September Newsletter
From the President
Dear Members,
With much appreciated help from many, our delayed June Luncheon was rescheduled, re-located, and re-imagined as a midday gathering in Holly Salemy’s glorious pool garden on what may have been the most perfect day of the summer. There were plenty of festive hats and we all enjoyed delicious food provided by hospitality co-chairs Erika Rodriguez and Sarah Hoch. Pam Nelson made the fall-themed arrangement – pictured above – of locally-sourced sunflowers, amaranthus, astrantia, zinnia, papyrus, and more displayed in a monumental porcelain pitcher. No one could fail to admire their color and exuberance, nor feel there could be enough said about how lucky we were to have the mild sunshine and each other in this setting.
52 members gathered to mark the beginning of our 94th year. Among them:
Sally Savelle, Shelley Morss, Joyce Lamensdorff, Jen Borden (with back to camera)
Pat Lescalleet-Lashley, Carol Haines, Paula Casey, Ellen Whitney, Kate Wharton
Victoria Mulligan, Andrea Meyers, Maryrose Sykes, Jen Lannan, Maryann Street
Julia Farwell-Clay, Andrea Meyers, Shelley Morss, Maryann Ferrell, Lauren Huyett
(bottom photo by Kate Wharton)
It’s a New Year!
The Board met last week in person for the first time in a number of months, and set out to create a memorable year. The Board welcomed new committee chairs Jen Stone (Membership), Joan Campbell (Grants), Melinda Shumway and Patricia Waters (Ways & Means), Wendy McNally (Community Outreach), and Sara Hoch (joining Erika Rodriguez as co-chair for Hospitality). As always, a full list of committee and sub-committee chairs is linked on the members’ resource page.
Many thanks to departing board members Jen Lannan (Ways and Means), Kate Wharton (Nominating), Maryrose Sykes (Grants), and Ellen Whitney (Community Outreach).
As your new president, I want to take a moment to express my gratitude for the emails and words of welcome many of you have taken time to send, and especially to thank my predecessor, Sandra Conrad, whose advice and continuing support has ensured a graceful transition and inspiration for the coming year. Sandy’s tenure will be remembered for her creativity in converting our membership to virtual programming and keeping our community service in the foreground by widening the channel of communication with the Concord Museum and the Umbrella Arts Center most evident in the Art in Bloom events last January. Sandy’s accomplishments also include adding the custodianship of the Milldam Veteran’s Memorial to our public presence, and shepherding the club onto a more modern and easier to use website.
According to Kate Wharton, our first Ladyslipper pin was given to Sandra Lynn (now an Associate Member who first joined GCC in 1994). Sandra was not a President, but received it as the Judith Shea award for outstanding contributions to the club. Ever since then, the Ladyslipper has been presented to retiring presidents either as a pin – or in Hilda Parrott’s case – a necklace. Sandy requested instead of making this purchase, that GCC instead donate the equivalent money to the Concord Library for the purchase of several books, including four for the children’s room. One of those books, the colorful Welcome Flower Child by Brigitte Barrager, will serve as the inspiration for the GCC contribution to the Concord Museum’s annual Family Trees this year. There is a read aloud video of the book on Youtube if you are curious. The other books chosen by the Children’s librarian, Royce McGrath, are Zee Grows a Tree by Elizabeth Rusch, A World of Plants by Martin Jenkins, and Trillions of Trees by Kurt Cyrus. Two additional adult gardening books Chasing Eden: Design Inspiration from the Gardens of Hortulus Farm by Jack Staub and Renny Reynolds, and The Spirit of Stone by Jan Johnsoen round out our donation. Look in them for the special bookplates created by the library in Sandy’s honor. We can all think of this gesture as characteristic of Sandy’s thoughtfulness.
Town Gardens
A daunting summer for gardens and gardeners alike challenged the club plantings at Town House Garden, the Milldam Veteran’s Memorial, and the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail Garden in West Concord. Beth Thut and Kate Chartener earned a special thank you for their hard work in managing and filling in when necessary. Heart felt thanks to the many helping hands among us who kept the gardens looking lush and well-loved during our summer of extremes.
