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The White Hall Herb and Flower Garden Club is observing its 40th anniversary. The club was officially established in 1985, with its first meeting held Sept. 16 that year.
The club has been meeting ever since, except for a few months during the covid-19 shutdown in 2020.
Charter members included Leila Alburtis, Lorene Blocker, Jean Boast, Virginia Brown, Lola Funderburg, Brenda Westfall, Gwen Henry and Cathy Walker. Henry and Walker are the only remaining original members.
According to the club’s edict, its purpose was to engage members in garden activities and their own gardens and to foster beauty in the community. Members hold fast to that philosophy today.
The club meets on the third Monday of each month, September through May, at 5:30 p.m. at the White Hall Community Center, 9801 Dollarway Road. This month, however, the club will meet on Dec. 15 for a Christmas party at a member’s home.
Each month, the nonprofit group invites a speaker to discuss gardening or herbs or to demonstrate a garden-related craft.
“It may be an outside person or a (club) member,” Vice President Brenda Doucey said.
It’s more than a nonprofit social group, Doucey said.
“We also plant flowers around the community.”
This fall, members planted sky pencil holly shrubs, pansies and cabbage at the White Hall Museum.
In the past, they have done landscaping at White Hall City Hall, White Hall City Park, White Hall Library and the Crenshaw Springs gazebo.
Most past and present members are from White Hall or Jefferson County. The 2025-26 officers are Gwen Henry, president; Brenda Doucey, vice president and programming; Jo Ann Gregory, secretary; and Glenda Peyton, treasurer.
More than horticulture
Despite facing disapproval in 1985, the members planted pansies in whiskey barrels at White Hall City Park and the White Hall Library.
That’s according to founding member Gwen Henry, who, along with Brenda Westfall — retired White Hall High School teacher and beauty shop owner — helped germinate the first seeds of the club.
In America, it’s estimated that nearly $48 billion is spent annually on gardening, with about 55% of American households having some type of garden, according to Scotts Miracle-Gro research.
Neither Henry nor Doucey are surprised that their group has lasted 40 years.
“Yes, seeing as so many groups over the years disbanded, this group has been fortunate to have lasted,” Doucey said.
Walker, one of the group’s 14 charter members, quickly signed up when the club began. Of course, the garden club is a way to bond and make friends, but Walker said it’s about broadening one’s outdoor gardening skills and sharing plant cuttings.
For example, Henry said she learned from an older member about pinching the first buds from a pansy so the plant will focus on growth and later produce more flowers.
Doucey said she joined because she wasn’t very knowledgeable about growing plants.
“I wanted to learn,” Doucey said.
Walker said members also help each other and people outside the group with landscaping advice.
“It’s a great way to learn, and we are still welcoming new members,” Walker said.
Letting the garden work for you
Mary Ann Kizer is the Jefferson County Family and Consumer Sciences agent.
“I’m not surprised that the White Hall garden club has lasted so long,” Kizer said. “Gardening is good for you.”
Citing an 88-year-old man whom she recently helped with some soil sampling, she said, “Gardening is a great way to stay active.”
There’s a saying that she believes holds a kernel of truth: The more you touch the soil, the more you touch the plants, the longer you will live.
It’s more than just anecdotal, she said.
“There are studies supporting the mental and physical benefits of gardening,” Kizer said.
“As when petting a dog, working with plants lowers one’s blood pressure and stress,” she said.
It can also improve a person’s mood and foster a connection to nature, and gardening can provide a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.
There’s something wonderful about using herbs in a dish or fresh tomatoes or cucumbers in a salad, she said.
Also, gardens can help the environment by supporting pollinators, filtering water, stabilizing soil and sequestering carbon.
Whether joining a club or just talking plants with neighbors, Kizer said, “It’s a wonderful way to build and maintain social connections.”
For more information about the White Hall Herb and Flower Garden Club, call Brenda Doucey at (870) 692-0101.
The White Hall Herb and Flower Garden Club was started in 1985. Two charter members, Cathy Walker and Gwen Henry, are still active. They meet September through May on the third Monday of every month. (Special to The Commercial/White Hall Herb and Flower Garden Club)
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