What We Do
At the Boxford Village Garden Club, giving back to our community is important.
We have six Civic Beautification teams in place across town in five locations, and have won awards from the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts for two of them (the Holyoke French House and the Boxford Town Hall). Every December we create wreaths and swags to decorate municipal locations across Boxford, along with donations to a women's shelter and food pantry. In January and February we provide floral arrangements for a soup kitchen in Lawrence, and every Spring we choose a MASCO high school student headed to college to major in environmental studies to receive a scholarship of $1,000.
The environment is a top priority, and we spend time creating educational materials for the public and designing informational seminars. Our Conservation team has a table at all our events, and our educational Fact Sheets are available on this website for download at any time. We have worked with the Boxford Conservation Commission and the Ipswich River Watershed Association. We are proud to support BTA Bolt and the Kelsey Arboretum.
The BVGC participates in many town events introducing our club while educating the public on pertinent gardening topics, such as Boxford's Earth Day (co-sponsored with the Boxford Recycling Committee), our Annual Plant Sale (which is always the day before Mother's Day), and the Apple Festival, a Boxford Historical Society event, where we create floral arrangements for display at the Holyoke French House and offer fresh cut flowers from our own gardens for sale to the public.
EARTH DAY
Co-sponsored by the Boxford Recycling Committee, this popular town-wide litter cleanup event brings residents together to promote civic beautification and raise awareness of conservation. Participants collect litter from public areas, bring their bags to the transfer station, and are rewarded with an ice cream treat in a social atmosphere. Ecology-minded vendors have informational booths for the public to browse, there is a goat pen and face-painting, and live entertainment. It has become a well-anticipated annual tradition in town.
BOXFORD EARTH DAY
APPLE FESTIVAL
The BVGC has a booth every year at the annual Apple Festival in September. Members donate cut flowers from their own gardens, and volunteers create floral arrangements on-site. Membership in the garden club is promoted, and the Conservation team is present. We are always organized with a minimum of three in the booth, and set-up is brief on the morning of the festival. The BVGC booth is positioned outside the Holyoke French House, one of our Civic Beautification sites. This day is always a lot of fun, interacting with people of all ages during our popular town festival.
APPLE FESTIVAL
PLANT SALE
This highly anticipated event is held the Saturday before Mother's Day. Members with large gardens donate multiple plants through a process called Dig & Divide. We set up the Friday before, put out tables and tents, label the plants and get ready to have a lot of fun. On the day of the sale, BVGC members wear their green aprons, answer questions and help customers. It is a thrilling day for us, with a celebratory party afterward.
