KEENE—In early December, over 25 Adirondack Garden Club (AGC) members and their guests gathered at the Whallonsburg Grange to decorate lovely evergreen wreaths, many intended for members’ homes but even more destined for those served by Families First in Elizabethtown, a countrywide agency that works with families facing mental health challenges. The Families First wreath-making program was created four years ago and has become a favorite project for AGC members.

This year, the club created over 40 wreaths for Families First, with guidance from professional florist and AGC member Sarah White. White organized the workshop and shared professional tips on making ribbon bows (it is an art!) and incorporating a variety of items, from Christmas ornaments and small toys to dried flowers, into the holiday wreaths.

Founded in 1928, the Adirondack Garden Club’s mission is to stimulate the knowledge and love of gardening, to aid in the protection of native plants and birds, and to encourage civic planting, and the conservation of our natural resources.  In 1933, the club joined The Garden Club of America, a volunteer, nonprofit 501(c)3 organization comprised of 200 member clubs and approximately 18,000 club members throughout the United States.

The Adirondack Garden Club’s purpose is the conservation of the plants, shrubs and trees native to the Adirondack region, and the making of both wild and cultivated gardens characteristic of the environment in which they are placed, the furthering of the cultivation of gardens throughout the Adirondack area, and the promotion of civic conservation and beautification. More information is available on the club’s website: https://www.adirondackgardenclub.com/

Families First CEO JoAnne Caswell and Adirondack Garden Club Co-President. The garden club donated ­­over 40 wreaths to Families First clients. Photo by Annette Simons.

Donna Baribeau, Lyn Flynn and Barbara Harrison decorate wreaths for donation to Families First clients. Photo by Barbara Plumadore.

At the Whallonsburg Grange in early December, members of the Adirondack Garden Club decorated wreaths for their homes and for Families First clients. Photo by Audrey Sparre.

Photo at top: Members of the Adirondack Garden Club display wreaths made both for their own homes and for donations to Families First clients. Photo by Lyn Flynn.