80 Years and Growing! Wareham Garden Club celebrates its anniversary

May 29, 2019

For the last 80 years, the Wareham Garden Club has had a simple mission: Keep Wareham beautiful.

The group has done so with a tree here, a flower bed there, making holiday wreaths, and teaching floral arranging workshops. Now, at the start of its 80th year, the club shows no sign of stopping.

Throughout the year, the Wareham Garden Club works on a bouquet of projects, including monthly garden therapy, talks by horticulture experts, gifts of spring bulbs to Minot Forest Elementary, scholarships for high school and college students, and other projects aiming to preserve the environment and promote interest in and enjoyment of gardens.

On May 29th, the Wareham Garden Club celebrated its anniversary alongside the Aptucxet Garden Club of Bourne.

“The topic of anniversaries came up and we realized that we were neighboring towns sharing a common milestone: 80 years since our foundation,” said Wareham Garden President Peter LaBouliere. “We thought it would be neat if both clubs could jointly celebrate this significant occasion together. And then, an idea was born!”

During Wednesday’s party at the Sacred Hearts Retreat Center, the president of the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, Suzanne McCance, presented LaBouliere a certificate of congratulations.

“You are commended for 80 years of providing education, civic beautification, service, and engagement throughout your community and within your club and promoting interest in gardening and floral artistry,” said McCance.

Upon finishing the cake and refreshments, guests were invited to explore the retreat center and walk the trails of the 118-acre sanctuary, much of which borders Widow’s Cove. LaBouliere thanked the director of the center, Sister Claire, for inviting both clubs to host their celebration in a historic building.

“This place is big, beautiful, and it is full of nature,” said Sister Claire. “I think it is really nice that they chose our place for their 80th anniversary. In a way, they are celebrating the 80th year, we are celebrating our 76th year.”