Committees
How to Join
The Groton Garden Club is involved in many types of community service projects. Members maintain more than ten municipal gardens and planters throughout the town to help beautify the community. Some gardens were created in memory of specific people or groups.
Club members also create floral arrangements for the Groton Public Library. We hold a Winter Workshop, a free public lecture, and help with maintenance at a local Healing Garden.
If you have already visited our club, and would like to join, please download and complete a Membership Form and return it by mail with your dues.
We meet on the first Tuesday of every month from October through June.
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Annual Public Lecture
This committee plans the annual lecture, including confirming the speaker, site, publicity, and refreshments. The Trust Fund Lecture is open to the public and is funded by the Groton Commissioners of Trust Funds.
Blue Star Memorial
The Blue Star Memorial, located on Sawyer Common, is a marker program that began in 1945 to honor men and women serving in the Armed Forces during WWII. It now serves as a memorial to all who have served or will serve. This is a program of the National Garden Clubs, Inc. Green wreaths with red bows are placed on all the Memorial Stones during December and January.
Book Group
The Book Group reads and discusses books with a gardening theme. Members choose a different book selection each month. Click here for a list of past books.
Winter Workshop
Members of this committee purchase and organize materials that will be used for the Winter Workshop. Each participant can make a boxwood tree or flower arrangement to donate to the Groton Council on Aging, which distributes them to area residents receiving Meals on Wheels. Trees are also given to the Police and Fire Departments, the library, and GGC members who are ill or unable to attend meetings. Members may also create a second tree for themselves. All club members are welcome to participate in the workshop. Sign-up sheets are circulated at the monthly meetings.
Carol Wheeler Park
Carol Wheeler Park is located next to the Squannacook River in West Groton Village. It was created 20 years ago with a substantial donation from a local business owner who had a dream of a West Groton Park. In 2019, the Groton Garden Club received permission to revive and maintain the park.
Firemen's Common
Firemen’s Common, also known as Charles Gorden Square, is located adjacent to the Main Street watering troughs. In 2016, the Garden Club refurbished this small park in Groton that had been created approximately 15 years earlier as an Eagle Scout project in honor of the Groton Fire Department. In 2019, new park benches were donated by the Groton School and installed.
Four Corners Traffic Island
This committee plants and maintains the Four Corners Traffic Island at the intersection of Route 119 and Route 225 adjacent to Shaw’s Marketplace. Members participate by volunteering to water, weed, and deadhead. (New in 2014).
This garden is on state-owned land, so work on this space is coordinated with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. It requires that volunteers follow certain safety rules while working
Hanson Family Memorials
The Hanson Family Memorial Gardens are located off Playground Road behind the library. These gardens are a memorial to Peter, Sue, and 2 1/2 year-old Christine Hanson, who lost their lives during the tragic events that occurred on September 11, 2001.
Historian
The historian collects photographs, board and membership meeting minutes, annual reports, press clippings, and other pertinent information. These materials are placed in archival binders which are located at the Groton History Center. A copy of each annual Groton Garden Club Yearbook is also stored at the Groton Public Library.
Hollis Street Traffic Island
The committee plants and maintains the Hollis Street Traffic Island located at the head of the intersection of Hollis Street and Main Street in Groton Center. Because of its high visibility, the committee utilizes blooming plants from April through September.
Horticulture
This committee promotes ongoing horticultural information, outreach, and education by holding special meetings after the general meetings. We try to answer members’ horticultural questions and concerns by scheduling regular opportunities for group discussions in order to share and exchange knowledge that can produce better gardening outcomes for all Groton Garden Club members.
Hospitality
This committee serves as host for each General Meeting, the Annual Meeting, and Member Luncheon in June. As a membership requirement of the Garden Club, each active member is asked to donate refreshments and assist with the set-up/clean-up of the meeting venue at least once per year.
Library Flowers
This committee chair organizes the delivery of floral arrangements and/or decorative plants bi-monthly to the Groton Public Library’s circulation desk and the Children’s Room. Sign-up sheets are circulated at the monthly meetings.
Membership
The Chair is responsible for coordinating the admission process for new members, including informing new members of their club responsibilities, providing them with a Groton Garden Club Yearbook, and welcoming them to the Garden Club. The Chair oversees the distribution of name tags at general meetings, and maintains records of all members.
