No, not me – the Takoma Horticulture Club, established March 1, 1916 by five horticulturists who worked at the U.S. Agricultural Research Center near here. In fact, it was five male horticulturists and women were excluded. Three years later they saw the error of their ways and started admitting women, so they’re forgiven (though not excused) for their original exclusionary intent. The club was modeled after the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and, we’ve been told, is now the second oldest garden club in the whole U.S. of A. That information was included in a letter we received on our 50th anniversary from President Johnson’s Secretary of Agriculture, praising our second-oldest status, and we sure hope it’s true. But who’s the oldest?? How would we find out? The original dues, by the way, were 10 cents a month, later simplified to $1 per year.
Despite welcoming women early on, I’m sorry to say the club remained exclusive and by invitation only as late as the 1970s, which is how they were able to keep out people they considered undesirable. In this wildly liberal town it’s really hard to imagine, but apparently it wasn’t always so progressive.
The club’s focus has changed from acting as a buying cooperative for the provision of wholesale seeds, plants and bulbs to organizing flower shows and plant sales and most recently, to its largely environmental and educational focus. Our members, almost all of whom work during the day, just don’t have time for labor-intensive events like flower shows, and people are more interested nowadays in the whole garden than in the competitive growing of huge flowers. Thank God.
About five years ago the club was just barely surviving, as there was no one who had much time to devote to it and certainly not to increase its membership. Fortunately, an oldtimer took the initiative to bring together a few of us who seemed to have some "energy," and the club landed in my lap. So if anyone else had been willing to keep the club going I’d never have become its president; I sure wouldn’t have challenged someone in an election to win the title. But I’m grateful to that oldtimer for roping me into service because my years with the club have led to learning a lot about gardening and to having many, many new friends, all of whom share my passion. Heck, I’ve even become a keeper-sized fish in the pond of Takoma.
[Photo: Butterfly on Echinacea purpurea.]
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Congratulations! That’s quite an achievement!
Good for you, Susan. Sometimes we just need a little push to do things that, years later, we realise we’ve gained so much more from than we ever thought possible. I’m sure your administrative and communication skills have brought a lot to the Club, too – not to mention, your passion for gardening.