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www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
TTHE TEA is hosted by a
different member each holiday
season. The homes and gardens
are always lovely, of course, but
there also needs to be space in
the home and parking outside
for 100 or more guests. It’s one of
the challenges that comes with
being among the largest garden
clubs in the country; the Cape
Fear Garden Club has over 400
members as compared to the
20 or 30 members other clubs
generally have. The 2018 tea
was held at the home of P. J. and
Allan Middleton.
The club is a nonprofit organi-zation
best known for the annual
Cape Fear Garden Club Annual
Azalea Tour. Most of its events
during the year have a public
service or educational program.
But the members-only Christ-mas
Tea is purely social, a chance
to enjoy one another’s company
and get into the holiday spirit.
Which isn’t to say that no
learning takes place. Those
responsible for the baking and
decorating often teach one
another new techniques, and
attendees frequently take photos
in order to repeat at home what
they experience at the event.
Two committees are respon-sible
for creating the magic
of the annual Tea: the Flower
Arranging Committee and the
Hospitality Committee. The
Flower Arranging Committee
is chaired by Hillary McNeir.
The committee, made up of
about 40 women, is responsible
for all the decorating. Once the
venue has been secured, McNeir
and a small team of five or six
committee members meet with
the homeowners to discuss possi-bilities.
The team takes pictures
of the rooms to be decorated and
then sets out to look for ideas
and plan their designs.
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