Garden Club marks 75th anniversary

The Nelson County Historical Society paid tribute last Sunday to the Nelson County Garden Club for its 75 years of accomplishments and contributions at the society’s monthly meeting at the Nelson Center in Lovingston.

“We thought it was time they got some recognition for the wonderful works they’ve done in the county and surrounding areas,” said Bernard McGinnis of the Nelson County Historical Society.

The Nelson County Garden Club is steeped in local history. It began in 1935 and at the time, was only the second club available to women, said Dorothy Lee Giles, the club’s current historian.

Giles said the club was the brainchild of Gertrude Ligon, who also helped organize Nelson County Day, and was formed by “a group of women who decided their mundane existence needed some form of culture.”

The club had 63 founding members who were “the top rung of the ladder in the social society” in 1935, Giles said. To become a member, ladies had to be invited, sponsored by three other members and then had to complete an application, Giles said.

“These people didn’t want any deadbeats in their club,” she said.

Some of the women who attended Sunday’s event had mothers who had been the club’s founding members and had become Garden Club members themselves.

Jaqueline Clark, the club’s current president, introduced the club’s oldest member, Mary Francis Thurman Brush, who has been a member since 1942.

In 1942, the Nelson County Garden Club organized a camp for the community’s young people to teach them about nature and the outdoors, called Nature Camp. The club also purchased the former Lovingston Presbyterian Church and established a library in 1946.

Nature Camp still exists, and the Nelson Memorial Library grew out of the old church and moved to it’s current location on U.S. 29.

Throughout its history, the Nelson County Garden Club has been nationally recognized and has won many awards, Giles said. They planted and now maintain the landscaping around the current library.

“Gardening is not a glamorous activity,” she said. “But its therapy and an enjoyable experience.”

The Nelson County Garden Club now has more than 45 members and meets at 2 p.m. on the first Friday of every month at the Nelson Memorial Library.