The Mystic Garden Club, celebrating its 85th year, will hold its 36th annual Greens Sale the first weekend in December. The Greens Sale will be held on Friday, Dec. 5 from noon to 3 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 6 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Mystic Arts Center, 9 Water Street in Mystic.
“Many hundreds of women hours go into the preparations for this event. It is the club’s major fund-raiser for the year and draws the greatest participation among its members,” says Nancy Hevenor, publicity director. “Beginning in early September all members are encouraged to attend weekly workshops to create the dried items for the sale. These items include ornaments, wreaths, and table decorations, many of which are derived from natural materials. Members gather seeds, pinecones, berries, shells, and other natural materials to combine with ribbons and bows into truly beautiful and unique handmade items.”
All proceeds of the event, co-chaired this year by Pam McGee and Linda McArthur, are donated to local organizations. Donations are made to local schools, The Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center, FRESH (Food Resources Educations Security Health Project), Mystic Arts Center, The Mystic & Noank Library, and The Lower Mystic Cemetery.
“We also award a $2,000 scholarship each year to someone who is going into something related to nature…it doesn’t have to be horticulture but any of the natural sciences,” she said. “And, we do all of the flowers and flower boxes downtown.”
There are more than 100 members including 65 active members, 35 associate members, and two honorary members. To advertise the event, posters are hung in town and postcards are mailed to past customers. The effort intensifies immediately after Thanksgiving with members gathering fresh greens and creating hundreds of beautiful bows in preparation for the sale.
“The fresh wreaths are ordered in sizes ranging from 12 to 30 inches. Members will begin organizing, decorating, and delivering pre-sale orders on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. All of the prepared materials are brought to the Mystic Arts Center where the week after Thanksgiving is an incredible buzz of activity,” says Hevenor.
All members are encouraged to participate in creating centerpieces and ornaments the week prior to the sale. Original artwork is used in decorations. Members create the very popular boxwood trees, which are individually decorated.
“Last year over 100 trees were made and, as usual, sold out,” she said.
An enormous wreath is made to hang at the Town Hall in Groton every year. Wreaths were decorated and hung gratis on the doors of the Mystic Noank Library, the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center, the Denison Homestead, the Mystic Arts Center, and the Mystic River Historical Society.
“During the week before the sale, the walls of the Mystic Arts Center completely fill with decorated wreaths and other items. The tables are filled with centerpieces. Outdoors there are sprays to buy as well as assorted greens,” Hevenor said.
“The sale begins on Friday at noon and the room is flooded with customers. Customers can select pre-decorated items or have our designers create a custom decorated wreath for them.”
The club celebrates with a reception for the workers on Friday night, and the sale opens again at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
By Susan Cornell
Special to the Times
For more information, visit the Web site and blog of the Mystic Garden Club at www.mysticgardenclub.org. Click on the blog for the latest happenings at the Mystic Garden Club. Select the label “Greens Sale” to get only Greens Sale articles.