BY DEBBIE PAGE
Troutman Garden Club President Nancy Ulvan welcomed about 50 club members and guests to its 75th anniversary luncheon at the Lake Norman State Park Community Building on Wednesday afternoon.
Special guests included Garden Club of North Carolina President Charles McLendon and 1st Vice President Marilyn Wright, Troutman Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Oxsher, council member Nick Jaroszynski, Town Manager Ron Wyatt, Parks and Recreation Director Emily Watson, and Mitchell Community College Director of College & Career Readiness Patrick Cline.
Club Vice President Phyllis Ann Pompeo-Phelps led a tour of the visually appealing exhibits displayed around the Community Building deck prior to the luncheon celebration, including a display honoring the club’s Junior Garden Club for earning the Junior Garden Club of the Year Certificate from the Garden Club of NC.
Pompeo-Phelps helped develop this gardening collaboration for special needs young adults in Mitchell Community College’s Adults with Adult Basic Education (ABE) class for high-functioning autistic adults, teaching them about gardening and other agriculture related skills and doing hands-on projects. The students, ages 18 to 40, were gifted with green club T-shirts.
“They are absolutely wonderful,” said Pompeo-Phelps, proudly showing off the group’s creations.
Another display showed tea party china, decor, and flowers to reflect the club’s annual March tea party and silent auction fundraiser. A club activities table displayed some its projects. The club meets monthly to hear presentations on gardening or horticulture topics, do a design activity, and create a specimen.
Pompeo-Phelps said that at Thanksgiving, the club does a dinner for residents of the Veterans Home. Last fall they also took 114 Christmas gift boxes to residents in the Spruce Pine community as part of its Hurricane Helene recovery efforts.
They also put up Christmas trees at the Iredell Public Library main branch and at the Lake Norman State Park Visitors Center.
Another display contained the club’s historical documents, pictures, scrapbooks and other memorabilia from the past 75 years.
‘NOT YOUR GRANDMOTHERS’S GARDEN CLUB’
Ulvan opened the official celebration by remembering the original 30 club members, pictured on a table display with angel sculptures and a memorial candle.
“I wonder if these ladies, 75 years ago, ever thought 75 years later we would be here celebrating them.”
McLendon then took the podium, praising the club for its “over the top” efforts to celebrate this milestone. After jokingly noting the presence of only one male member, McLendon encouraged members to recruit more men, using appealing tours of agriculture-related businesses or horticultural projects or having golf tournaments to spark their interest.
“We need to be active and let people know the things that we do. We need to get our brand out there. There’s so many people that do not know that we have garden clubs in North Carolina.”
“The garden club today is not your grandmother’s garden club.”
McLendon noted that clubs need more young members, but with most couples working, garden clubs need to be flexible with meeting times to attract and recruit more young people to the clubs, meeting them where they are and letting them know what the club is doing to enhance the community.
“Somebody invited you to a garden club. That’s how we get people involved. And once we get them, we have to engage them so we do not lose them.”
He added that every project and every member makes a difference.
McLendon said that his theme as state president is “growing together’ through communication, collaboration and education.”
Encouraging people to plant native plants and trees is one of his pet projects because these natives will help restore landscapes, strengthen ecosystems, and create living legacies across North Carolina.
He finished his remarks by presenting the Troutman Garden Club with a Certificate of Merit on its 75th anniversary on behalf of National Garden Clubs President Donna Donnelly.
Cline spoke next, saying that the Mitchell Community College ABE class, taught by Monica Waugh Williams, helps those with cognitive disabilities develop both job and social skills as well as build a sense of community in the classroom with the Junior Garden Club, which began three years ago through the community engagement of the Troutman Garden Club.
Cline said the students look forward to their lessons on horticulture and gardening and added that several students have developed their own personal projects with the help of TGC members. “We are very grateful to have this partnership.”
Club members and guests enjoyed a buffet lunch, social time, and browsing the exhibits after the speeches.
LEARN MORE
The objective of the Troutman Garden Club is to promote the love of flowers and gardening among amateurs, to protect trees and shrubs, wild flowers, and birds, to make the community more beautiful, and to share plants, bulbs, and knowledge with others. The club meets the third Wednesday in each month September through May. For more information, contact the club at troutmangardenclub1950@gmail.com.
Photos
