By: Virginia Myers, ©2021
Groveport Garden Club was formed July 13, 1961 with a group of friends and neighbors, they set a limit of 25 members due to the fact that they were meeting in each other’s homes. Also, another requirement was anyone desiring to be a member needed to be sponsored by one of the current members. The first president was Mary Smith who lived on Blacklick Street, she was also a member of another garden club, one of the factors in starting a Garden Club in Groveport.
The Groveport Garden Club became a member of the main organization of garden clubs in Ohio, The Ohio Association of Garden Clubs, also known as the OAGC.
OAGC was founded in 1930 by OSU Professor Victor H. Ries, later incorporated with OSU. The mission was to promote interest and knowledge in horticulture, gardening – garden therapy floral arts through programs that fostered creativity and personal growth, encouraged home, community and statewide beautification work.
OAGC is a non-profit organization with over 2615 members and nearly 137 clubs state wide and out of the area. One of the main projects is providing scholarships to gifted children. Each year OAGC awards four scholarships in the state of Ohio for either college or technical schools interested in the fields of horticulture, conservation, nature, and beautification. Students are chosen by letters from club members from all over the state.
All of the OAGC officers are volunteers, there are no paid offices, except expenses incurred during meetings, which are compensated by the hosting club. Meetings are held in different areas of the state to share information with all clubs.
Things we have done in the past...
For several years the Groveport Garden Club participated in the 4th of July Groveport Parade with a float, winning 1st place several times... sponsored many Flower Shows at the Townhall... for the past 16 years have held a plant auction inviting the public with over 100 attending each year... participated in Apple Butter Days... collected over 200 books for Children’s Hospital... for the past 25 years made and delivered Valentine and Christmas cards to nursing homes in the area... won several awards working with the Franklin County Fair in planting flower beds, even received for the big bed at the Rhoades Building....
For our meetings we bring in guest speakers, designers, nursery experts. Have in the past attended to the planters on Main Street, were the original gardeners for the Herb Garden at the Log House (Nature Center at Heritage Park), worked with the children at Kid’s Space planting flower pots.
Our outside projects: Wahkeena Nature Preserve south of Lancaster, donating money for buses to bring children to the reserve to learn about things in nature, available to all children in Ohio.
Anyone wanting to learn more about gardening, nature, loves working with plants, you need to join the Groveport Garden Club. Besides having interesting and educational programs, we enjoy socializing with each other, great to have many friends who also care for gardening.
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