For nearly a century the Vaughn Garden Club has connected a group of women — some with family roots going back generations and some newer to the Key Peninsula — through their love of gardening.
Club members met in July for their annual picnic at the home of 92-year-old lifetime member Gail Olson Sparks, who remembered attending meetings as a youngster with her mother Elsie Bill Olson.
About a dozen women met for the first time in 1928 at the home of Dorothy Van Slyke, Sparks’ aunt. Sparks’ grandmother Agnes Buckle Bill was the first president. “Everyone was into gardening,” Sparks said. “They shared plants and flowers. My grandmother always had a beautiful garden.”
Judy Mills, who was introduced to the club by her husband’s mother and aunt, said that the club has always focused on the love of gardens. That shared focus is why it continues to thrive 96 years after its founding.
In 1963, club historian May Wellington wrote:
“This was 1928. It was in the days when the old ferry (sic) came tooting into the dock, loaded with supplies for the district and the one-way for transportation to Vaughn. The bay was teeming with little boats and booms and chicken and turkey farms abounded the area. This was when the first group of people interested in beautification of their homes and the community got together to form what was named the Vaughn Garden Club.
“They were a live-wire group, anxious to learn from the beginning about the seeds and what and how to produce and the real how of what to do about flowers and plants in general.”
The motto of the club was “To aid in protection of native trees, flowers and birds, and to encourage civic planting.” The club flower was dogwood, and the colors were green and white. They met monthly to share a meal and information about gardening — from pruning to weed control to tips about favorite flowers. In 1943, they voted to have annual dues for the first time, a whopping 25 cents.
The club members are all women, though there was a brief time when men were allowed. According to the historian’s report in 1944, “Lee Welch, Richard Froboise and Walter Johnson (husbands of members) were voted in as members of the club. At the following meeting, an amendment was made that the men be ‘honorary’ members only.”
As the club grew, they held meetings at the Glencove Hall and the Vaughn Library Hall.
The club sponsored an annual Fall Show with prizes for flowers, fruits, and vegetables. It held a Christmas show in the 1950s and ’60s, which started with wreaths and holiday arrangements and evolved into an annual bazaar. The club was affiliated with the Washington Federation of Garden Clubs for over 20 years starting in 1950. It contributed plantings to the KP Civic Center, Vaughn Cemetery, Peninsula High School, and Vaughn Elementary.
The club maintained a memorial garden at the civic center until it was removed because of concerns it blocked visibility for cars. It now cares for a small garden near the KP Historical Society and Museum.
From 1962-75, it was the Vaughn Garden and Craft Club with crafts. By 1998, the club had adopted a new motto: “Gardening is Fun.”
Club President Joy Rakes joined soon after she and her husband moved to Lake Minterwood 25 years ago. “We didn’t know anyone, and I saw an ad in the KP News by Colleen Slater, asking if anyone wanted to join,” Rakes said. “When I arrived there were eight or 10 people there and they were all related except for one. They treated me like royalty. I felt lucky to have found the group.”
“I always loved flowers. The club has been a joy,” said Vicki Swenning. “I felt isolated, and it felt so good to get together. It was never competitive gardening. Everyone is laid back and wants to share ideas and plants.”
Lisa Ray is a transplant from the Midwest. “What a treat to have all this advanced knowledge,” she said. “Everyone is so welcoming, and I especially have loved hearing all the homesteading history.”
Membership is limited to 30 so meetings can be held in members’ homes. Marcia Michaelson, who joined about 25 years ago, was on the waitlist for three years. The club now has about 25 members who have joined through connections with family or friends. The Olson family — all offspring of founding member Elsie — continues to be well represented.
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