With three words, Sylvia Goede summed up the energy of The Sparta Garden Club, “We have fun!” The club held its first “Branching Out” meeting Wednesday night, September 28th. It was held to attract new members. The club seeks to beautify Sparta and teach gardening. “Anyone who says that they don’t have time, you’re the ones we want, because you do have time. I don’t have time either, but it just takes an hour or two, here and there, to make a real difference,” encourages Goede, club president.
Members in the club have a wealth of collective knowledge, expertise, wisdom and ideas. The Sparta Garden Club will be celebrating 70 years, in 2023, and currently have 26 members, 8 of whom are active, and a few who are Master Gardeners. A fun and active club spirit has kept the club going all these years, since its founding, in 1953. “I don’t want this club dissolving on my watch. If we need to have evening meetings, we will do what it takes,” says Goede.
Meetings are held each month, except January and February, to keep the fun and ideas growing. This month’s evening “Branching Out” meeting was held at the Williams G. and Anne House. It is the only house in Sparta listed on the National Register of Historic Places, located at 220 E Franklin Street. The big-red-Queen Anne Victorian-style home has been a local B&B and is now privately owned. “We have seven bedrooms and bathrooms for two people,” says John, the current owner. "Sparta is such a beautiful, affordable place to live." John and Mark bought the property two years ago and enjoy caring for the historic home and garden. They plan to open up the garden for future garden tours, with the Sparta Garden Club.
Attendees at the meeting enjoyed seeing a variety of plants that were brought inside, to winter safely, within the cozy walls of the grand Victorian, until next spring. Delicious local hors d'oeuvres, beverages and a beautiful cake were served. The cake was topped with hand-candied homegrown violas, of course. “We work, meet and eat cake with ice cream,” explains Sylvia.
The top of the agenda was used to state the club’s mission: “To stimulate an interest in gardening through education and the development, along with maintenance of home grounds; to aid in the conservation of all natural resources, and to promote civic beautification.” Club president Sylvia Goede also talked about member activities, such as helping plant perennials at Beaver Creek, near Lovelock Bridge, on an “All Hands On Deck” day. All were helping to plant bulbs at the same park, across from the present garden. They also gave out ribbons and certificates to winners of nice gardens, or store fronts in Sparta. They picked out an area that they would be responsible for with a buddy, then they helped to pick out winners for the pumpkin carving contests and help to choose the fall door decorations winners. The club is open and democratic, and Sylvia also asked for input, ideas and preferences from members.
After that the meeting’s topics ranged from past to current happenings in gardening, land use to future plans for Sparta’s community spaces, but always centering around a love for gardening. Then the discussion went to some favorite garden varieties, as new members, Lloyd and Conrad, taught the group about hand pollinating prized lilies: “You just take some pollen off the stamen and add it to the pistol. You must do this early in the morning, otherwise the bees, hummingbirds and other pollinators will cross pollinate them. You can use a paintbrush or a tweezer, then cap it off with a little tin cap.” The two enjoy both preserving and experimenting with lilies: “the goal is to develop something amazing that the world wants to see,” explained Conrad.
Soon, the conversation meandered over to a specific type of lilies, hostas: “We can collaborate as a community, by sharing varieties of hostas,” suggested John. “We have quite a number right here, around 18 varieties.”
The Garden Club is happy to consult groups, as well as individuals. When a neighbor asked about how to plant a garden, Sylvia told him, “Now is the time to start planning for spring gardens; start small. Plant tomatoes.”
When folks join the club, which is $5 annually, they are welcome to come enjoy the knowledge shared, the community spirit and the beauty of gardening together as a club. “We are aging, and we need new members to keep things going,” explained Barbara Richards, long time member of The Sparta Garden Club. Hosts John and Mark added, “At the farmers market gardening event we did, people kept coming up and expressing their gratitude for the work the Sparta Garden Club has done for the community. One after another they just kept coming up and saying thank you.” If you would like to join the club, reach out to them on social media, or through the Sparta Chamber.
Generations of community members and tourists alike, have enjoyed the gardens installed and maintained at Beaver Creek’s Lovelock Bridge area, for over 50 years. The Sparta Garden Club has also installed and maintained the gardens at Ben Bikin’ Park for many years, which has seen a range of unique problems, from floods washing out plants, the pandemic pausing group volunteer work events and even folks trampling plants as they try to climb the Ben Bikin sculpture, for photo ops. The Sparta Garden Club has some advice for The Dragonflies, who are eager to help restore the park’s beauty: “You’ll want to put in a decorative barrier in front of the plants facing Wisconsin Avenue, on the left side of the bridge. Situate it to buffer flood waters, so that the water flows over the plants, rather than crashing into them. Also, consider hardy, water resistant perennials.”
The Sparta Farmers Market is also putting together a group of volunteers from their vendor group, to adopt the Beaver Creek Bridge and garden beds near the river. To that group the club suggests, “Find out how high the water gets and plant accordingly! We can help with some bricks, available for terracing.”
At club meetings there’s always something new to learn, talk about and hone in on, such as upcoming events. The Sparta Garden Club has always held fun contests and fundraisers, and this fall they are unveiling a bunch!
Some upcoming events sponsored by The Sparta Garden Club include:
-Pumpkin Carving Contest: The Sparta Garden Club, on Saturday, October 29th, with prizes given and judged by category and age.
-Sparta’s Outstanding Gardens awards will be handed out, door to door this fall
-Autumn Door Decorating Contest after Halloween. Watch for registration forms, available soon, at popular local spots, such as Hanson’s, Thiessen’s, Sparta Family Restaurant and Dorrine’s.
-November 4th, 2022: Fish Fry, at Village Inn in Bangor. We will give $5.00 to members who come, as a thank you for all they do.
-Fun beverages, at 2022 Kriskindlmarkt as a club fundraiser (available at new member Acorn Hill Studio's hut)
-Spring 2023 Lily speaker Conrad F. Miller
-Summer 2023 Garden Tour TBA
-Summer 2023 Brat sale at Hanson’s IGA after Butterfest, TBA.
Seasoned gardeners and newbies alike can join the Sparta Garden Club! Reach out to the Sparta Chamber for more details.
“The very best gift you can give is time, because that’s a part of your life.” ~ Sylvia Goede, Sparta Garden Club President.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here