The six members of the Pulaski Garden Club’s Centennial Committee spoke at Wesley LIFE on March 10. They are preparing to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their club’s beginnings in 1926. Each shared information along with their number of years as garden club members. Those present included Joyce Mocherman (42), Connie Simmons (39), Jo Ann Buecler (35), Cam Miller (15), Connie McGrew (five) and Carol Wheeler (five). Each wore a specially designed anniversary logo badge.
The club first organized in the summer of 1926 as the Pulaski Flower Club. Fourteen members, both men and women, met at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Beerbower with guest F. I. Bell, the county’s extension agent. By the 1930s, the name was changed to Pulaski Garden Club. As membership grew, meetings were held in larger venues like Pulaski’s grange hall, school and church.
By 1933, the club met the first Tuesday of each month. Early projects included planting petunias and a tree at the grange hall, beautifying U.S. 127 from Joneses Corner to Shiffler Cemetery and exhibiting flowers at the Williams County Fair. At the fair, they provided funds for lighting, display vases and paint for use in Floral Hall.
Simmons revealed that, at one time, there were 20 garden clubs in Williams County. By 1944, Pulaski Garden Club had printed their first yearbook which outlined agendas and programs. In 1945, the club joined both the district and state garden associations and began receiving the state publication, “The Garden Path.” A junior garden club was added in the 1950s. An interesting early project was to write to state representatives to prohibit placing billboards on the new Ohio Turnpike.
Over the years, club members have donated money to many good causes. Among them were packages for World War II and Korean soldiers, funds for heart, cancer and polio research, donations to Filling Home of Mercy, books for local schools and plants for shut-ins. Educational displays were introduced at the fair and still continue.
Wheeler recited the poem, “A Package of Seeds” by Edgar Guest. Then, McGrew pointed out contents on the club’s display boards. This included past history, benefits of club membership and guest speakers who have shared a variety of program topics. She explained that flower shows are now held in the Gillette Building on the fairgrounds and flower arrangements must be replaced midway through the fair.
Mocherman spoke about a more recent club project which was planning and planting “Anna’s House Garden” at Hillside Country Living. She is also organizing the club’s plant sale to be held at her home May 15-16.
Throughout the years, Pulaski Garden Club members have maintained an active organization as the county’s longest-running garden club. Currently, there are 25 members. Their main interests are horticulture and gardening. They have historically planted shrubs and flowers at the Pulaski Township Office (for 38 years), maintained flower beds at the Williams County Fair, scheduled floral specimens and designs to be judged at the fair, shared their expertise in local communities and been involved in regional and state conventions.
President Miller outlined anniversary activities for the coming year. In April, they are planning an afternoon tea with local dignitaries and past members. A regional meeting involving seven clubs, with the theme “Spring Fling,” will occur at Wesley United Methodist Church in Bryan on May 7. The OAGC Convention will convene June 15-17 in Mt. Sterling, Ohio.
In addition, the Bryan Public Library will sponsor a flower show and history display from June 23-26 with an open house on June 24. Theme for the Williams County Fair’s 2026 flower show in September will be “Blooming Through the Decades.”
Pulaski Garden Club will also participate in a number of community events such as Kunkle’s July 4 parade and Bryan’s Flair on the Square and Festival of Trees. They also plan to redesign new flower beds at the fairgrounds and sponsor a club photo contest.
To conclude the meeting, Jo Ann Beucler graciously gave each one present of a dried flower bookmark she had created. Each person then read aloud the name of each flower and its planting season. Pulaski Garden Club meetings are open to the public the first Tuesday of the month, in March through December, at 6:30 pm at Pulaski United Methodist Church.
The next Wesley LIFE meeting will be on Tuesday, March 24, at 2 p.m. in Wesley United Methodist Church. Speaker will be Jami Young, executive director of Lily Creek Farms Equestrian Riding Center near Napoleon. The public is invited.
(Information courtesy of the club.)
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