On Oct. 11, 1948, the Clarkston Farm and Garden Club was organized with 20 charter members. Sixty years later, the club is still blossoming.
‘I’ve only been in the club for about six years,? said Pat Chase, current club president. ‘But the way things come and go, to me, it’s amazing. Here is a group that started with 20 women who had a passion for gardening, and it’s been in the community and serving the community for 60 years.?
In celebration of the 60th anniversary, the club broke ground in front of the Independence Township Library last Friday to initiate their new landscaping design.
‘We’re calling it the ‘Diamond Jubilee,?? said Elena Forbes, chairperson of the 60th anniversary committee.
The project will start in the spring and be done in phases, noted Forbes.
‘Phase One will be to uproot everything in front of the library right now. Then we will start with cement work. There will be a cement walk from Clarkston Road up to this new garden we will be creating,? she said. ‘We don’t know if we will have a fountain in this garden, but we will definitely have benches and various plants, people can go and sit and enjoy.?
Phase Two will include lighting, shrubs, and trees.
‘We’re thinking it will take at least three years,? said Forbes. ‘If funds permit, maybe we can proceed a little faster.?
Forbes has been a member of the club for 14 years.
‘We currently have 40 members, but we always welcome more,? she said.
Mary Beth Huttenlocher is the oldest member in the club. She joined the club in 1964, after her mother-in-law, Dorothy Huttenlocher, sponsored her and Mary Beth’s sister-in-law to join the group. Dorothy was one of the original members.
‘In those days, it was a very different club than it is now. They were, I thought, all much older women, but they were probably in their 50’s, but I thought they seemed really old,? she said.
‘They wore gloves and hats and had more formal teas, but they were also really active women.?
Mary Beth said they had a rummage sale in the basement of the current Independence Township Hall.
‘I didn’t love rummage sales, but they made a lot of money on that because there just wasn’t a lot out here,? she said. ‘There were a few churches, but churches didn’t do rummage sales.?
Mary Beth recalled every three years they would do a flower show and bring in judges.
‘So we would learn more about flower arranging. I don’t think we did as much dirt gardening as we do now, with maintaining the library beds and with planters in town,? she said.
‘Most of us have extensive gardens in our own yards, but I think that’s the difference to the way the club was then.?
Mary Beth says the club is much younger now and members come and go due to members being ‘working mothers? now.
‘I see wonderful enthusiasm now in the members,? said Mary Beth. ‘It’s a joy to go to meetings and see all the activities.?
She has been a ‘life member? since 1990. For the past 15-years she has been living in Florida six months out of the year. However, she thinks its wonderful the club has been around for 60 years.
‘I knew many of the founders,? Mary Beth said.
‘The women were more permanent then, people didn’t go to Florida. They stayed in the club and they were all wonderful women. I admired all of them. I’m proud to have been a member all of these years.?
Club projects include planting and maintaining downtown planters, gardens at Independence Township Library, educational programs at all the elementary schools, a grant to teachers for gardening and environmental projects, four scholarships for high school seniors, annual Garden Walk, Green’s Market and sale in December, mum sale at Art in the Park, and programs for members and guest on gardening.