Crofton Village Garden Club donated a Blue Star Memorial Marker that was unveiled and dedicated at the entrance to Crofton Library in May 2013 to honor those who currently serve or have served in the United States armed services. The marker and surrounding area are maintained by club members during semi-annual service days at the library.
Project Chair: Camille DeVito
COMMUNITY BEAUTIFICATION
Holidays in Crofton
Crofton Village Garden Club has decorated our community with fresh evergreen wreaths for the holidays since 1969. Beautiful wreaths and festive red bows adorn several public schools, the Crofton Library, the Village Green, and the main entrance to the Crofton community. Visitors and nearly 30,000 residents of Crofton enjoy our "signature" community service project.
Project Chair: C.J. Salisbury
Holidays in Annapolis – Maryland State House and State Circle
Crofton Village Garden Club joins with other District II garden clubs annually to decorate State Circle and Maryland State House with fresh evergreen wreaths. Residents, workers, and visitors to Historic Annapolis enjoy these decorations throughout the holiday season.
Project Chair: Cathy Gallagher
Holidays in Annapolis – Hammond-Harwood House
Crofton Village Garden Club also partners with other District II garden clubs each year to decorate the historic Hammond-Harwood House for the holidays. The Hammond-Harwood House Association benefits from this project, as well as visitors who have an opportunity to enjoy the period holiday decorations.
Project Chair: Debbie Nicholson
May Baskets
May Baskets honor the time-old tradition which the ancient Celts called “Beltane” — the day halfway between spring and summer that coincides with the return of fertility to the earth. In early times, small baskets of flowers and goodies were left on friends’ door knobs as a sign of kindness and friendship. Crofton Village Garden Club members create May Baskets to display at their homes. This project stimulates members’ interest in flower arranging and encourages, by example, pride in our community.
Project Chair: Linda Childs
CROFTON LIBRARY GARDENS
Blue Star Memorial Garden
Crofton Village Garden Club members participate in service days twice a year at Crofton Library. Additionally, the club makes a financial contribution for the purchase of mulch and other supplies to use in a garden area next to the library entrance. The Blue Star Memorial Marker is located in this garden area.
Project Chair: Camille DeVito
Pollinator Garden
Crofton Village Garden Club received a 2014 Unity Grant of Maryland to build a pollinator garden at Crofton Library. The pollinator garden was a collaborative effort supported by the Anne Arundel County Library System and assisted by the University of Maryland Master Gardeners. In addition, Patuxent Nursery donated compost and mulch to the project. The garden not only encourages the population of pollinators, but also serves as an educational component to demonstrate to community members the importance of the pollinators for our environment. Due to the decline of pollinators and to the deterioration of pollinator health, the clubs focus is to encourage pollinator gardens not only in public spaces but in home gardens.
The pollinator garden is registered with the National Pollinator Garden Network as part of the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge.
Project Chair: Carol Votteler
Native Garden
Crofton Village Garden Club received a 2016 Unity Grant of Maryland to transform an overgrown border of non-native plants at Crofton Library with native plants. The native garden was a collaborative effort supported by the Anne Arundel County Library System and the University of Maryland Master Gardeners. Situated along the northwest corner of the library, this garden faces Riedel Road and is easily viewed from the sidewalk and street. The location allows convenient access for the public to stop and enjoy the garden, and to discover the many advantages of native plants and how they are better suited for our local ecosystem. Our community’s children and adults will benefit from learning that the use of native plants reduces the need for watering, pest control, and maintenance and provides habitats for local wildlife.
Project Chair: Don Pogue
CROFTON RAIN GARDEN
Crofton Village Garden Club partnered with other community organizations in 2011 to reduce and mitigate stormwater damage to creeks, streams, rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay. This project diverts stormwater from Crawford Boulevard to the street-side rain garden rather than the stormwater drains on Route 3, where it previously flowed.
