Milledgeville Garden Club members did some negotiating with their local Lowes, arranged for deep discounts and planted the courtyard planters at the Georgia War Veterans Home on the campus of the State Hospital in Milledgeville. We commend their club for their efforts! The veterans, their families, and staff were thrilled and so very grateful.

Butterfly Garden in Demere Park, Glynn County

Demere Park had been neglected for many years. When Glynn County decided to update the park in 2008, the Live Oaks Garden Club asked that an area be set aside for a butterfly garden. Live Oaks made a commitment to the county to design, install and maintain the garden. After a year of planning and hard work the garden was officially opened in June of 2009. In 2010 it was designated a Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation.

Landscape Designer Roger Steffens designed the garden that is butterfly shaped. The garden is entered through a custom designed arbor. The crushed brick pathway winds through the garden past the butterfly bath to a restored bench that was discovered in the park during construction. Large topiary bottle brush trees separate the garden from a children's play area. Inside the garden nectar and larval plants are lushly planted. Some days there are literally hundreds of butterflies in the garden.

The club initially committed $3,000 to the project. Friends of Demere Park contributed another $2,100. Donations were received from local merchants and civic groups. The total cost for design and construction was $4,000. Each year Live Oaks estimates the cost of maintenance and allocates from their budget the needed amount. That amount was approximately $1,500 for 2010.

The club holds quarterly clean-up days in the garden which are always well attended. Live Oaks has "officially" adopted Demere Park which means that they are responsible for quarterly clean-up of the entire park area which includes a large ball field, a children's play area, a small skate pad and a wooded area.

Live Oaks has already received a number of awards for their garden. They are very excited about the impact the garden has had on the community. Many people have complimented the club on the garden and have changed their daily walk and running routes to include the garden. This is a very satisfying project for the club.

	Chapel dedication ceremony

New Chapel at Cancer Home Provides Peace

By Erika Anderson, Staff Writer, Georgia Bulletin
Published November 6, 2003

Top: Susan Sperduto, then President of Club Estates GC, operating the tiller to prepare the beds for planting. Bottom: Club members preparing and planting the beds.

ATLANTA—There is a quiet haven located at the corner of Pollard Boulevard and Little Street. Thanks to the dedicated service of the Club Estates Garden Club of Brookhaven, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cancer Home now has an outdoor Meditation Chapel.

The simple, timber frame structure, which houses the home's enormous bronze and oak crucifix, was dedicated on October 28, 2003 by Archbishop John F. Donoghue.

The Club Estates Garden Club of Brookhaven has been supporting OLPH Home since 1946. The group has raised money for and installed many landscape projects designed to enhance the natural beauty of the home's grounds and to bring joy to the patients, their families and to the home's sisters and staff.

Funding for the project was done over three years, with the Club Estates group holding annual luncheons and auctions that brought $25,000 for the chapel project. The OLPH Auxiliary donated an additional $30,000.

Following the completion of this ambitious project, the Club Estates Garden Club of Brookhaven received first place in Georgia and at the National Garden Club convention in 2004 for "Gardening for the Disabled."

This hardworking group of volunteers prepared the garden for plants. Left to right: Ralph Newman, Leonard Wilensky, Jackie Newman, Ron Weber, Fran Weber, Harriet Campbell, Frankie Wilensky, Sandra Durand

Augusta's Spade and Trowel Collaborates with Woodrow Wilson Historic House Museum

The Spade and Trowel Garden Club of Augusta was asked to participate in a gardening project at the Woodrow Wilson Historic House Museum. Because Historic Augusta, Inc. is currently in the process of restoring the grounds and gardens using plant material typical of the Civil War and Reconstruction Periods, S&T members volunteered to restore the garden in Zone 3. Two Community On My Mind grants from the GCG have matched other donations to fund the Project. Plantings are designed for various seasons. In the Fall, club members will plant antique roses, which were President Wilson's mother's favorite at the time his family lived in this home.

	Left to right: Helen Huddleston, President, Mary Julia Coons, Ellen Wolff and Mary Tomlinson

Plantation Manor Project by Killarney Queen

Killarney Queen Garden Club, Thomasville, established a new flower bed located at the front entrance to Plantation Manor Assisted Living, in addition to the many other areas they have maintained over the years at the Alzheimer facility.

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