PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The Presque Isle Garden Club met recently at the Aroostook House of Comfort to dedicate a wind sculpture they purchased for the grounds.
The sculpture stands on the path to the gazebo, where members celebrated the garden club’s final meeting with a traditional summer tea.
Martha LaPointe, treasurer, created a floral design for the table, while refreshments included cucumber sandwiches, cream cheese and chive blossom sandwiches, lemon cake with strawberries, fruit and other summer sweets.
“After 83 years, the club decided to disband,” said club member Roberta Griffiths. “We voted to spend our treasury on the wind sculpture.”
Rick Duncan, AHOC board chairman, expressed gratitude for the metal artwork, which will beautify the grounds and be enjoyed by guests and visitors.
The PIGC was organized in 1935 and became a member of the Garden Club Federation of Maine and the National Council of Federated Garden Clubs in 1950. The club was involved in national and state issues.
“Our club worked very hard to defeat the building of the Dickey-Lincoln Dam. We supported the bottle bill, and fought for the removal of billboards that dotted the main highways,” Griffiths said.
“Local activity found us involved with replacing the elm trees that were dying in our city. We entered into an agreement with the city which allowed homeowners to pay half of the cost of the tree and the city paying the other half,” she said.
“Lyle Littlefield, professor of horticulture at the University of Maine, recommended Norway maples and the hybrid Crimson King.”
The club established Downing Park in 1988 and designed, planted and oversaw the green space. Once the site of an abandoned railroad siding, the two-acre park was transformed into a pedestrian sanctuary along the bike path. Civic organizations, businesses and the Downing family funded the park.
Members also established a scholarship at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, which is awarded every year by the university foundation to help further the study of a student in horticulture, forestry, conservation, biology and environmental studies.
“One of the aims of the federation is to make its members as good gardeners as they can be, using methods and products that have the least impact on the environment,” Griffiths said.
She added that the club made Christmas wreaths every year for public buildings and maintained gardens around the city, especially at the Mark and Emily Turner Memorial Library. The group also held standard flower shows, with contestants competing seriously for the “Best in Show” ribbon.
“After the meeting in the gazebo, the members decided that we would meet just for fun for a potluck supper in the fall and talk about our successes and failures in our gardens,” Griffiths noted. “Old gardeners never die. They just keep on digging and digging and digging.”
