Our 2021-2023 theme of "Focus on Community" is consistent with the CAR-SGC theme of "Let's Get Growing!" and the ongoing "Plant America" theme of NGC. Our community focus is evident in this list of PLGC projects, with exceptions for the scholarship program of DFGC and the Penny Pines project of NGC. All PLGC projects are supported by fundraising activities, donations, and grants.

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BLUE STAR MEMORIAL GARDEN (Since 2016) -- A "Focus on Community" Project

On June 8, 2021, Plantation Lakes Garden Club dedicated a Blue Star Memorial Byway Marker and Pollinator Garden in front of the Community Center at 29787 Plantation Lakes Boulevard. Now that the memorial is in place, our focus shifts to caring for it and the surrounding garden. The Blue Star Memorial is an NGC project dating back to World War II, and there are thousands of these memorials located along highways and byways across the continental U.S., Alaska and Puerto Rico.

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COMMUNITY GARDEN (New project in 2020) -- A "Focus on Community" Project

In early summer, 2020, garden club members measured the interest of children in the community for planting flowers by providing mini-flats of begonia plants for them to plant at home. This was followed up with a small children's garden near the community swimming pool in early summer of 2021. Again encouraged by the amount of interest and participation, a new larger garden was planted on September 25, 2021, with help from neighborhood children and teens. Plants were supplied by the garden club and planting was a joint effort.

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MAY BASKET CELEBRATION (Since 2016) -- A "Focus on Community" Project

The community of Plantation Lakes dresses up on May Day, when PLGC members and participating non-members display a May Basket of fresh flowers in front of our homes. The goal of this project is to "beautify our community one front door at a time." We offer a workshop every year in April to teach non-members and new garden club members how to make a May Basket using cut flowers or potted flowers. Slowly but surely, this custom is spreading across our community with larger participation by non-members each year.

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PENNY PINES -- (Since 2016)

This is a partnership between National Garden Clubs, Inc. and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service that helps to restore trees indigenous to an area destroyed by fire, flood or other natural catastrophe. We support this project through donations of spare change at our meetings and, in exchange, we receive a certificate "in honor of" or "in memory of" someone designated by members of our club.

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PLANT AMERICA (Since 2017) -- A "Focus on Community" Project

Plant America was introduced as an NGC project in 2017, which coincided nicely with the DFGC project TREE-mendous Delaware Tree Planting at Delaware Botanic Gardens, which is located just six miles from Plantation Lakes. PLGC has been a frequent donor to this project, beginning in the first year or two of Plant America. Since then we have also planted bulbs at the community center, built a pollinator garden in front of the community center, had educational programs at some of our meetings about planting small trees, landscaping tips and tricks and house plants. The current PLANT AMERICA - PLAY OUTSIDE variant on the theme is timed perfectly for our planting of a community garden with help from neighborhood children.
 

PUBLIC EDUCATION (Since 2018) -- A "Focus on Community" Project

Garden club members have provided fliers and displayed exhibits and photos at PLGC plant sales since 2016 to educate the community about our projects. In 2018, we invited a board member from Delaware Botanic Gardens to make a presentation to residents of Plantation Lakes. That was the first in an annual lecture series for our community -- coupled with a growing array of fliers, exhibits and photos. Now we are also promoting the PLGC newsletter Growing Together through local social media and emailing it to previous and prospective members. In 2023, our public program will be "Stop the Invasion" -- a presentation by the Delaware Department of Agriculture on the dreaded spotted lanternfly.

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SCHOLARSHIP -- (Since 2017)

Plantation Lakes supports the DFGC Scholarship by purchasing a life membership to Delaware Federation of Garden Clubs as an annual award for outstanding support of our objective by a garden club member. The $50 donation for this life membership helps to fund college scholarships for students of horticulture, land planning, conservation, and other majors that are consistent with the DFGC objective. To date, honorees have been Mary Williford, Margaret Woda, Sylvia Heidbreder, Debbie Darr, Patricia Minnigh and Patti Kircher.

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WEBSITE (Since 2016) -- A "Focus on Community" Project

The award-winning website for Plantation Lakes Garden Club is the club's primary vehicle for internal and external communication. We use it for educating community residents about what we do, promoting our fundraisers and accepting payments, and providing a "members only" area for a directory of contact information for members and forms used to conduct garden club business. Information for the website is provided by PLGC committee chairs.

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YOUTH ACTIVITIES (Since 2017) -- A "Focus on Community" Project

A Smokey the Bear & Woodsy Owl poster contest was the first youth activity during our first full year as a garden club. We didn't have a chairman for this committee again until 2019 when we held a few youth-oriented activities at our plant sales. Children in the community helped the club by coloring pictures of flowers to give patients at Atlantic Shore Rehab & Health Center during the Covid-19 lockdown and participated in other small-scale projects intended to tweak their interest in nature and gardening.

This year, young gardeners are helping to maintain the community gardens that they helped to plant last year in Plantation Lakes. We are so proud of them!