Community Activists Off Radar

Three weeks ago, I got a phone call from a neighbor, about 7 historic buildings away, inviting me to the board meeting of their garden club.  "It's not federated.", one of the first things she described about it, "We just like to have fun."  Amazingly, I've never belonged to a garden club, merely spoken to them across USA for decades.
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Past president of American Hydrangea Society, or on the board of Georgia Perennial Plant Association, do not count, in the least, as garden clubs.
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Moving rural, I knew I would finally join a garden club.  Garden clubs weave the tapestry of subdivisions.  More than social, they are community activists.  Common grounds are arranged to be maintained, money is raised, donations given, college scholarships awarded.  Relationship with local police is proactive, zoning issues kept current, neighborhood illnesses/deaths/births/crime are spoken of, and at least one yearly entire neighborhood social given, keeping their community property values as high as possible, along with several speakers thru the year on pertinent topics, followed with lunch.
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Why join, at this late date?  Have paid it forward, and will continue to do so, in a different realm, it's time, finally, for the Garden Club realm.  A client invited me to her federated Garden Club several weeks ago, quite a group of activists, heavily into all of the, above, and fighting the state department of transportation.  I'll join their federated group.
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Yesterday, at a job site, finally checking messages, the best text ever.  "Straining
watermelons for martinis tomorrow.  See you then."  What's not to like about this non-federated Garden Club ?
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Pic, above, here.
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Didn't know all this about garden clubs?  Amazing, how low they have stayed under the radar of notice for at least a century.  Fine with them.  Few belong to garden clubs anymore, yet those who do, are happy to shoulder the weight of  'community', as their pro-bono, no worries the rest of their neighbors don't-get-it nor shoulder any of the macro community burdens,  All normal facts making up community.
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Garden & Be Well,  XO T
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Please don't confuse Garden Clubs with Home Owner's Associations.  Garden Clubs are stewardship from the heart, not a law book.