60 years of giving continues with $15,000 donation
In honor of its 60th anniversary, the Monmouth Garden Club donated $15,000 to the City of Monmouth. The donation goes toward building a picnic pavilion at Monmouth Recreation Park. Pictured, left to right: club officers Deb Bachwansky, Karen Williams, Terri Siner and Diane Ostrom, along with Monmouth Mayor Dec Koontz and Public Works Director Russ Cooper. Submitted photo by Dashiell McNett.
Monmouth Garden Club celebrated its 60th anniversary doing what it does best - donating money to help keep the city beautiful.
This time a check for $15,000 was presented by club officers to Mayor Cec Koontz and Public Works Director Russ Cooper. The donation is dedicated to help pay for the construction of a picnic pavilion at the Monmouth Recreation Park, home to the skate park.
And with that generosity, the Monmouth Garden Club’s legacy continues to grow.
“This is a group of very energetic women who love gardening, love community. They work hard on our fundraising projects, and that money goes to beautification,” club president Diane Ostrum said. “Over 60 years we have donated more than $130,000 to community beautification projects, and we’re very proud of that.”
Money for donations is raised through the club’s Greens Week sale in December and annual plant sale in May. According to Koontz, these sales help define 'community.'
“The sales that they do are traditions that everybody looks forward to, that brings everybody in the community together,” Koontz said. “So it’s not just the end results, but the fact that they have created these things that help other people appreciate their gardens, their greens, and all the things that they do.”
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A partial list of the club’s beautification projects includes: Old City Hall park and clock, gazebos at Main Street Park and Gentle House, xeriscaping along Knox Street and the Betty Hoyt Memorial Shelter at the Madonna Park Arboretum.
Installing benches at the skate park and landscaping the Peace Pole there are projects that have been completed in recent years.
In short, this is a private-public partnership that works.
“The City could never do what (the club has) done. We could probably go out and write grants and do all kinds of things, but to have them step up every time. What they did for the skate park last year, and now they’re going to benefit that park again. Those improvements just last forever,” Koontz said. “And again, the City got grants, got funding from the state to do all the park work. But it’s the amenities. It’s the little things that make it a Monmouth thing.”
Shirley Ediger joined the Monmouth Garden Club in 1982. She gained membership through a friend who was a member. The importance of contributing was emphasized right from the start, she said.
“You don’t just pay your fee and be a member. You’re actually a part of the club. Right away, I was put on a committee, and then right away you meet five people, and then right away you have committee meetings in a person’s home,” Ediger said. “I just got taken in by the garden club. I mean, if you are a garden club member, then you are their friend.”
There were 15 members when Ediger joined 42 years ago. There are now 25. Their age range is 62 to 93 years.
The Monmouth Garden Club was organized in 1964 by Lillian McGonegal and Jessie Hill.
It has been beautifying the city ever since.
