How the Newbury Garden Club Began
The Newbury Garden Club blossomed one summer afternoon as refreshments were being served to 8 women after a game of bridge at Bea Johnson’s home. Sally Muncey wondered why there was no Garden Club in Newbury. The answer was that it had been tried but hadn’t been successful. The bridge group decided the time seemed ripe and, so on May 12, 1958 6 of the 8 women arranged to meet at Virginia Fowler’s the following week to get organized. The six were Virginia Fowler, Mary Livermore, Gertrude Lowell, Sally Muncey, Ruth Nobel and Bea Johnson.
Virginia lived in a beautiful colonial house, originally built for the South Byfield parsonage. As the women sat on the lawn, paper and pencil in hand, they came up with the following 16 names who became charter members.
Jane Clark
Jeannie Colcough
Virginia Joyce
Beatrice Johnson
Mary Livermore
Barbara Howard
Ruth Thurlow
Louise Wallace
Josephine Caruthers
Gertrude Lowell
Wilhelmina Lunt
Priscilla Meehan
Sally Muncey
Ruth Noble
Estelle Stonebreaker
Virginia Fowler - President
The first dues were $3.00 a year and Bylaws were accepted in October of 1958.
The first meeting of the Newbury Garden Club was held in June 1958 at the home of Ruth Nobel. It was a beautiful day and the members sat out on the porch overlooking the Parker River while Margaret Little talked about flower arranging and demonstrated some credit points on how arrangements are judged in Flower Shows.
Thus, the Newbury Garden club came into being and has continued over the years to making civic contributions such as:
- American Legion Park
- Village Post Office Landscaping
- Christmas Wreaths on the Town Hall
- Christmas tree on the Upper Green
- Anti-Litter Project in 1971
- Fund Raising Plant Sales, Yard Sales and Wine Tasting Party at the Oldtown Country Club
Joint Meetings with the Newburyport Garden Club have always been special events; by pooling resources the clubs were able to hire outstanding speakers. At the first joint meeting, the speaker was Lucian Taylor, gardener and writer of Wild Flower books.
And, that's how it all started.