Avon Lake Library makes Garden Club history available online

by Mike Hammer, special to the Avon Lake Public Library

On the grounds of the Avon Lake Public Library are two gardens, the Butterfly Garden and the Bumble Bee Garden, both of which are currently in full, fragrant bloom and were designed and planted by the Avon-on-the-Lake Garden Club. The gardens, which are also regularly maintained by the Garden Club, are just two examples of the numerous gardening projects throughout Avon Lake that are associated with the Garden Club, which will celebrate its 90th anniversary next year.

Much of the Garden Club's history is now online through the Library's website and displayed on Biblioboard for everyone to enjoy, thanks to the digitization efforts of Library volunteers and staff. The Garden Club gifted the Library with its history collection, which includes scrapbooks, general and board meeting minutes, and annual and historian's reports written by club members from 1930 through 2017.

The Garden Club was formed in Avon Lake in 1930 with an initial 23 members. The goal was to bring gardening enthusiasts together to discuss various aspects of gardening, including flowers, soil, and planting, and to work to promote gardening throughout Avon Lake. Since its inception, the Garden Club has been responsible for installing garden displays, flower arrangements, and more throughout the city of Avon Lake. Because of its efforts, the club has received multiple awards, including The May Duff Walters Trophy for Preservation of Beauty for designing, planting, and maintaining the gardens at the Peter Miller House Museum, one of the city's historic landmarks.

“There are 200,000 men and women of all ages and backgrounds across the US who belong to a garden club,” according to Jennifer Fenderbosch, president of the Garden Club and member since 2013. “The National Garden Club is the largest volunteer service organization in the world. This means that Garden Club members have a powerful voice to promote the love of gardening, floral design, civic concerns, and environmental responsibility. Garden clubs foster lifelong friendships, provide opportunities for personal growth, and provide an opportunity to build leadership skills. Garden clubs that are affiliated with Garden Club of Ohio and National Garden Clubs provide college scholarships to students in a variety of degrees.”

The Garden Club archives are interesting, touching, and insightful; they detail the club's building blocks, the group activities throughout the city and the school system, and the current focus of the club. Comments from past Garden Club members about the growth of Avon Lake, from a village of a few hundred residents and a place with no paved roads and lots of farmers to the thriving city it is today, help provide readers of the archives a unique picture of Avon Lake and the beautification of the area that is well worth reading, even if one doesn’t have a green thumb.

If you are interested in volunteering to help with the Avon Lake Public Library's local history digitization project, or if you have items related to Avon Lake's history that you would like to loan or gift to the library, contact Adult Services librarian and local history and genealogy specialist Laura Ploenzke at lploenzke@avonlake.lib.oh.us or 440.933.8127.