May 2025

NEWSLETTER

Tewksbury

Garden Club

Tewksbury, MA, USA

Major Club Event

The rain held off for our annual Plant Sale at the Tewksbury Public Library grounds. Thanks to all who planted, nurtured, priced and transported the plants at GROW Greenhouses, and for the well labeled contributions from your own gardens. The new addition of painted rocks was a hit, and were sold out quickly!

Recent Meeting Highlights

Thanks to Marie and Judy for sharing container tips, recipes and an amazing demonstration at our last meeting. And congrats to the 3 raffle winners who got to go home with the creations!

End of the Year Dinner!

As you know we had major snags in planning our end of the year dinner on Wednesday, June 11. Thank you all for your patience and understanding as new plans were put into place.

The cost for this year is $50.00 If you haven't let Tammy or Marie know that you're going, please do so now. If you haven't paid yet, let them know when you'll be submitting payment.

We are holding our event this year at the Horseshoe Grill in North Reading.

Anyone with a dietary restriction should let Tammy or Marie know before the evening.

We are traveling by bus. Park at the Senior Center. Be there by 5:15pm.

A special treat is planned for us all to take home.

During the evening we'll

Install our new Executive Board
Have a drawing for a beautiful quilt graciously created and donated by Piecemakers of Tewksbury
Select the Lottery Scholarship for Club Members and Their Family Members winner. (Refer to yearbook for info. Applications will be available at the dinner.)
Have a short business meeting and committee sign ups, if you missed out

Literary Blooms Arrangements at the Tewksbury Public Library

This Month's "Spring"-themed floral design created by Lisa Bengtson-Gill.

Highlights from Committee Reports

ACE Committee

Summer watering, weeding and deadheading of containers and Club maintained sites starts June 1st. Can you believe Summer is almost here?

Members of the ACE committee met to plant the containers, the gazebo, and the War Memorial for the Summer.

UPDATES: ACE has purchased more native pollinator plants with the Tariela Grant funds to be planted at Muster Park. Also, the creator of Sunny Meadow in Chelmsford has graciously offered some native plants to the Club when hers are split. We're getting closer to a beautiful pollinator garden at Muster Park.

Arbor Day Committee

Jenni Kenney, Pam Meroski and Susan Young visited the Center School on May 10th for the yearly celebration of Arbor Day with the third grade classes. The students drew "Why Trees Are Important" posters and received participatory medals. Each classroom received a book that will be donated to their school's library. And, of course, each student received a tree. This year the third graders received a white spruce sapling.

Garden Therapy

Photos coming in the next newsletter of the June programs.

Happy Travelers

Thursday August 7th - Save the date for a trip to Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth NH, an outdoor history museum. An email will be sent with more details.

Don't forget to register for the Lake George Hot Air Balloon Festival, September 19-21. For more information contact Charlene Buckley. Register online at tri.ps/dvvds

Sunshine Committee

Thank you for the summer birthday wishes and cake at the May meeting, along with the beautiful plant we all got to bring home!

Dine Out Committee

Thank you to everyone who planned and participated in Dine Out nights for this past year. Pera Mediterranean Grill on May 21st was our most recent fundraiser. We'll regroup next year with additional and exciting dining options.

Club Members in the News

Our Plant Sale made the paper.

Social Media and Website Updates

Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Check out our own Ellie’s video which you can find under "shorts" on our YouTube channel … learn how to properly prune petunias! Thanks, Ellie!

Our website will continue to be updated over the summer: tewksburygardenclub.com

Garden Tour

We enjoyed a beautiful guided tour of Jackie and Tom's garden in Tewksbury, and later a delicious spread of fresh fruit, cookies, egg dish and tea. Thanks once again Jackie for a lovely morning.

Summertime Happenings - Part 2

In addition to our Happy Travelers event, we also have some other Club activities planned.

Club Member Garden Tours have returned!

Meet at Amelia Schartel's house on July 12th at 10 AM for a tour of her gardens. Learn how Amelia is using both native and none native plants to beautify her property.

Come over to Laetitia Won's house on Sunday, August 10th at 2 PM. Laetitia will talk about her gardens that emphasize food production and educate us about permaculture. Bring your swimsuit for a jump in the pool or to cool off under the mister.

Did you know we have a native rhododendron?

The Rose Bay rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum) has beautiful pink, lavender or white flowers on a multi-stemmed, loose flowing plant. It prefers dappled sunlight and well drained acidic soil, but doesn't like to be dry. This plant attracts pollinators and is a beautiful addition to a shade garden or woodland setting.

Summertime Reading Recommendation

Enjoy a romance or a mystery. Read a biography or an autobiography. Wax lyrical about poetry. Maybe it's actually a book about plants. Whatever thrills you or scares you or takes you out of this world, find a genre that relaxes your mind.

We'll ask everyone what their favorite summertime book was when we return in September. Enjoy your reading escape!

Federation Updates

The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts is holding its annual meeting at the Danversport on June 19th. Registration is $65.00. You can purchase your ticket on the Federation website

There is still time to register for the free Design Workshop on June 17th from 10-11:30 at the Topsfield fairgrounds organized by Pat Fleming.

Tewksbury Community Pantry Donations

Thank you for everyone's food pantry donations at this month's meeting!

This month we collected sweet and savory snacks!

I stopped weighing the donations after I packed my scale when we moved out of our home for a while, but everyone's generosity was incredible this year!

The Tewksbury Community Pantry thanks you!

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 June meeting will be held on June 4th at Pam Meroski's'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.

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