June 2025

NEWSLETTER

Tewksbury

Garden Club

Tewksbury, MA, USA

tewksburygardenclub.com

tewksburygardenclub@gmail.com

June Meeting Highlights

We traveled in air conditioned comfort to the Horseshoe Grille in North Reading where we were greeted with the delightful sight of flower filled moss pocketbooks at every table. The cocktail and appetizer hour included the club member scholarship drawing that was won by Christine's daughter and the Piecemaker quilt drawing which was won by Lynda. A delicious buffet meal followed.

Next year's Board was sworn in during the year's final Club meeting. Congratulations to our new board members Laetitia as Vice President and Debbie M as Recording Secretary. Congratulations also go to our returning board members - Pam as Corresponding Secretary, Jenni as Treasurer and Susan as President.

The evening concluded with a tasty sweet flower treat from Christine.

Thank you to Tammy, Marie and Christine for making this a memorable night!

Upcoming Summer Meet-Ups

July 12th at 10 AM - Join us at Amelia's house to tour her gardens and learn about her garden journey.

August 7th - A Happy Traveler's trip to Strawbery Banke - Meet at Senior Center at 9:45 AM. Leave at 10 AM. Arrive in Portsmouth NH around 11 AM. Admission is $24 / $22 (seniors). Lunch at La Rosa restaurant. Leave at 3/3:30 PM. Drivers needed. Contact Luann or Trish B if interested in this trip.

August 10th at 2 PM - Laetitia will host a tour of her food production and plants gardens. A pool and water mister is available if the weather allows.

Literary Blooms Arrangements at the Tewksbury Public Library

June's beautiful tea time blooms were arranged by Charlene Buckley.

Our monthly Literary Blooms creations are on Summer hiatus, but to tide us all over, Rose created a beautiful Garden Club themed display with a book full of blooming pages. What a creative presentation!

Highlights from Committee Reports

ACE Committee

You probably signed up to water, weed and deadhead for a 3 week period through the Summer. The containers need to be checked daily in the hot weather. If you don't remember where you signed up or when, here's who to contact:

Amelia for the smaller side at the Library and the 2 planters;

Abby for the larger side of the daylily garden at the Library;

Lisa for the Gazebo and Town Hall steps planters;

Marie for the War Memorial and the planters at the Town Hall business entrance;

Pam for the electronic sign and Water statue;

Susan for the Annex sign, gardens and planters.

They can also answer any question about what's expected, or if you have any problems, questions or time conflicts.

Garden Therapy

Bayberry outdoor flower/ herb garden - this was set up on June 11th by Charlene, Lisa, and Trish K, along with a client.

Happy Travelers

A trip to Strawbery Banke Museum and homesteads in Portsmouth NH.

WHEN - Thursday, August 7th

MEET - 9:45am at the Senior Center, depart at 10am

PLAN - Arrive at SB at 11am. Tour around until lunch at The Rosa restaurant, then return to Strawbery Banke. Leave by 3 or 3:30.

PRICE - $24 regular; $22 seniors

CONTACT - Luann or Trish B if interested in going and if you can drive

Trish and Luann did a trial run on June 12th and enjoyed both the park and restaurant!

Dine Out Nights

Our scholarship fund has been bolstered by income from our Dine Out Nights. This year, we have been able to raise $765.00 from generous sponsors because of hungry participants. Thank you to everyone for helping to make this a successful venture.

Club News

The greenhouses (formerly part of GROW) that are part of the Tewksbury Hospital campus will be available for the Club to use. Susan met with representatives from the Hospital and Power of Flowers to discuss how the greenhouses can be used for Hospital grounds projects, to help Power of Flowers sustain their mission, and to provide our Club with access to the greenhouses for Club and community programs. Things are still in the planning stages, but there is more information to come as we determine our needs. This is great news!

Native Plants - Not Just a Passing Fad

You've heard about planting native plants and the move toward decreasing lawn size. Did you know that this can help the environment and your pocket? Not only do native plants provide habitat and the best nutrition for local native insect, bird and animal species, but they require less water and survive better in times of drought.

The Garden Club planted native shrubs and plants at the Annex in 2007. We are converting Muster Park to a native plant pollinator garden. Both places will be part of the Pollinator Pathway, a national movement that focuses on native plant gardens to sustain our decreasing pollinator populations. The Garden Club will also assist in developing a native plant pollinator garden on the Tewksbury Hospital property near the greenhouses.

Do you have a native plant garden? Consider placing your home garden on the Pollinator Pathway. Find out more at pollinator-pathway.org

Federation Updates

The GCFM Annual meeting took place on June 19th at Danversport Waterfront. Natalie Carmolli from Proven Winners flowers gave a presentation about how plants at their company go from being cultivars to local nurseries.

Kim Edwards was installed as the new President of the Federation. Congratulations, Kim!

Tewksbury Community Pantry Donations

Thank you for everyone's food pantry donations over the past club season. Every donation has a positive impact on the people who need our help the most.

Monthly Board Meeting

All members are invited to attend the monthly board meetings.

Please contact Susan or the person holding the meeting to let them know you'll be there so we have enough chairs. Let Susan know if you have a particular topic for discussion, or if you just want to participate in the meeting, or to just listen in.

Our July meeting, with the new board, will be held on July 16th at Jenni Kenney's house at 6:30 pm.

Newsletter Submissions

Please post committee updates on our Facebook member's page so we can pull content (including images) from there.

You can also email content to Susan, as Sara is taking a break from the newsletter committee for now.

Thanks for all you do, and for contributing to this publication!