Plant sale raises funds for scholarships, programs

The Arlington Garden Club raised funds for their scholarship and other community programs as part of their annual plant sale on May 22.

Club members donate some of the plants they have grown and sell them to community members as part of the sale.

“It’s kind of hard to imagine this is all stuff we dig up from our yards,” said member Marcia Kelley.

She said she likes that the sale is for a good cause.

“I love it, I’ve been a member for the past three years and come to it,” said Kelley. “Before that I was a non-member and I would come to it and go home full of plant sale plants."

Community members also stopped by to pick up plants during the sale.

“It’s good. I was just stopping by to pick up something for my neighbor,” said local Lisa Urban.

John Marsh, one of the co-chairs of this year’s event, said people enjoy the event because they learn about gardening.

“A lot of people have just moved to the area and they don’t know much about what grows well here. The garden club is a perfect place for them,” he said.

Last year’s plant sale was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the garden club wanted to return this year if they could do it safely.

“Every year the garden club has a plant sale and usually it’s down by the town center,” said Marsh. “Because of COVID we’ve had to do it totally differently."

This year the sale was located next the Gleneagle Golf Course clubhouse.

They also simplified a lot of the sale this year, making it more informal and a ‘pay-what-you-want’ model.

“Because of [COVID-19] we didn’t want to do anything that was too complicated,” said Marsh.

Marsh said the event went well.

“We usually end up raising a surprising amount of money, thousands of dollars, so it adds up,” he said.

He expects this year to be similar.

“They donate out of the generosity of their heart. I added up some plants and I said ‘how about $7?’ and she said ‘oh no,’ and paid $40,” said Marsh.

The Arlington Garden Club uses the funds to support Future Farmers of America programs in local high schools, promote plants and nature in Arlington with activities like maintaining the Mayor’s Garden the George Boulton memorial next to it, and finally by giving out a scholarship each year.

“We give scholarships to local kids who are interested in horticulture,” said Marsh.

The club’s plant sale is normally held a week or two before Mother’s Day. Marsh said the plans for next year are still being worked out but he expects it will return to its regular time.