Native Garden
Installed in 2021 at Groton Town Hall this garden has given us the chance to try out native plants in a public setting and to see how they perform in our town. This will allow residents of Groton to see these plants and to be inspired to add some to their own gardens. Some of these plants we are familiar with. Others we have never seen or used in our gardens. The members of Groton Garden Club have been learning about how Native plants are the cornerstone of our planet's ecosystems. They are the base of the food chain. Native plants provide food and shelter that specific insects, birds, and mammals need. Along with animals, native plants form an ecosystem.
This garden was installed as an educational contribution to the town of Groton. Members of this committee are needed for garden upkeep, but more importantly to assess the performance of the plants in the garden in terms of beauty and how well these plants support wildlife.
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Improving our own knowledge of these plants and other native plants is the goal for committee members.
Plant Sale
The annual plant sale each May is the club’s major fundraiser. Each member is required to donate plants from their own garden, donate propagated plants, or make a monetary donation to the sale. Members are also expected to participate in digging and dividing donated plants, potting up, or labeling plants prior to the sale and help before, during, or after the sale.
Police and Center Fire Station
This committee maintains the gardens and planters at the Police and Center Fire Stations. Center Fire Station gardens include the 9/11 memorial garden, the front doorway entry area and the entry sign (new in 2018). Police Station gardens include the foundation plantings. Planters include two large and four small planters at the fire station and two large planters at the police station (new in 2015).
Prescott Common
This committee is responsible for planting and maintaining Prescott Common located on lower Main Street. Members participate in the watering, weeding, and deadheading schedule during the summer season and help with spring and fall cleanup, planning, and planting sessions.
Programs & Field Trips
This committee researches, plans, and organizes club programs and workshops that reflect the interests and talents of the membership. The chair contracts with presenters, arrange meeting or workshop space, and coordinates logistics in collaboration with the Hospitality Committee. The committee also plans visits to interesting botanical gardens, open private gardens, and New England garden centers.
Project Development
This committee manages new ideas for club projects and considers new gardens or projects that reflect the community service of the club. Proposals may be generated by the committee, the membership, or the public (with a club member as liaison).
Publicity
This committee is responsible for keeping the public informed through press releases, fliers, and signage about club activities, including the annual Plant Sale and Public Lecture. This committee assists the Yearbook and Website Committee chairs with photos, written submissions, and maintains a press book.
Sunshine Correspondent
The Sunshine Correspondent sends cards and notes of support to Garden Club members in the club’s name. All members are asked to make the Correspondent aware of any member who might benefit from a cheerful message from the Groton Garden Club throughout the year.
This committee notifies club members of special events, changes in meeting schedules, and other club-related information. Most communication is done through blind-copy email. To submit information for a club-wide email, send email to both Chairs and indicate if official business or a “tidbit” for general interest. Please do not send promotional or advertising information. Replies should be sent to the originator of the message, not the Email Chair.
Virginia Thurston Healing Garden
The Virginia Thurston Healing Garden is an educational non-profit dedicated to providing integrated cancer care through therapeutic services, educational programs, and a healing environment for all people with a cancer diagnosis. Located at 145 Bolton Road in Harvard Massachusetts, it was once part of Ginny Thurston’s home. Ginny was an extraordinary horticulturist and leader of a number of regional gardening organizations, including the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts. She died of breast cancer in 1999 but left a legacy of healing opportunities for other women. Thanks to the generosity of her husband, Bill Thurston, there are no financial barriers to receiving client services. For more information, click here or contact the chair.
Watering Troughs
This committee focuses on the seasonal design of the town watering troughs and the planters. The troughs are located at Firemen’s Common on Main Street and in West Groton Center. The planter at Carol Wheeler Memorial Park in West Groton is also maintained by this committee. Members plant, maintain and participate in the watering schedule for these sites.
Website
This committee maintains the club’s website. The website contains updated information on our programs, calendar, and events for the club.
Yearbook
This committee prepares, proofreads, prints, and distributes the annual Groton Garden Club Yearbook. Unlike other garden club committees, this group meets from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. The yearbooks are distributed before the first meeting.