Pam Dudding Contributing writer
Flowers have a tendency to lift one’s spirit as their beauty and aromas invite us into their world.
The Craig County Garden Club hosted its annual plant auction on April 24 at the Local VFW. Though COVID had prevented them from having it last year, event organizers were very pleased with the turnout this year.
The NCGC (New Castle Garden Club) started hosting auctions in their individual homes in 1986, having a Spring Auction to share the knowledge of plants to friends and neighbors.
Club President Darlene Charlton, who vividly remembers attending her first auction in 2000 which was held at Craig Botetourt, shared, “A lot of love for gardening was put into digging and splitting our plants into pots to sell this year.”
Club office members are: Vice President Haddi Miller, Treasurer Carolyn Fleming and Secretary Barbie Winstead.
As one entered the VFW, over 100 plants and aromatic flowers surrounded the entire room. People were seated with their numbers, ready to bid on their favorites.
This year, they had more perennials, but had a variety of everything. There were lilac bushes, daylilies of every color, iris’s, ground covering, yellow wood poppies, gladiolas, Thanksgiving cactus, Garden of Gethsemane, Hellebores x hybrids, large hostas, sunflowers, periwinkle and many small houseplants, just to name a few.
Said Charlton, “Every year our members have really stepped up to provide our sale with great variety and quality, so we send a big thanks to our members.”
Also, they had a new to NCGC “local” as their auctioneer, Wanda Looney.
“She helped to move more plants by giving out bonuses with your winning bid, which is always fun to get,” Charlton added. “We want to thank her for her hard work and participation in making our Auction a success.”
Charlton noted, “Several special garden species like hostas went up to $20 and other plants and trees even more.”
The Club sends many thanks to the community who attended and supporting this year’s auction.
Also, a special thank-you goes to the many who donated handmade items, including handmade trivets, grapevine chair and birdhouses and beautifully decorated gourds.
“This is our major fundraiser,” Charlton explained. “We use the money strictly for community projects such as providing meals for two local families at Thanksgiving and two families at Christmas, donating to the Field for Dreams, paying for a student to go to 4-H Camp each year, donating to the Historical Society and maintaining the grounds at the Log Cabin Gardens and Post Office, among other things.”
This year, the Club also chose some of their donated items to be door prizes. Numbers were drawn every 15 minutes which added to the excitement of the evening.
The NCGC meets the first Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. at the Craig Valley Baptist Church Fellowship Hall, however, their next meeting will be their “Officers Installation” at the Old Brick Hotel at 6 p.m. on May 6. To join, connect on Messenger with Anita Martindell or feel free to attend a meeting.
