BRETON BAY, Md. — For 55 years, the Society Hill Garden Club in Breton Bay has been making the neighborhood prettier.
The club maintains a neighborhood garden in the Breton Bay neighborhood and takes on other projects in the area. For example, the club is responsible for maintaining the cherry trees they planted that line the Breton Bay Golf Course. This year, they replaced some of those trees and hope to contribute more in the next couple of years.
Garden clubs sound old-fashioned — new Vice President Sarah Lovell agreed that the club sounded like something from the mid-century, or even the turn of the century. But the connection with neighbors is exactly what makes the garden club so appealing — and makes its members stick around.
In fact, one member, Emerita Hayward, has been part of the club for all 55 years. If you’ve enjoyed flowers or Christmas lights in the Breton Bay neighborhood, you’ve witnessed her handiwork (literally).
“There’s a cause and effect. You plant these seeds, you see a plant grow. Or you put flowers in and you see the bees and butterflies. It helps you stay grounded and forces you to be more engaged with your effect on the earth around you,” Lovell said. “It’s just nice.”
The club also helps people get together and get to know each other. It can bond them over something important without having to dedicate too much time and energy. All the club members have jobs and families and lives outside of the club, but love getting together to hone their skills and just spend time together without schedules or outside noise.
Their meetings always have a social aspect, and then they bring in a speaker to teach them something new about gardening. Lovell says that these speakers helped her learn how to add rain barrels and a compost system to her garden. They also plan fundraisers throughout the year and invite the neighborhood to participate in their projects.
The Society Hill Garden Club swore in four new officers this spring: Kitty Drury (treasurer), Sarah Lovell (vice president), Ruth Acevedo (secretary) and Julie Hartshorn (president).
Lovell says the four are committed to working together and connecting with more new members.
“Our goal is to make the neighborhood prettier and to encourage a love of gardening,” Lovell said. “It’s that simple.”
