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For over half a century Garden Club makes fresh Christmas greens decorations
Each December for the last 52 years, members of the Rappahannock County Garden Club have been making and selling fresh Christmas greens decorations using local fresh and dry materials. Next month, in keeping with this half-century tradition, they will be doing it again.All the greens are collected locally by garden club members the week after Thanksgiving. Teams head out to pre-scouted sites to cut boxwood, fir, spruce, magnolia leaves, arborvitae, pine, cedar, nandina and other greens and berries. They take the harvest home and properly condition it to ensure the greens remain fresh for as long as possible.
During the summer and the fall, those same members collect and dry interesting seed heads and pine cones. In late October, a few members gather to design and construct the prototypes that will be made for the current season. Those arrangements are then displayed for a few weeks at select retail locations throughout the county such as Rappahannock National Bank, BB&T, The Hair Gallery in Washington, Copper Fox Antiques in Sperryville, Rose Hill Veterinary Clinic in Washington, and the Thornton River Grille.
Since all arrangements are made to order, November is a busy months for the marketing and sales team. If you are interested, place your order as soon as you can - but no later than Nov. 30. Arrangements are to be picked up at the Washington Fire Hall on Wednesday, Dec. 10 (although the club says that they try to work with you if you can't pick-up on that date).
For the 2008 season, the Garden Club is offering two kinds of undecorated wreaths, two gorgeously decorated wreaths, fresh garlands, two different door swags and four different centerpieces/table top arrangements – all visible on line (along with description, pricing and ordering info) at: www.laughingduckgardens.com/index_files/Greens2008.htm. All arrangements are of high quality and very competitively priced.
Where proceeds go
What does the Garden Club do with the funds raised through the greens sale? Proceeds from this mighty endeavor – currently their only fundraiser - are used to send several Rappahannock children to nature camps, provide scholarship funds to county high school students, fund a valedictorian award, and help fund other garden club projects such as the courthouse plantings in the spring or supporting the Farm to Table Program, as well as occasionally supplementing their general operating funds.
They can also e-mail a flier if requested with pictures and detailed description of the product. If you want one or if you are ready to order, please contact Lois Kerchner at 675-3905/ whitcairn@aol.com, Nancy Keyser (675-3310) or e-mail: Info@LaughingDuckGardens.com
Sylvie Rowand and Fawn Evenson are 2008 Christmas greens co-chairs.
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