• • S H O R T S H O R T S
THE New Hanover Garden Club uses funds raised
to plant good works in the community including
a Blue Star Memorial marker at the Wilmington
National Cemetery. The Blue Star is a nationwide
memorial that honors all who served in the U.S.
Armed Forces.
Other funds have gone to providing scholarships to Cape Fear
Community College gardening and landscaping design students,
and to support two junior garden clubs.
“We have also done two large garden renovations for churches
that were damaged by storms, and we will do the landscaping for
a Habitat for Humanity house, hopefully this May,” Bittler says.
The group also participated in late 2020 with Suzanne Tarry’s
Olive Tree Blessing Bags. Tarry founded the nonprofit to give gifts
to frontline hospital and health workers who have stayed on the
job throughout the pandemic.
“We dried herbs and flowers out of our gardens, took our dry
things with her oils, made sachets and packed them with other
goodies,” Bittler says. “We made 100 bags and took them to the
New Hanover hospital COVID critical care nurses.”
The entrance fee is $15 and will allow repeated visits. If COVID-
19 restrictions cause a cancellation, the club will provide refunds.
Watch the New Hanover Garden Club’s website and Facebook
page for updated information and to purchase tickets to the
workshops and exhibition.
Pairings of floral designers and art at the 2020 Art & The
Bloom included (clockwise from top left); Polly Kopka and
“Somewhere” by Elena Wright, Kathy Gresham and “Bridges”
by Peggy Vineyard, Suzanne Terry and “Child’s Play” by Livy
Hitchcock.
WBM january 2021 20