Club Projects
Civic Beautification
The club’s main project is the creation and maintenance of plantings at eight sites around Old Lyme. They vary in size from individual planters to large in-ground plantings. A design team chooses the plants to coordinate the efforts throughout the town. A site leader oversees staffing and maintenance of each site. All members sign up to work at a specific site each year. Plants are chosen for spring, summer, fall & winter. Presently the sites are at: Town entrance at Exit 70, I 95N; McCurdy Road Island; Fire House (Lyme St.); Town Hall (Lyme St.); Post Office (Halls Rd.); Town Green (Lyme St. & Sill Lane); Police Station (Rte 156) and Lyme's Senior Center.
Chairperson: Suzy Bolduc
100% membership participation
Civic Flower Arrangements
Every week throughout the year, members create a display for the reception area at the Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library, incorporating plants and/or fresh or dried flowers. They are encouraged to include related items in their designs.
Chairperson: Janice Crandall
100% membership participation
Garden Therapy
Members assist residents of Bride Brook Health Center in Niantic to make seasonal flower arrangements to enjoy in their own room or share. Club funds provide plant material and mechanics; a small group of members provide assistance and encouragement for interested residents. Usually we make 5 visits per year.
Chairperson: Kathy Sheridan
10% membership participation
Holiday Wreath Making
In early December, members join together to create wreaths and pillows for public buildings, schools, thr PGN Library, The Lymes' Senior Center, The Lymes Youth Service Bureau (LYSB), and Old Lyme Day Care. Club members gather fresh greens, create the wreaths & large bows & personally deliver them to their designated locations. In addition, some of the greens are used to make "tussie mussies" to decorate trays at Bride Brook Health and Rehabilitation Center in Niantic, CT.
Chairpersons: Kathy Sheridan and Cara Zimmermann
100% membership participation
Newsletter
The newsletter is sent to all members electronically from September through June. Each issue includes: the President’s letter; Minutes of the previous meeting; Program details; Host Committee and Library Exhibit assignments; news of upcoming events; and timely information regarding Horticulture and Conservation/Environmental and Legislation issues. In past years the newsletter has won Federated Garden Clubs of CT recognition for quality in its printed format.
Chairperson: Linda Clough
Website
The website, initially launched in 2012, was recently updated and uploaded to a new platform. Details of club projects, links to local resources, and club photos can be viewed on the website. It will gradually grow as more members become familiar with it and its possibilities.
Webmaster: Leslie Groves, Karen LeBuffe
Youth Outreach
DRGC’s Youth Outreach quest to instill a love for gardening in residents of all ages in our community has been challenged by COVID mitigation efforts. Lyme-Old Lyme schools did not allow outside groups or parents to hold traditional in-school and after-school programs and our town library was closed to visitors for several months.
We turned to outdoor displays, including a Native Plants booth at our 2021 May Market. We partnered with the local Mountain Laurel Chapter of the Wild Ones, a national nonprofit organization that encourages landscaping with native plants, Pollinate Old Lyme, our town's Pollinator Pathway initiative, and offered native perennial pollinator plants for sale.
In 2018, our volunteers helped future gardeners pot up pansies at the re-opening of Cross Lane Playground. This is an on-going collaboration with Lyme-Old Lyme Junior Women’s Club. Future projects include partnering with Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School science, industrial arts teachers and students as they develop horticultural projects and activities in their newly restored greenhouse. Contact Suzanne Thompson or Karen Hedberg to arrange for outreach projects with town schools and youth clubs, or Eleanor Hufford for collaborations with Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library or Old Lyme Historical Society. Please let us know if you have more ideas or would like to spearhead a project!
Chairperson(s): vacant
Site Renovation
The McCurdy Island site suffered damage during the summer of 2021 due to an automobile incident. The Duckies met several times at the site to remove the damaged plants and plan for the future. In October, invasive grasses were removed, and we held a "Planting Party" on a Sunday so folks could dig and plant the newly ordered native and pollinator-friendly perennials. The Police Station garden is next on the agenda for additions of plant material by this coming spring.