By Phil Corso
Before every meeting of the Douglaston Garden Club, members are given the option of attending a morning workshop to beautify the community while sharing their love for the craft.
This month, like they do every October, the group traveled to the Little Neck Nursing Home for a morning workshop to drop off arrangements to decorate the dining room. Club President Douglas Montgomery said the group was glad to be in the business of brightening someone else’s day in the Oct. 16 workshop in Little Neck.
“It just gives them something pretty to look at that will last for a week or more when they eat,” Montgomery said. “It’s our way of helping others.”
Club members Helen Im and Carolyn Brink organized the function, while Joan-Carol Brenner, Pat Vey Voda, Chizuko Sievers, Mary Tobacco, Lorraine Hinchey and Nelly Pacheco helped with the centerpiece design.
Each month, the group takes on another workshop for designing floral arrangements for participation in flower shows. Next month, Montgomery said the group would be participating in a holiday wreath-building workshop.
But beyond the workshops, the group has also been busy taking to the Douglaston community to keep the greenery in top shape for the fall season.
Over the weekend, Montgomery said the garden club planted more than 3,000 bulbs at It’s My Park! Day at Catherine T. Richardson Park Saturday, with help from volunteers and club members. The group spent the day building a new shade garden, pruning bushes and cutting out invasive species at the park along Douglaston Parkway.
Additionally, the group came together to raise more than $600 through a community bake sale to benefit the beautification of the park and surrounding area.
“The park was as well-utilized as I can recall it being in many years,” Montgomery said.
The Douglaston Garden Club works closely with its surrounding community to host area cleanups and other programming surrounding the Douglaston area. Over the summer, the group joined with its local Staples office supplies store to organize a battery recycling program in conjunction with the annual Douglaston farmers market.
Anyone interested in joining the Douglaston Garden Club can contact President Douglas Montgomery by e-mail at douglas@homeny.com or by visiting 40-60 Douglaston Pkwy.
Reach reporter Phil Corso by e-mail at pcorso@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4573.
