It was a beautiful day to celebrate Earth Day at Linthicum Walks. Led by Project Chair Nancy Percivall, CVGC members, TLC (The Linthicum Crew) and members of the community worked on sprucing up the new Snow Drop Nature Trail. Thank you to Nancy for organizing the event and providing snacks and to CVGC members Laura Austin, JoAnn Cook, Trish Demers, Nancy Durose, Cindy Hare, Littany Hollerbach, Rosa Johnson, Sally Moore and Angela Wetzel for making this Earth Day event a success!
The Crofton Cherry Blossom Festival could not have gone better with over 100 kids stopping by to create and take home their "painting" of cherry blossom branches. CVGC members manning the table included Jessica Kruse (Crofton Cherry Trees Project Chair), Jane McClanahan, Carol Buhr, and C.J. Salisbury. They helped the kids (and some adults) with the painting activity which resulted in a simple but elegant piece of art ready to frame. An informational board was shared with the community on how the cherry trees came to be along Crofton Parkway.
In the 1960's Kathryn "Kay" Callahan persuaded this new community of Crofton to replicate the beauty and glory of the Japanese cherry trees that were planted at the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. Kay was determined to have cherry trees in Crofton and was able to secure a Wheaton, MD nursery to plant the trees at cost, which was a mere $11.33 per tree, provided she could find 15 neighbors to also order trees. The Crofton Village Garden Club (CVGC) formed in 1969 with a mere 30 ladies, and they set their goals: to beauify, promote community, and improve the environment. Kay introduced the idea of the cherry tree plantings to the newly formed garden club and CVGC has carried on this commitment ever since. Homeowners around the parkway have joined in and cherry trees have been independently purchased and planted on residential properties, and the beauty of the springtime cherry blossom has spread! To celebrate Crofton's 50th Anniversary, CVGC pledged to plant 50 new cherry trees around the parkway and completed the project in 2022. Today's costs average approximately $200 a tree! With the help of good neighbors, the CVGC continues planting two Yoshino cherry trees every other spring and maintains the trees over the years along the parkway. At the January 10th monthly Crofton Kiwanis Club membership meeting presentation at the Crofton Library, attendees learned about a local program to purchase and install a Gold Star Memorial on Route 3 near the main entrance to the community. The location will be near the site of the Crofton Kiwanis Foundation's twice annual display of U.S. "Flags for Heroes".
The memorial project is in celebration of Crofton's 60th Anniversary, and jointly coordinated by the Crofton Village Garden Club and the Crofton Greenery Garden Club. The name Gold Star is from the custom of families of service members hanging U.S. wartime service flags in their home windows, bearing blue stars for a family's living armed forces members and gold stars for deceased military members. The current objective is to dedicate a 7-foot high Gold Star Memorial inscribed marker next to the Crofton main entrance in a ceremony on Sunday afternoon, November 10, 2024, in honor of Veteran's Day. Shown in the photograph above are Marcia Richard, Chair of Crofton’s Gold Star Memorial Committee; and Committee Co-Chair and Crofton Civic Association President Anna O’Kelly, each holding Kiwanis' "Crofton 60th Anniversary" gift mugs; along with Crofton Kiwanis President Mike Pierre and Crofton Kiwanis Club Vice President and Program Chair Renee Mackey. All in Greater Crofton wishing to share names of their Gold Star families are encouraged by the Gold Star program to email that information to: info@croftontownhall.org. Checks in support of the program can be made payable to "CVGC", with check memo designation "Gold Star", and mailed to Crofton Village Garden Club, P.O. Box 3492, Crofton, Maryland 21114. The Crofton Civic Association's 2nd Annual Cherry Blossom Festival will take place today from 11 AM to 2 PM. The festival will be on the inner loop of Crofton Parkway – from the Crofton Country Club to Farnborn Street. Traffic will be closed in this area. Enjoy music, face painting, vendors, crafts, a community yard sale and delicious food from the food trucks.
Visit Crofton Village Garden Club at location 8. Members will have crafts for the kids, information on the cherry trees planted around Crofton Parkway, a jewelry sale, and tickets will be available to purchase for our Garden Tour 2023 that takes place on Sunday, May 21st. On Thursday, February 16th, CVGC President Cathy Gallagher and members of the executive board met with the "Green Team" at Crofton High School to present the club with a check for $500 to assist in their ongoing projects. It was decided that each year at the May meeting of CVGC a member of the Green Team from CHS will come to present how the Green Team has used the funds from our club. The club will also produce a short video that will highlight the club's efforts throughout the year.
Cathy stated the forty students that they met with were excited and extremely grateful for the support from CVGC and she believes we have begun a wonderful partnership with the young people of Crofton. |
CATEGORIES
All
|