Glen Lake Garden Club celebrates 50 years
Photo: Glen Lake Garden Club members Kim Volk, Pam Laureto and Laurel Voran plant a red maple tree near the Glen Arbor Township Hall. Planted on Arbor Day, the tree commemorates the 50th anniversary of the garden club.
By Ross Boissoneau
Sun contributor
In the mid-70s, a small group of friends decided to do something the beautify their little town of Glen Arbor, and in 1976 officially formed the Glen Lake Garden Club. Fifty years on, the Glen Lake Garden Club is still at it, though its membership and perspective have broadened. Today its roster numbers between 60 and 70 and the group pursues activities ranging from planting to working on environmental efforts such as removing invasive species and protecting native plants and animals.
Not only does it provide a platform for enhancing and protecting the natural beauty of the area, it serves as a social circle for its members, even as it has grown. “It was a small group, three or four women. Empire and Glen Arbor were very small towns,” says Kim Volk, current president of the Glen Lake Garden Club. The group met monthly in members’ homes.
The club has grown to the point it can no longer meet at members’ homes. “When we outgrew the homes, we met at Glen Lake Reformed Church in Burdickville,” says Linda Young, who handles publicity for the organization.
The club has been celebrating its 50th anniversary with a number of activities and events. In April, members planted a maple tree at the Glen Arbor township hall on Arbor Day to mark the milestone. In June, the club hosted a high tea with some 100 people in attendance, including members, former members and community members.
More recent activities included a planned community plant swap and a daffodil sale. The latter harks back to efforts from years ago. “We wanted to spruce up (the area) for summer,” says Young. Those efforts led to an annual daffodil sale. After not taking place for several years, it was reprised for the 50th anniversary.
Young says in years past the daffodils were planted in various locales. “Around the area are swaths of daffodils,” she says proudly. The club is hopeful this year’s sale will lead to more such swaths of the bright yellow or white and gold flowers.
The club meets the third Tuesday of the month during the fall, winter, and spring. Unlike some garden clubs that meet in the summer and take the winter off, the Glen Lake Garden Club takes the summer months of July and August off in deference to the busy time of year when people vacation, families and friends visit and members are busy with their own gardens.
They engage in different activities in the offseason. “In the winter you can have programs, focus on the education aspect,” Young says. “In September through May we have speakers on a variety of topics.” They may include composting, flower arranging, dealing with invasive species or other topics.
Among the projects the club has worked on are cleaning up the stretch of M-109 between M-22 and the turn-off to Glen Haven and planting and maintaining the plants at the Glen Arbor Garden, the Glen Arbor Township Hall, Glen Arbor Township Park and the barrels located around the town’s business district. Outside of Glen Arbor it cares for the plants at the Glen Lake Library and the Old Settler’s Park Meadow Garden. Members also decorate the narrows bridge between Big and Little Glen Lake during the holiday season.
Meetings start at 12:30 p.m. with a social time, with the speaker and program at 1 p.m., followed by a short business meeting. Guests are welcome at all meetings, garden tours, field trips, work bees, and its June luncheon.
There is no geographic or other requirement for membership, though most of the members are from the areas immediately surrounding Glen Lake. While the majority are women, men are welcome. “We do have one man in the club,” says Volk.
Young sees three reasons to join the Glen Lake Garden Club. First is education. “You come away having learned something,” she says. Second is service: doing plantings, such as the wildflower meadow at Old Settlers Park or the annual greens displayed along the Glen Lake Narrows bridge.
Third is friendship. “It’s a good way to meet people,” she says, especially those with similar interests in gardening and the natural world. That gets back to the social aspect, where people with some similar interests can engage with one another, including people they might not have met otherwise.
Volk puts it succinctly, saying the garden club is perfect for you “If you like to garden, learn about gardening in this area and meet people.” The $25 annual dues cover costs for meetings and materials, so there is an emphasis on service rather than fundraising.
In addition to the meetings and aforementioned activities, the club also goes on field trips, garden tours, and holds worker bees. Volk says she sees the club as perhaps a more active group than it was five decades ago. “My mother was part of it. They used to meet in people’s homes and have lunch on fine china. Now it’s about getting our hands dirty, digging in the dirt.”
