May Newsletter, Part 2
Concord Bookstore window display by Bridget Kelley & Catherine Cagle
Happy annual Day After the Plant Sale Day!
And while I’m at it, Happy Mother’s Day too, whether you are one, have one, or mourn one, may the day give you time to appreciate all of the official and unofficial mothers in your life.
So back to that plant sale thing: I do hope your feet are in epsom salts and your spade has cooled off by now. Thank you to everyone who dug, schlepped, loaded and unloaded, labeled, priced, and staffed for the sale. It’s the work of all of our hands and we all share credit for a great day! But of course we should especially thank Plant Sale Co-Chairs Sarah Beguelin and Patricia Waters for shepherding us through it all. I know they will have more to say soon, but let us applaud them and their committee before they make their speeches, yes?
Joan Campbell with the Tool Shed, charmingly built by her husband, Bill Becklean
Your newsletter welcomes any photos that you may have collected during Plant Sale day and any stories you are moved to share. I will send out the collection next weekend so please get everything to me by Friday May the 17th.
Garden Club 1775-1975 Granite Bench Project
I am so excited about the email I received this week with the following information. Back in 1975, the GCC gave a Bicentennial gift to the town of ten granite benches. Selectboard minutes record a gracious acceptance of a gift of twelve benches, so there is a small mystery there: whether there were indeed 10 or 12? Reasons for the difference may include budget concerns, stenographic error, or a change of plans. Nevertheless, Sandy Conrad has always been curious about where all of the benches are located, and by the time I first heard about her project a few years ago, she knew where seven of them were. This week, Rod Riedel sent me an email with NINE of the benches accounted for. Sandy had since found one more, and Rod had puzzled out another, a second granite bench at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery – not the one on Authors Ridge. Wouldn’t you like to know where all the benches are that Sandy and Rod have found?
1. Lexington Road, Across from Heywood Meadow
2. Corner of Heywood and Walden Streets
3. Main Street, Middlesex Bank lawn
4. Main Street, Concord Center near Wright Tavern
5. Main Street, West Concord, Fowler Library
6. Commonwealth Ave (Bank of America ATM)
7. Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Authors Ridge
8. Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, between Stow & Wheeler Avenues
9. Emerson Field Flagpole
Where is the 10th? No clues have turned up so far. Sandy has reached out to Aaron Miklosko and Eric Shaw at Public Works to ask if one in lurking in storage or was damaged during other work. But she is mostly convinced that the tenth bench is very likely right under our noses, we just don’t know it yet. So if there is one in your travels that is NOT one of these, let Sandy know! Side note: the missing granite bench should not be confused with the several wooden benches the club has donated to the town, such as the one at the top of the driveway down to parking behind Vanderhoof’s, and a couple more located at Heywood Meadow near the crabapple trees (also donated by GCC). This granite bench list will be linked in the Members’ Resources page at some point, along with Sandy’s other amazing project, an inventory of all the Arbor Day trees the Garden Club has donated over the years. Stay tuned!
Don’t Forget: May Community Meeting, Wednesday night at 7!
June Luncheon June 12, 11:30 am – 1 pm, Concord Country Club: RSVP Forthcoming.
Town Gardens? Stay tuned
Welcome New Member: Anne Lehmann
Anne has been living in Concord since 1999 with her husband Bob and two sons William and Matthew. She is an avid gardener, always adding and subtracting to her gardens at home. She has been a member of other garden clubs including the Junior League of Boston Garden Club and now she is looking forward to gardening with the Concord Garden Club. Anne and her family enjoy New England for the variation of the four seasons, as they enjoy skiing, hiking, biking, golf… basically any outdoor sport. Anne travels a bit with friends and family. The photo shows her hiking between towns in Cinque Terre Italy.
Remembering Shelley Morss
The Concord Bridge published Shelley Morss’s obituary this last week. I remain saddened by the loss of this great lady who was so generous with her time and grace. Betsy Spaulding remembered Shelley to us for her enduring cheerfulness. Sandy Conrad credits Shelley with much of what she knows of our club history, as Shelley held almost 50 year memory of club accomplishments and activities. Wendy McNally wrote to share that she was grateful for the opportunity Wendy had had to deliver Spring Outreach flowers to Shelley in 2022. Shelley had invited Wendy in and made some tea, and showed some of her paintings around her beautiful home that were of especially meaningful places: familiar scenes from Concord, as well as a lovely view from Annisquam where she had enjoyed visiting Garden Club friends. Shelley will always be missed.
Personal Aside: I don’t write after midnight
I was tickled on Saturday by a member who expressed concern that I appear to always be up late at night writing newsletters. The time stamp for your email delivery will very likely be 3 am Sunday morning. I want to assure everyone that I am writing this at the very civilized and socially acceptable hour of 4 pm on Saturday afternoon. Once I hit the publish button the newsletter is immediately readable on the club blog. The website has an RSS program that automatically checks at 3am every night to see if there’s something new (such as this). When there is a new post, that’s when you get an email.
At 3 am last night I was doing my best to be asleep. I promise.
Thank you for your concern 😉
Linky-Poos
Drool Worthy: celebrity flower artist Ariella Chezar’s book Home in Bloom reviewed in Vogue
More Great Dixter, just because one video of Fergus Garret talking about Christopher Lloyd’s progressive plantings is not enough.
Did you see the Aurora? Longer Read, the experience of Awe is good for us: https://www.noemamag.com/finding-awe-amid-everday-splendor/
<— View of Friday night’s solar storm from Walden Woods