Morrison Garden Club celebrates 75th anniversary – Shaw Local

MORRISON – The Morrison Garden Club is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.

Founded on December 10, 1948, the Morrison Garden Club is responsible for maintaining the grounds of the Odell Library, Veterans Park, and the planters near Illinois 78.

Members also volunteer for Morrison’s annual Paint the Town and take care of Morrison’s plant life year-round. Their work can be found throughout the town. The Garden Club is responsible for landscaping the hospital entrance and maintaining Morrison’s entrance sign.

President Sharron Moore said the club is primarily a “fun group” and a mix of volunteer group and social club.

“We try to help where we can,” she said. “We’ve had tree programs in the past, and we showcase gardens every month during the summer. Since this is the 75th anniversary, the person selected will receive a $75 gift certificate to Spangler’s.”

According to Moore, volunteer work plays a big role in the club.

“I’m looking forward to planting more trees. We received some funds from a Margy Haines trust fund specifically for trees and flowers in Morrison,” Moore said. “So we created French Creek Park. Most of the money came from that fund, and we originally planted 500 trees.”

On July 11, the club approved a donation of $750 to the high school greenhouse. Its ultimate goal is to establish a scholarship for students majoring in agriculture and horticulture.

“We are doing a lot more financially now because we can spend some money and it has to go back to the community,” she said.

The biggest event for the garden club right now is the plant sale at the Odell Library.

“We get plants donated by community members and bring a lot of plants from our own gardens,” she said. “We get together and replant them all. Then we arrange them by plant type, sun and shade. We can’t thank the people who come out to us every year enough. Sometimes they come with truckloads and this year was our biggest sale yet. We opened the sale at 9 a.m. and there were maybe 50 people waiting outside.”

The Garden Club used to hold flower shows and host competitions and demonstrations at the fairgrounds.

“There are hard-working women in our gardens every day,” Moore said. “We recently joined the Illinois State Garden Club and they have a lot of events that we’ve been going to.”

The club is constantly looking for new members.

“Many of us are older, so I want to grow the club by adding more activities,” she said.

For those interested, membership dues are $10 per year. Newcomers are welcome to attend the monthly meetings at the Odell Library and introduce themselves.

“It keeps us involved in the community,” said club member Jan Mayes. “It helps us learn what’s going on in the community and keeps us involved in those events. It’s a type of volunteerism that helps us just as much.”