THREE OAKS — The River Valley Garden Club held its organizational meeting in 1967 at the home of Elaine Olson, who became the catalyst for the many activities the group undertook.
As its first civic project, the Garden Club planted a weeping cherry tree at the brand new River Valley High School on Three Oaks Road. Later that same year they made and hung fresh green Christmas wreaths at the main entrance of the school.
In 1968 the organization became an official garden club through the Michigan Federated Garden Clubs, part of a national confederation of clubs.
Currently celebrating its 45th anniversary, today’s River Valley Garden Club still boasts two charter members, Gertrude Gridley and Elsie Priest, both active from the beginning. Not only do these two veteran gardeners have a wealth of knowledge and memories between them, they are also dear friends, and both fondly remember the club’s founder.
“Elaine is the one who got the ball rolling, and she pushed us, in a good way, to keep learning and trying new things,” says Gridley, the club’s first Treasurer.
Priest adds that Olson “was a teacher and a motivator, and every time we met she had something new to show us.”
In the first few years as a club, members staged a formal flower show at the old Riverside Fire Station, complete with official judges and awards. They also contributed gardening advice to the community through The Galien River Gazette with a monthly column. They held fund-raisers such as plant sales and even a praying mantis sale to fund community projects that included planting petunias along U.S. 12, and donating funds for landscaping at the high school and senior center.
Former President Nancy Tucek recalls club members taking the time to help someone in the community who became unable to maintain her garden, “so we all went over to her house and helped her get it back in shape.”
One of the earliest traditions that the club still never misses is the recognition of Arbor Day every spring. A tree or shrub is planted at a public location, often one of the area schools, and seedlings are distributed to the students who are given planting instructions to take home. This year’s planting took place at a Bridgman retirement home.
Over the years the group has taken field trips to nearby locales such as Fernwood Botanic Garden or Sarrett Nature Center, sometimes venturing farther afield with excursions to the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Navy Pier Flower Show.
Members have spent countless hours establishing and maintaining community garden areas within the New Buffalo, Three Oaks, Sawyer and Bridgman areas. Recipients of their elbow grease include Jordan’s Nursing Home, Three Oaks Library, Sawyer and New Troy post offices, and the New Buffalo Township Hall. As the needs of the community change each year, so do the projects.
The club established a school garden at the Trinity Lutheran School in Sawyer in 1998 and taught gardening classes to the students for seven years. Members currently coordinate The Planting Field at the Chikaming Township Park and Nature Preserve, which has 64 rentable garden plots for folks in the community who do not have garden space at home. They hold a large plant sale in the spring in Harbert to raise funds for club projects, and also share their excess plants with each other during the growing season.
Gridley still has a vine in her garden that came from club founder Olson.
Monthly meetings are held to discuss matters of business, and speakers are often scheduled to speak on a variety of topics, from flower arranging to water conservation, bird and insect information and weed control. But members say that the best information comes from each other, as they discuss their garden frustrations and successes.
Current President Sue Suthers says “most important, is being able to share experiences with a group of people that love gardening and enjoy working together. Our members are always open to new gardening ideas.” Elizabeth Palulis says that although the members may differ in age and background, they come together to learn, to give back to the community and to enjoy each other’s company.
The club’s mission statement is as appropriate today as it was in 1968: “The River Valley Garden Club encourages an interest in all aspects of gardening and horticulture through the study of nature, conservation and design, and participation in projects which beautify, educate and benefit the communities in which we serve.”
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