Out-of-Doors GCC Events
Your Board is intent on promoting opportunities for us to gather in fresh air. Keep an eye out for Sign Ups throughout the fall for walks, member garden open days, and seasonally themed get-togethers. And if you would like to offer your garden for a member visit day (an hour or two?) or host a departure point for a walk, please contact me: juliafarwellclay@gmail.com
First up: Cider Pressing with John Althouse in the orchard at Lauren Huyett’s. Taking a cue from the bounty of apples this year, John and Lauren invite a small group to add their own apples to a pressing session on Wednesday September 22 at 1123 Monument Ave at 1pm. A Sign Up Genius has already been sent out so check your email or click here to join us: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0e4ba9ab2baafa7-apple
October Zoom Presentation
Programs Committee Co-Chairs Kelley Bothe and Dennis Fiori have assembled a diverse and engaging series of learning opportunities for the coming year. Long before any of us knew what would be possible by October or November, they have taken advantage of our familiarity with Zoom to schedule speakers outside of our usual geographical reach. October 20th at 1 pm brings us Lili Herrera, lead landscape architect of the firm Oehme & van Sweden of Washington, D.C. Lili will speak on the “New American Garden” style of design which embraces the seasonality of the American meadow with an emphasis on “massing” plants.
To acquaint yourself with the work of the Oehme & van Sweden firm, visit their website: https://www.ovsla.com/portfolio/
A Zoom link and email invitation will be sent to all club members a few days before the presentation. If you have not already done so, you can download Zoom at: https://zoom.us
Membership
Rod Riedel, newest GCC member
Meet New Member: Rod Riedel
Rod Riedel has lived in Concord for many years, and maintains a widely admired garden at his home on Main street that was featured on the Museum garden tour. Somehow, Rod has been flying under the Club radar all this time. Rod knew there was a garden club in town, but didn’t know he might join. Meanwhile, he made it a personal project to tend to the Veteran’s Milldam area to encourage passersby to pause and contemplate the meaning of the memorial. This is how Sandy Conrad met him – quietly weeding away – and quickly discovered in him a wonderful addition to the club’s energy and community spirit. Rod was introduced in person at the September luncheon, presented with his apron, and even made a moving speech on behalf of the Veteran’s Memorial. Welcome, Rod!
The membership roster is currently full but if you know someone interested in joining the club, we do maintain a waiting list. Please contact Jen Stone, Membership Chair, at jenniferswanstone@gmail.com for further information.
Topsfield Fair Flower Show October 1-11
Each year The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts – to which we belong – hosts a National Garden Club Standard Flower Show in the Flower Building at the Topsfield Fair and they invite all exhibitors to enter the flower show amateur classes. Entry forms are available online here and the deadline is 9/27. The flower displays are accompanied by tranquil music, with live performances on the weekends, and are changed three times during the week. The Topsfield Fair has clear Covid protocols this year, so check the website for details as you plan your visit
The Mayflower
Check out the latest edition of The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts Newsletter, featuring profiles of all the new officers and president Jill Malcolm who comes from the Holliston Garden Club. Jill’s presidency theme is “Plant together, play together, grow together”. She strongly believes that our shared horticultural interest binds us all and that we are more creative and effective when we all work together.
Things to Do About Town
Looking for a spontaneous opportunity to meet with a friend outside? The Umbrella Art Ramble through Hapgood Wright Town Forest is underway now through November 14th. Check out the Umbrella Arts Center website for all the details.
Alert: Plant Sale Ahead!
It was a year of abbreviated plans so I know your gardens are brimming with potential divisions to be harvested for an especially exuberant plant sale in the spring. Remember, it is our major fundraiser and supports our grants and scholarship programs. At this point I am hearing a lot of determination to return to some version of an in-person sale, so please share my optimism and get digging!
Meet your new President
As new to the club as I am, there hasn’t been a lot of opportunity for me to get to know a lot of fellow members or for you to know me, so here you go: My husband Walter and I moved from Newburyport to Concord 6 years ago with our three children. I used to teach college English, but these days I teach knitting and write patterns for yarn companies, craft-centric magazines, and pdf downloads; you can look me up on the internet! More importantly, I am an avid and curious gardener and was found by the Concord Museum Garden Tour only a few years after we arrived, which is how I came to be invited into the GCC. A lot of people want to know what we are DOING at Sudbury Rd and I assure you we have left the existing historic Abbott house intact but are just adding on. The garden is newly renovated this year, rearranged from the version seen on the garden tour three years ago, a design installed in 1994. The peonies and specimen trees survive, now with the addition of native plants, a small orchard, and a semi-formal herbal garden just out the kitchen door. Once the lawn fills in, you are welcome to come over for a walk around anytime: I love to talk about growing things. As far as Garden Club is concerned, please feel free to call or drop me an email with your thoughts or suggestions anytime: juliafarwellclay@gmail.com