December Newsletter, Part 1
Annual Town GCC Wreath, committee lead by Pat Lescaleet-Lashley, photo by Susan Amorello
GCC and Concord Museum’s Family Trees
Sarah Paino, Mary Pope, Liz Berk, Tree, Julia Farwell-Clay
This year, the Garden Club’s Concord Museum Family Trees decorating squad chose The Curious Garden by Peter Brown. Liz, Mary, Sarah, and Julia combined forces to plant terraces of flower gardens telling the story of the book in a series of planted terraces up the height of the tree each featuring Sarah’s handpainted rendition of the story’s hero working his magic. A garland of train track circled the tree, and handprinted buildings, silver water pails, and Mary’s train-trestles bursting with mini flower gardens filled out the branches.
A number of other Garden club members also participated in the Family Trees event, and I thought I would share photos of their contributions even though these were not “our” particular decorating effort. Carol Haines always does her own tree, gathering inspiration and help from her talented friends, this year filling out two window vignettes to share her vision. Pam Nelson impressed as usual with her own personal tree festooned in oversized flowers and story motifs, and Jen Lannan worked with the team from Barefoot Books on the internationally themed lobby tree. Pam’s tree was only partially finished when I wandered through on installation day, but you can get a sense of her artistry in what I managed to capture below.
Blueberries for Sal Cookbook by Carol Haines
Jen Lannan decorating the Barefoot Books tree
Celia Planted a Garden by Pam Nelson
If you haven’t made it to the museum yet, the display will be up until January 1st.
December Luncheon
Please join us at Jen Lannan’s at 102 Sudbury Road this coming Wednesday, from 11 to 1. Please park on both sides of Sudbury, and also Devens Road, but leave room in front of Jen’s house for anyone who needs the space for dropping off. Be as festive as you dare, and I know a lot of us are capable of “very” in that department. See you soon!
Oh, and study up, friends! We have a lot of new faces to get to know, some who will be with us on Wednesday!
Welcome New Members (and more to come)!
Barbara Kohler
Barbara finds the best part of a day is often in the garden. She is excited to be part of the Garden Club of Concord community, both reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. Barbara enjoys learning about all aspects of gardening. She has a very healthy crop of Concord grapes, herbs and vegetables and is interested in learning more about native plants.
As her children grew, Barbara volunteered in Concord schools starting with the Milldam board. She also volunteered with the Concord Museum and taught Sunday school for many years. She has been a member of the same book group for 22 years. Barbara and her husband, Tony Takazawa, live in the center of Concord and have five adult children between them. Chad (Boston), Alyssa (Alexandria) and Haley (London) Kohler were raised in Concord. Jack (Phoenix) and Eve (Boston) were raised in Westwood and now call Concord their home base. Bailey is the sweet, little family dog.
Serena Crosina
My name is Serena Crosina and my family and I moved to Concord almost a decade ago. I moved to the US for college from Italy and love the Northeast very much. I’ve been passionate about gardening and farming since I was a child and was thrilled when we finally had the space to have a big garden for ornamentals, fruits and vegetables, and cut flowers. Over the years my focus has shifted to native plant gardening for habitat preservation and I try to incorporate natives as much as possible.
Susie Winstanley
I am delighted to join the Garden Club of Concord. For the past 30 years I have watched my mother, Ruth Piper, enjoy the camaraderie, wisdom, and contributions of this wonderful group and I am excited to get involved. I grew up in Concord and moved back 23 years ago and together with my husband, Adam, we have raised our children here. I have my undergraduate degree in psychology from Williams College and my MBA from Harvard. My career before children was in strategic consulting and then brand management. I now find myself on committees and boards helping where I can in these areas. I also love all things creative and have been part of decorating a tree or two for Concord Museum’s annual event. I love flowers and gardens and have much to learn. I was brave enough to have our house on the Garden Tour a few years ago and that was fun! I look forward to meeting and working with all of you.
Susan Amorello
I grew up in Michigan, Louisiana and Connecticut, settling in Massachusetts when Chris and I married. We have lived in Concord 20+ years. Our 3 adult kids live in San Francisco, Chicago and New York City. Currently only our Golden Retriever, Georgie, lives at home with us. I have always enjoyed working in the yard and garden, finding it very calming and grounding. For many years I had a plot at our neighborhood community garden where I enjoyed learning from the more seasoned gardeners. Much of my volunteer work has been with schools, both as a parent and an alumna. I am looking forward to the Garden Club lectures, community outreach and making new friends.
There’s a lot more to come, including Cans for Caring, January’s program details, and anything else you want to send along to me in the next week to make it into December part 2! As ever, my email is juliafarwellclay@gmail.com