Did you know that you can purchase fresh greens, centerpieces, ornaments, wreaths, and garlands, handmade by local artisans and decorated with natural elements, at the Marion Music Hall next Saturday?
For a few short hours on the morning of Saturday, December 10, the doors to the Music Hall will open between 9:00 and 11:00 for the “Early Bird” Holiday Greens Boutique.
Created by Marion gardeners, the boutique is a great place to shop for holiday home decor. Centerpieces, ornaments, garlands, wreaths, and swags fashioned from native greens, shells, berries, and pinecones make popular hostess gifts and stocking stuffers.
The Marion Garden Group, which sponsors the event, turned 60 this year. Since its founding in the mid-50s, the group comprised primarily of local gardeners has made it their mission to meet on a monthly basis from September to June. They conduct workshops, invite guest speakers, take field trips, and participate in service projects that contribute to the beautification of the village. This year, the group purchased a Best Bees bee hive that is managed by volunteer members, and the club harvested its first batch of honey this fall. “The group is increasingly cognizant of the effect of certain pesticides and invasive plant species on our habitat,” says past president, Kristy Marshall who spearheaded the project. “We hope to continue to move in ways that support nationwide efforts to grow more native materials and to reclaim pollinator corridors to support the bees and butterflies on whom we are so dependent.”
Today, over 50 active members and 25 affiliates volunteer their time to plant and water the village window boxes and decorative planters. They conduct monthly flower arranging activities for residents at Sippican Health Care Center in Marion and Tremont Health Care Center in Wareham. They decorate wreaths for village businesses and create the holiday arrangements, ornaments, and decorative gifts that will fill the Music Hall Greens Boutique on December 10.
“Membership is made up of a variety of talented people as well as people who want to learn,” says Cassy West, the club’s current president. “We have seasoned volunteers working alongside new members; we have artists, master gardeners, bee lovers, young moms and recent retirees.”
With all the work that the club accomplishes, it’s important to have a cross-section of volunteers with different skills and interests, West says, “but a key element of participation is the opportunity to build lasting friendships and contribute to the beauty and welfare of our town.”
Recent collaborations with Sippican School and the Sippican Lands Trust have yielded big rewards for local residents. Elementary school students now have a solar-powered greenhouse on the grounds of the school made possible in part by a $2,000 matched grant from the Marion Garden Group. The 8-foot by 12-foot greenhouse extends the growing season for the school’s popular Garden Club and makes it possible for teachers to integrate lessons in science with the authentic learning that comes via hands-on experience.
Partnering with the Sippican Lands Trust, the Marion Garden Group has also helped provide not only the funds but the labor to establish mass roadside plantings at Lands Trust properties, including daffodils at Brainard Marsh and at the entrance to Pierson Woods on Point Road.
The group has supported the town’s tree committee and has helped with the planting of Bicentennial Park. “We have also donated to state and national causes related to gardening,” says former president Kitsie Howard.
The Garden Group relies primarily on dues from its members and income from the sale of wreaths and arrangements at the Marion Music Hall during the holiday house tour to finance the greening of the window boxes and planters in and around the village. Donations to help fund beautification projects are always appreciated. Send inquiries to phyllis.partridge@gmail.com.