Project Chairs: Nancy Percivall and Denise Frey
GARDEN THERAPY
Crofton Village Garden Club has been conducting hands-on workshops for residents at Crofton Care and Rehabilitation Center for almost 30 years. Residents appreciate the one-on-one attention from our club members and enjoy this opportunity to participate in various design projects.
Project Chair: C.J. Salisbury
GIVING FLOWERS
Crofton Village Garden Club members design fresh floral bouquets for hospice patients on a weekly basis. Members pick up donated flowers, potted plants and other plant material from Trader Joe’s in Annapolis and take them to Hospice of the Chesapeake in Pasadena, Maryland. There, members design fresh floral bouquets for hospice patients. Hospice nursing staff, clergy, social workers and volunteers deliver the bouquets to patients in their home or care facility throughout Anne Arundel County.
Project Chairs: D'Ana Johnson and Carol Votteler
HONORING OUR TROOPS
Veterans Day
Crofton Village Garden Club members create red, white and blue flower arrangements to honor the men and women who serve our country. Veterans at the Loch Raven VA Community Living and Rehabilitation Center in Baltimore, Maryland, are always delighted to receive the colorful flowers and thank-you notes from our club.
Project Chair: Bonnie Pavlak
Wreaths Across America
Crofton Village Garden Club makes a monetary donation to support the mission of Wreaths Across America at the Crownsville Veterans Cemetery. Members participate in the wreath-laying ceremony, held the second Saturday in December each year, to remember and honor our veterans through the laying of Remembrance wreaths on the graves of our country’s fallen heroes and the act of saying the name of each and every veteran aloud.
Project Chair: Becky Hogan
OPERATION CHRISTMAS
Crofton Village Garden Club chooses a local charitable organization, military unit deployed overseas, if possible, or any entity within the neighboring Crofton communities needing assistance during the holiday season. Donations are gathered from club members, stores, restaurants, etc., to assist in supplying items as needed and appropriate.
Project Chair: Linda Childs
PENNY PINES
Crofton Village Garden Club participates in this meaningful and practical NGC conservation project by collecting small change at each garden club meeting. Every $68 collected is sent to NGC to support a Penny Pines plantation as part of the cost of replanting replacement trees indigenous to a particular area damaged – whether by fire or by other natural catastrophe.
Project Chair: Karen Frost
PLANTINGS FOR PUBLIC AND SPECIAL PLACES
Crofton Cherry Trees
Crofton Village Garden Club, in celebration of Crofton's 50th Anniversary, planted seventeen cherry trees along Crofton Parkway to add to the first plantings, a project spearheaded by the garden club in 1965. Members participated in a fundraiser selling cherry tree ornaments to help fund the purchase of additional cherry trees for this ongoing project.
Project Chair: Jane McClanahan
Linthicum Walks
Crofton Village Garden Club works with other community organizations to restore the grounds at Linthicum Walks, a historic landmark in Crofton. Members weed, concentrating on the removal of invasive plants, mulch the beds and prune or replace plants to restore the grounds. With the club's guidance, Linthicum Walks is Bay-Wise Certified and a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat.
Project Chair: Nancy Percivall
Peace Garden
Crofton Village Garden Club members replenished the original herb garden planted by club members in 2002 at Prince of Peace Presbyterian Church. Members maintain the garden by weeding, mulching, pruning or replacing plants with native plants to restore the garden.
Project Chair: Maria-Elena Bodnar
Swann Park
Crofton Village Garden Club partners with the Crofton Civic Association to restore a woodland area in Swann Park located on Swinburne Avenue. Members remove invasive English ivy from the trees to prevent future loss of trees. Native plants will be added to replace the invasive ivy.
Project Chair: Claudia West
Village Green Memorial Garden
Crofton Village Garden Club maintains a roadside garden planted in 2008 by the club at the Crofton Village Green. This garden of native and ornamental plants includes a memorial plaque that honors the deceased members of our club.