Join the Crofton Village Garden Club for our fifth annual yard sale fundraiser, filled with incredible deals and gently used treasures! Shoppers can browse a wide selection of items, including books, home décor, small furniture, toys, kitchen essentials, and much more. Be sure to stop by our popular Jewelry Table to discover unique pieces at unbeatable prices.

​Every purchase plays a vital role in directly supporting our community projects and local beautification efforts all year long. Mark your calendar, bring a friend, and help us continue making Crofton bloom. We look forward to seeing you there and appreciate your support!

PROGRAM: Turning Waste Into Resources

The Crofton Village Garden Club welcomed Dana Strotman, Recycling Specialist with Anne Arundel County, for an informative presentation on recycling and responsible waste management. Dana explained how the County’s recycling program helps reduce pollution, conserve natural resources, save energy, and extend the life of our landfill.

Dana gave members a behind-the-scenes look at the Millersville Landfill and Recovery Facility, which opened in 1975. Located on 567.66 acres, it is the only active municipal solid waste landfill owned by Anne Arundel County. The facility is carefully designed and monitored to protect air quality, groundwater, and nearby streams. Members also learned about the Landfill Gas to Electricity facility, which uses two Caterpillar generators to produce 3.2 megawatts of electricity, enough to power approximately 2,000 homes.
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The County also operates a composting facility that processes approximately 20,000 to 25,000 tons of yard waste each year, including grass, leaves, brush, small branches, and weeds.

Anne Arundel County uses a convenient single-stream recycling system, allowing residents to place all accepted recyclables in the same cart. The materials are processed at Waste Management Recycle America in Elkridge. Paper and cardboard are turned into new paper products, metals become new containers and other products, plastics can become everything from new bottles to carpeting and clothing, and glass is recycled into new glass products or used in construction.

Dana reminded members that recycling is an important part of protecting our environment and making the most of our natural resources. Every item we properly recycle helps reduce waste and preserve the County’s landfill for future generations.

She also introduced members to Recycle Coach, a helpful phone app that provides recycling, trash, and yard waste information, recycling quizzes, and customized collection reminders. It’s an easy way to make sure we are recycling correctly and doing our part for a cleaner, more sustainable community.

A special thank-you to our hostesses, Catherine Reardon, lead hostess, along with Verna Pond, Yael Beckman, and Trish Lilek Demers, for creating such a lovely way to say goodbye to summer. Seashells and beautiful blue hydrangea arrangements added a touch of the beach to the buffet table, while music played in the background. In support of the FGCMD President’s Stewards of the Earth initiative, compostable paper goods and utensils were used for the gathering. Their thoughtful touches created a festive and welcoming atmosphere while reflecting our commitment to being good stewards of our environment.

TLC spotted a chunky monarch caterpillar chomping away on milkweed in the Blue Star Memorial Garden at the Crofton Community Library!

Monarch caterpillars have one important job: eat, grow and eat some more! Milkweed is the only plant monarch caterpillars eat, making it essential to their survival. As they grow, they shed their skin several times before forming a chrysalis.
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In about two weeks, this hungry caterpillar could emerge as a beautiful monarch butterfly! 

Crofton Village Garden Club members Karen Frost, Littany Hollerbach, and Nancy Percivall spent time at Hospice of the Chesapeake in Pasadena creating floral arrangements for hospice patients. The arrangements are part of the club’s Giving Flowers project, in which members use flowers and greenery generously donated by Trader Joe’s in Annapolis. The fresh bouquets are created at the hospice facility and then shared with patients in their homes and care facilities throughout Anne Arundel County. Karen, Littany, and Nancy enjoyed putting their floral design skills to work and creating arrangements that will bring beauty and comfort to hospice patients and their families. 

BOX 5 TAKES THE LEAD: BLUEBIRD TRAIL UPDATE

As the nesting season wraps up this August, the bluebird trail at the Crofton Community Library has had a quiet but rewarding summer. Project co-chairs Littany Hollerbach and Nancy Percivall have been diligently monitoring the trail’s birdhouses and keeping track of nesting activity.

Box 5, located in the pollinator garden, continued to be the only active nesting site on the trail this season. Back in May, Littany and Nancy recorded five eggs in Box 5. By July, the bluebirds had returned for another nesting attempt, with a smaller clutch of two eggs.

During a recent check of the box, a male bluebird flew out as Littany and Nancy approached. Inside, they found that no eggs remained, but at least one baby bluebird was present in the nest—a wonderful sign of continued activity in Box 5.

Meanwhile, Box 4 showed some initial promise with a small amount of nesting material, but the bluebirds ultimately did not build a complete nest. The unused nesting material was cleared during the recent inspection. The remaining boxes along the library trail stayed quiet throughout the season.

A special thank-you to Littany and Nancy for their dedicated monitoring and care of the bluebird trail throughout the summer. Their efforts help us follow the progress of our local bluebirds and provide them with safe places to raise their young.