The Catawba Island Garden Club gathered for a Christmas party on Dec. 11. (Submitted photo)
BY SHERI TRUSTY
CATAWBA ISLAND – For nearly a century, the Catawba Island Garden Club (CIGC) has been brightening the landscape of the island. CIGC was founded in 1933, but its mission has grown – along with its Hydrangea and Coreopsis – beyond planting flowers and designing decorative gardens. Today’s club also focuses on education, horticultural experiences, community benevolence, and supporting environmental health.
CIGC is widely known for its annual plant sale, held each year on the Saturday before Mother’s Day at the Catawba Township Community Hall. The sale features plants that have been raised by members, and hundreds of people show up to buy them.
“At this year’s sale, we had people waiting at the door when we got there,” said CIGC member Susan Ellis. “It was like Black Friday.”
The annual sale is about more than just raising funds. The underlying mission is about supporting the environment. That’s why the plants the members raise for the sale are all native plants, like Purple Cornflower and varieties of Milkweed.
“We practice conservation and encourage others to do the same,” Ellis said.
The native plants bring health to the land, and some are grown to help restore the monarch butterfly population.
“We want to bring Catawba back to what it was years ago,” said CIGC member Rose Markel.
Members of the Catawba Island Garden Club pose for a photo during a picnic this summer. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)
Markel has been a member of the club since 2003. She had moved to Catawba three years earlier, and the club helped her make connections that turned into friendships.
“The best part of this club is the friendships you make,” Markel said. “But also, I like the diversity of what we do. It’s not just about plants. We go on outings. We’ve gone to Cleveland and Toledo, and I’ve seen things I might not have seen if I wasn’t a part of this group.”
Among other trips, CIGC members traveled to Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve in Huron to learn about maintaining healthy estuary systems, and they visited Back to the Wild in Castalia to learn about wildlife rehabilitation.
“So our interests go beyond gardening to an overall goal of making our environment healthier,” Ellis said.
Community benevolence plays a big role in the club. CIGC supports the Lake Erie Foundation to help keep the lake healthy, and the club partners with Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge on landscape and litter cleanup projects at West Harbor Landing. The group donates to the Salvation Army and Bistro 163, and it has purchased and installed 14 benches around Catawba.
The diversity of projects attracts a variety of gardeners with different skills and interests.
“We joined for various reasons, but we stay for the same reasons,” Ellis said. “We stay for the friendship, a sense of giving back to the community, helping to preserve and improve the environment, new and fun adventures, and of course, the love of gardening.”
Anyone interested in joining the Catawba Island Garden Club next year is welcome to attend the annual plant sale in May to learn more.
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