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HISTORY OF WALNUT HILL GARDEN CLUB FOLLOWS
Louise Sironi 2007-2009
Walnut
Hill Garden Club was started as a neighborhood club in 1967 because the other
local garden club, Hanover Garden Club, had afternoon meetings and this
neighborhood had many young children that kept their mothers occupied during the
day. Founder, Helena Quilty, got a few neighbors together and started nighttime meetings when the husbands were home from work and able to give the wives some free time. This is no longer a neighborhood endeavor, it has spread throughout the town and we have many members, men and women, from Hanover and surrounding towns. How things have changed!
This small group quickly expanded, as did Helena’s creativities and
energy. Just two years later the group became federated and they were on the way
to notable success. This club now has to place newcomers on a wait list, some
having waited three years to become a member.
Helena, being an expert floral designer, kept that aspect throughout the
years, but the club soon went on to do many community projects and to form the
Junior Division. The Ecotots, Ecoteers and Ecoteens have had experience in many
areas of gardening and the ecosystem, including a fieldtrip to the South Shore
Natural Science Center where the Pat Dennett Memorial Butterfly Garden is
located and to the surrounding area studying the ecosystem in the nearby pond.
The Juniors were also involved in a Standard Flower Show entitled “I Love This
Land” and created many arrangements, including underwater ones.
Having flower shows, doing designs and plantings at a public playground,
Town Bandstand, and keeping busy with school projects has kept this club
hopping and in the community spotlight.
Then along came Margaret “Peg” Burns, an elementary school principal,
and the Arbor Day Program was established. Initially, Peg personally paid for
tree seedlings for every 4th grader in the town and this was such a
success the club picked up on her goals and expanded it to add a marigold seed
starting program. These two projects include all elementary schools, not just
Peg’s. Along with the giveaway, she had an Arbor Day presentation, teaching
the children the importance of the day. The club has done this volunteer work
annually, even enlisting the aid of “Twig” the Treeture Creature at one
presentation which included the selectman and many town officials when a Stellar
Dogwood was planted in Peg’s honor at Sylvester Field. Peg served on the GCFMA
Executive Board and was the Editor in Chief of the Mayflower, Massachusetts’
Newsletter. Over the years, many of WHGC’s members have served on the
Federated Board.
We continue with so many volunteer projects it is hard to keep track. A
few favorites are the landscaping of our town’s bandstand and our War Memorial
plantings. These projects are kept up annually with complete weeding, mulching
and additional plantings of annuals each spring. Everyone in town gets pleasure
out of this when going to a ball event in the field or when attending one of the
many concerts on the Bandstands green.
We will continue to educate and challenge our
members while keeping the GCFM and NGC goals in mind.
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