As evidenced by the four scrapbooks spread out on her dining room table, the La Casa Garden Club means much more to Lilia Giacomazzi than just gardening tips and advice. Each scrapbook page is filled with club history like photos, newspaper clippings and awards.
“The best thing about this club is the fellowship,” Giacomazzi said. “Over the years I have met some truly amazing women.”
Giacomazzi, 99, is the only remaining founding member of the club. She was honored during the organization’s 60th anniversary dinner on Nov. 13. She and 15 other women started the club in November 1952.
“The Hanford Garden Club at the time had already reached its limit for members,” she said. “But there was still a group of us that wanted to be part of a garden club, so we made our own.”
Giacomazzi became the club’s first treasurer and served as president in 1954 and 1963. She has since been given the title of club parliamentarian and historian.
“Lilia is so sharp and such a fascinating person to be around,” said current club president Linda Tucker. “Everyone knows that she is the person to turn to if you ever have a question.”
The club itself has morphed and evolved over the years. Its members participate in various community service projects for the city. One of their most notable early projects was the landscaping and maintaining of the original entryway into town on the corner of 10th Avenue and Highway 43. The club also used to host an “Outstanding Flower Show and Dinner” at the Hanford Civic Auditorium.
Current and ongoing projects for the club include “Penny Pines,” a program to assist with reforestation of California forests; “Youth Garden Therapy,” a program in which members of the club work with special needs students at Shelly Baird School and do plant-related crafts and maintain a school garden; and Christmas baskets for the needy.
“We also give out scholarships for local students and provide auction items to the Hanford Carnegie Museum,” Linda Tucker said. “Our new project this year is helping the Hanford High School Horticultural Department remodel their greenhouse.”
Giacomazzi is glad to see the community service aspect of the club continue to grow.
“This club was started to teach and inspire,” she said. “And it is so wonderful to see that nothing has changed in 60 years.”
The reporter can be reached at 583-2427 or bsantiago@HanfordSentinel.com.
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