Garden Club prepares for Pear Tree Boutique
By Angela Greiner Contributing Writer
Marlborough - The cafeteria tables of Jaworek Elementary School were covered with various evergreen clippings and magnolia leaves Nov. 14 during the monthly Marlborough Colonial Garden Club meeting.

Garden club members (l to r) Priscilla Dalamangas, Maureen Gibbons, Debbie Barter prepare holiday baskets for the Pear Tree Boutique to be held Dec. 1 at the Marlborough Intermediate School. ANGELA GREINER

The fresh greens were one of the key ingredients used by Garden Club members to construct a Williamsburg Fruit Plaque.

The club, with about 50 members, is currently busy preparing for the 29th annual Pear Tree Boutique. The boutique is the club's oldest and most prestigious fundraiser. Money raised from the boutique funds an annual scholarship and several beautification projects.

The Pear Tree Boutique will be held Saturday Dec. 1 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Marlborough Intermediate School and is open to the public. The event will showcase handcrafted holiday creations including arrangements, wreaths, kissing balls, ornaments, gift baskets, mailbox swags and Williamsburg pieces, all created by garden club members. The boutique will also feature baked goods and holiday treats as well as lunch and raffles.

"The members are very creative," club member Mary Lou Vanzini said. "People wait in line for hours and we sell out very quickly."

The November activity, which drew 45 Garden Club members, was a Make-and- Take Craft taught by Tina Bimus. For the fee of $15, the members were provided with all of the elements to make a fruit plaque and instructed in the process. The plaque can be used as a centerpiece or hung as a decoration.

The women - some new members, and others who have been coming for years - chatted about families and jobs as they stapled sprigs of dried flowers, berries, cones, and apples around the evergreens which were layered on a board.

Vanzini explained that "Williamsburg" is a popular theme for holiday decorating. She said the decorating seminars teach club members who are responsible for beautification projects in town, as well as the decorating of the Wayside Inn, various styles to do so. Through a partnership with the city of Marlborough, the club maintains several gardens through out the city, including at entrance signs, the Women's Veteran Park and the Circle Garden.

Gardening has become trendy over the years because it is deemed a healthy activity, club member Priscilla Dalamangas said. Dalamangas, who has been an active member in the Garden Club for several years, said that the membership is increasing.

"The club is always accepting new members as long as you are willing to get your hands dirty," Dalamangas said.

The club, which meets on the second Wednesday of every month, sponsors regular guest presenters and activities.

Through the spring summer and fall, members often share their personal gardens by exchanging perennial clippings.

"All of us share perennials," Dalamangas said. "The flowers I like most in my garden are the one I have gotten from friends. The flowers when they come up each year are like friends. I have friends who have passed away and I will see their mums or their sweet woodruff and I think of them."