Laying down roots: Garden Club celebrates 60 years
, Daily News Staff
11-18-2009
“On Thursday, Nov. 17, 1949 at 1 p.m., at the Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Mo., a group of women (32 all told) met to organize a Garden Club. Mrs. Fred West of Kansas City was the Guest Speaker.”And so, 60-years-ago the Rainbow Garden Club was born. Mrs. F.G. Weary was elected the first president and the club has continued without pause over the years with the dedication and meticulous record-keeping of its members.
A few of the club members gathered at the Ray County Museum this past Saturday to celebrate the 60th anniversary of their club, as well as the donation of the original secretary’s notes from 1949 to the museum.
The three members who opened the celebration were Garden Club President Hilda Hall, Dorothy Jelinek and Oneida Stansbury. The ladies provided hot cider, coffee and some delicious homemade cookies, along with an assorted history of the garden club over the years.
There are currently nine active members of the club. Membership is down from the original 32 that began the club in 1949. The early membership list is a cornucopia of well-known Ray County names and grew so quickly, that in 1951, the club voted to limit the membership to 50.
In those days the club voted to accept new members. “If you wanted to join, they put you in a bedroom while they voted on you,” said Stansbury.
The club isn’t just interested in flowers. They are involved in all aspects of horticulture from flowers and birds to ecology and composting.
At the second meeting of the club in December of 1949, the club name, The Rainbow Garden Club, was chosen and the iris was voted as the club flower. The club has kept its loyalty to the iris to this day and recently went to see the Iris Gardens in Gower, Mo., where “we saw acres and acres of irises,” said Hall. “There was a water wheel as well.”
On Dec. 7, 1953, the first holiday show was held with participation from members, grade and country schools. In 1956, the club decided to sponsor a planting of flowers and/or shrubs around the courthouse.
The ladies reminisced about trips they took in recent years, and commented that they visited Wood Mood Farms in Higginsville last year after reading an article I had written about the organic farming practices at the farm. “We went to Wood Mood and saw the natural, organically grown crops. They put us in little golf carts and showed us the hoop houses where some of the food is grown year round,” said Stansbury.
Currently, Hall takes care of the albums and submits all meeting notes to The Daily News for publication. In many of the albums on display were hundreds of articles written over the past 60 years from the newspaper about the club, as well as a complete history of the many trees and flowers they have planted throughout the years.
The club has planted in Maurice Roberts Park, Southview Park, the Ray County Museum, along the courthouse and Shirkey Leisure Acres, just to name a few of the locations where they have left their green thumb and devotion. They planted a rose garden in Maurice Roberts Park in 1952 and showed flowers yearly at the local banks. They often raise funds with bake sales, rummage sales, white elephant sales and plant sales.
The club always observed Arbor Day each year by planting trees in an assortment of public places throughout the county. A tree planted by the club still stands in the yard of the Ray County Museum, a testament to the dedication and love of nature these ladies exhibit.
The club was organized Nov. 17, 1949, federated Nov. 1, 1961, unfederated Nov. 29, 1989, and became a social club Jan. 29, 1990.
Having become a member of the Northwest District of Federated Garden Clubs of Missouri and the National Council of State Garden Clubs, the group received a number of ribbons for various civic activities such as ribbons they won in 1968 and 1969. During this period, they won a blue ribbon in 1968 in horticulture, a grade three ribbon for special achievements and a grade four ribbon for civic achievements. On May 27, 1969, they won a blue ribbon and second place in 1968 for their scrapbook. They also participated in the floriculture exhibits at the annual Ray County Fair.
The book that was being donated at the 60th anniversary celebration was the 1949 secretary’s book, containing the original meeting notes of the first meetings of the club. The book was found in Mrs. Margaret Allen’s attic and given to Lisa Quick who, in turn gave the book to Dolores Rogers because she knew she was in the Garden Club. It was quite a find and the ladies are thrilled to have had this returned to them. It was donated Saturday to the Ray County Museum to be housed with honor amongst the last 60 years of scrapbooks, booklets, notes, bylaws and other memorabilia the club has collected.
Club president Hilda Hall currently holds the longest membership having joined The Rainbow Garden Club at least 40 years ago. She is also the club historian and she doesn’t disappoint.
The club is active civically and donates every year to the Easter Egg Hunt, Trick or Treat Street, the Salvation Army and the Christmas Store at Shirkey Leisure Acres.
The club faithfully begins each meeting with a poem written by an original member of the club, Mildred Garrett, who remains dear in their memories with each recitation of the poem.
Rainbow
There’s a Rainbow o’er the hilltop
Where blue flowers touch the sky.
There’s a Rainbow o’er the valley,
Where the fair green meadows lie,
And there is another Rainbow,
From all the world apart.
Tis the dearest, fairest rainbow,
Tis God’s Rainbow in your heart.
And tho the clouds may gather
And earth’s bow be lost from view,
You may always know that in your soul,
God’s rainbow shines for you.
~ Mildred Garrett
The club always concludes their meetings with the following benediction:
“Give each home, O Lord we pray,
A blessing as we leave today,
And if you’ve time, we ask in pardon,
Please Dear Lord, to bless each garden.”
With their love of nature and all things green and colorful, the Rainbow Garden Club has clearly made their devoted mark on Ray County. Trees have grown and flourished from their kind donations – flowers have bloomed and lives have been touched by the group’s generosity.
The club is always looking for new members. Anyone interested in joining the Rainbow Club can contact any of the members: Evelyn Douglas, Hilda Hall, Dorothy Jelinek, DeNelda Jongerious, Leona Love, Dolores Rogers, Lena Russell, Oneida Stansbury or Jackie Van Hoy.
Photo: Ray County Museum Curator Karen Bush looks over the Rainbow Garden Club's 1949 secretary's notes with current club President Hilda Hall. The club the recently found 60-year-old notes at their 60th anniversary celebration this past Saturday. (Photo by Liz Johnson/The Daily News)
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