by Mary Riffe Hiss, Milton Garden Club
Three winners were chosen in the Milton Garden Club’s first ever grant program, inwhich the 89-year old club awarded close to $1,000 for projects ranging from invasive plant control in the Blue Hills to a vegetable gardening project at the high school according to Rachel Wohanka, MGC Grant Awards Chairperson.
The winners include Elaine Lovett, the Foods Teacher at Milton High School, who was given $150 to continue her student-grown vegetable patch in the school’s “outdoor classroom” or courtyard, as part of a nutrition and farming lesson; the Friends of the Blue Hills (FOBH) was awarded $500 for two separate projects. The first is a community service weeding project that will take place June 2, in which 100 volunteers will help rid part of the recreational space of one of the area’s greatest invasive plants, garlic mustard. The grant will fund tools and trash bags. The second grant was also awarded to the FOBH for a water diversion effort to prevent trail erosion and habitat damage.
The third winner is the Cooperative Elder Services (CES) adult day health center, which won a $250 grant for a therapeutic gardening project for the elderly. ìGardening has proven to be successful with the elderly in providing low-intensity exercise, opportunities to reminisce, tactile and sensory stimulation . . . and stress reductionî wrote CES Director of Development Laura Vanderhill, LSW, in her application. It also promotes relaxation, and enhances muscle strength and endurance, she added. The grant will fund a project to use an outdoor patio space to plant herbs, vegetables and flowers this summer.
This was the first year the club has awarded grants to residents or organizations of the town, and the club hopes to continue its success next year. “We had considerable interest, and we’re very excited about the winners” said Grant Chair Rachel Wohanka. “They represent a great range of projects, and support our President Georgia Lee’s decision to broaden the range of applicants by switching from a college scholarship program – which rarely had any takers – to a community-wide one. We really love the proposed projects” said Wohanka. “It’s exciting to see the money going to things we as a club care so much about”.
The Milton Garden Club was founded in 1924 and continues a long tradition of hands-on gardening, horticulture, floral design, conservation projects, education and community service. The Club maintains four public garden areas, including the front of the Public Library, and is in the process of restoring a native wildflower garden at the Trailside Museum. The Club holds two fundraisers each year, a Greens Sale in December and a Perennial Sale in May. The proceeds from the sales support civic projects, including this newly created grant program.