Photo courtesy of Vickie Muse
Members of the Westerville Garden Club
In 1947, a small group of Westerville residents came together with a simple goal of discussing their shared love of gardening.
In addition to the seeds they planted in the ground that year, a seed of an idea was planted in their minds. Soon enough, the idea became the Westerville Garden Club, growing alongside members’ flowers.
Over the past 70 years, the club has been a staple of Westerville, and it has developed and expanded alongside the community. From that founding group of five members, the club has grown to 77 members, all of whom contribute to its success in the Westerville area.
In addition to its regular projects in the community, the club has been celebrating its anniversary throughout the year, with multiple events and even a birthday cake. The celebration will culminate with a special flower show Oct. 14, the exact date the club began 70 years earlier, at the Westerville Public Library. The event runs from 1-5 p.m., and is free and open to the public.
Photo courtesy of Vickie Muse
The Kitchen Garden behind the Hanby House
Tradition is one of the club’s priorities, and members work to stick to it even when challenges arise.
“People always ask, ‘Why do we have the plant sale every year the Saturday before Mother’s Day?’ Every year it rains, it’s a day known for raining,” says Jan Rector, a club member. “Back when the club first started, it had a big connection to (Otterbein University). They had their first plant sale the same weekend as Homecoming to have business. We’ve done that ever since.”
Rector has been a club member since 1970, but she was familiar with it long before she joined. Her mother, Mary Ruth Rector, joined almost immediately after the family moved to Westerville in the 1960s and remained a member for over 50 years.
“Back in the day, it was join the bridge club or the garden club,” says Rector. “When we came in, it was right when Westerville was growing, and new members were replacing the older ones.”
“The community was beginning to develop around then,” says Vickie Muse, club president. “The garden club really grew alongside Westerville.”
One significant club effort is the maintenance of parks and landscapes around the community, including Boyer Nature Reserve, the Blue Star Memorial and a replica of an 1800s kitchen garden at the historic Hanby House. Members teach gardening classes at the community center and participate in youth gardening programs in schools.
The group also contributes to fundraising endeavors. Recently, it exceeded its $700 goal for Rwanda’ relief charity Seeds of Friendship. Members also donated gardening tools, seed packets and gloves.
In this year alone, the club has racked up 19 awards from the Garden Club of Ohio, nine of which were first place prizes. One of these prizes was for the WesterFlora Garden Tour, which has been going strong for 27 years.
Photo courtesy of Vickie Muse
Franklin County 4-H Shooting Club members work with the Westerville Garden Club to plant annuals in the flower beds at the First Responders Park.
“When we first moved to Westerville, WesterFlora was the first thing to interest me,” says Linda Laine, the club’s publicity chairman, who also received an award for her publicity work for the club. “I didn’t know anything about gardening when I started. I was transplanting dandelions. I just thought they were pretty flowers. You have to start somewhere.”
Laine won a few “best in show” awards in WesterFlora before joining the garden club. Now, she helps plan and run the tour.
“It’s rough sometimes to attract people, but we always get people in time,” says Laine. “There are a lot of beautiful houses in the area.”
Garden club meetings are held at the library on the second Tuesday of each month. Though the make-up of the club has changed over the past seven decades, its goals with regard to beautification and camaraderie have remained consistent.
“Month to month, we really like coming together,” says Muse. “Word of mouth has people coming and bringing friends, and we have a real variety of new members. We have members from South America, India, England, a lot more men. They are all interested in gardening and sharing. We learn from them as much as they learn from us.”
Lindsey Capritta is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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