Kristina wasn't even a member when, at the urging of a friend, she came to a garden club meeting to check it out. At that very first meeting, Kristina not only joined the club but also agreed to take over the helm of the plant sale. Amazing! Kristina ran the plant sale from 2012 to the 2017 making adjustments each year including adding a pre-buy option for members, posting cards with information on all the plants, using colored sticks to indicate prices, purchasing lots of signs to promote the sale on “Saturday at 9 at Town Hall” and arranging for the donation of large scaffolds to display hanging baskets. Kristina was a real mover and shaker in the club for many years including being the vice president in 2015 and 2017 and president in 2016 and 2018.
Nancy Crocker was the next person to step up to the plate and was the plant sale chair for the 2018 and 2019 sales. Everything was running smoothly until the 2020 pandemic came crashing down. Nancy, plus GGC president Elise Kendall, and the Steering Committee made the difficult decision to cancel the public sale but felt that people needed flowers more than ever so members were given the opportunity to order flats of Jolly Farmer plants. On a brutally hot day in May, the Jolly Farmer truck arrived. A group of masked volunteers spread out at the Town Hall parking lot to sort and then deliver the flowers. Imagine how that must have been for folks who had been stuck at home for months to receive those hanging baskets and flowers to plant in their own gardens—a place of serenity in a world turned upside down.
When the pandemic was over, the smooth transition and all the moving parts that made up the sale were lost and there was no plant sale in 2021, Ray Miner and Pete LePre missed the opportunity to buy wonderful Jolly Farmer plants and volunteered to run the member only plant sale in 2022. The next year, the club started to cautiously get back into the public plant sale business with the sale being combined with the Grantham town wide yard sale. While it was a financial success, keeping those plants alive for a few weeks after the Jolly Farmer delivery was time consuming for Ray and Pete so the yard sale/plant sale experiment was abandoned and the club decided to go back to the original plan of pre-buy for members and public plant sale. Ray and Pete took care of the pre-buy while Kristina Cole and previous plant sale chair Claire Vogel ordered the flowers for the public plant sale. There weren’t nearly as many plants for sale as in the pre-covid sale years, and they sold out in 90 minutes. The plan for 2025 is to combine the member buy and the public plant sale into one large sale. A few days before the Saturday public sale, members will have the opportunity to purchase plants from a large selection plus enjoy a 10% member discount.
As times change; the club reacts, is willing to take some risks, and makes decision as to what would be best for the club, its members, and the town.
The next multi-year lead was Kristina Burgard. Kristina wasn't even a member when, at the urging of a friend, she came to a garden club meeting to check it out. At that very first meeting, Kristina not only joined the club but also agreed to take over the helm of the plant sale. Amazing! Kristina ran the plant sale from 2012 to the 2017 making adjustments each year including adding a pre-buy option for members, posting cards with information on all the plants, using colored sticks to indicate prices, purchasing lots of signs to promote the sale on “Saturday at 9 at Town Hall” and arranging for the donation of large scaffolds to display hanging baskets. Kristina was a real mover and shaker in the club for many years including being the vice president in 2015 and 2017 and president in 2016 and 2018.
Nancy Crocker was the next person to step up to the plate and was the plant sale chair for the 2018 and 2019 sales. Everything was running smoothly until the 2020 pandemic came crashing down. Nancy, plus GGC president Elise Kendall, and the Steering Committee made the difficult decision to cancel the public sale but felt that people needed flowers more than ever so members were given the opportunity to order flats of Jolly Farmer plants. On a brutally hot day in May, the Jolly Farmer truck arrived. A group of masked volunteers spread out at the Town Hall parking lot to sort and then deliver the flowers. Imagine how that must have been for folks who had been stuck at home for months to receive those hanging baskets and flowers to plant in their own gardens—a place of serenity in a world turned upside down.
When the pandemic was over, the smooth transition and all the moving parts that made up the sale were lost and there was no plant sale in 2021, Ray Miner and Pete LePre missed the opportunity to buy wonderful Jolly Farmer plants and volunteered to run the member only plant sale in 2022. The next year, the club started to cautiously get back into the public plant sale business with the sale being combined with the Grantham town wide yard sale. While it was a financial success, keeping those plants alive for a few weeks after the Jolly Farmer delivery was time consuming for Ray and Pete so the yard sale/plant sale experiment was abandoned and the club decided to go back to the original plan of pre-buy for members and public plant sale. Ray and Pete took care of the pre-buy while Kristina Cole and previous plant sale chair Claire Vogel ordered the flowers for the public plant sale. There weren’t nearly as many plants for sale as in the pre-covid sale years, and they sold out in 90 minutes. The plan for 2025 is to combine the member buy and the public plant sale into one large sale. A few days before the Saturday public sale, members will have the opportunity to purchase plants from a large selection plus enjoy a 10% member discount.
As times change; the club reacts, is willing to take some risks, and makes decision as to what would be best for the club, its members, and the town.
Plant sale lead Claire Vogel on the Jolly Farmer truck.
Volunteers wait for the Jolly Farmer truck to arrive in 2010.
Volunteers help unload the Jolly Farmer truck in 2024.
Carole White (president in 2012) and Nancy Walters (president in 2011) at 2017 plant sale. Note the spiffy hanging basket display.
Former club president Elise Kendall and long time active member Ammini Moothy at the 2017 sale.
Volunteers Nancy Luce and Mary Lyons Scott
2023 plant sale as part of the Grantham Town Wide Yard Sale.
Co-chair Pete LePre helping to load a truck full of flowers to take home for care and feeding before the Grantham town wide sale day in 2023.
Ray and Pete grew these gorgeous vegetables from seeds and donated them to the GGC.
For two years, Tina Gleich, donated tables full of fantastic succulents that she had potted and arranged for the GGC sales.
Kristina Cole and Claire Vogel used their years of expertise to order plants popular with buyers for the 2024 sale.
May 18, 2024, plant sale volunteers ready before the crowds arrive include Chris, Sue J, Kristina, Elise, Jane, Susan, Michele, Kathy R, Tina, Betsy, Ray, Sue B, Bob, Pete, Kathy H, Diane, Joyce and Don.