A warm autumn breeze swept through the Rodney Camp Pavilion in Medina on October 15 as the Rose Garden Club gathered to celebrate a remarkable milestone: 75 years of cultivating beauty, community, and tradition.
Guests enjoyed an array of refreshments prepared by club members, setting a festive tone for the program ahead. From heartfelt prayers of gratitude to a nostalgic journey through the club’s history, the evening highlighted the enduring impact of this beloved organization on the town of Medina.
President Leigh Thomas welcomed the group to the celebration at the Rodney Camp Pavilion in Medina on October 15. The crowd enjoyed refreshments made by garden club members before the program began. Deb Hopkins began the program with a prayer offering thanks for the gardens of Medina.
Thomas noted that she was the current president of the club and also the 42nd president of the Rose Garden Club of Medina. Each of the past presidents was presented with corsages to commemorate their time as Garden Club leaders.
Thomas related the history of Medina and documented the inflow of population which peaked in 2016. In the 1940s, the club began, and Medina was a small community of 400. She noted that Medina had grown to about 2000 people according to various sources.
In the 1940s, the Club was founded. Thomas quoted from the 1996 publication of Medina, Mecca of the Hills. On May 11, 1949, Cassie Gourley Justice organized the Rose Garden Club of Medina.
Thomas quoted a handwritten synopsis that detailed the first six years of the club’s history. It noted that the club’s official flower was the rose. The objectives of the club at that time were to “aid in the beautification of Medina and the highway approaches into town.” The 2024 objectives of the club are to “stimulate the knowledge and love of gardening, aid in the protection of native trees, plants, pollinators, and birds, and to foster civic pride.”
When the club began in 1949, it had 34 members. Today, the club has grown to 58 members.
Thomas recognized the president of the Texas Garden Clubs, Lee Taylor. President Taylor awarded the officers of the club a certificate honoring the club on their 75-year anniversary.
The past presidents of the Rose Garden Club of Medina were recognized. Thomas also recognized the Club’s current Board of Directors.
Rose Garden Club officer Elinor Vandergriff presented a detailed history of the club based on her research through the club’s documents, scrapbooks, and yearbooks. She started with the first yearbook in 1950.
After extensive review of the scrapbooks, Vandergriff determined that only 4 yearbooks were missing out of the club’s 75-year history. She reviewed the basics of the club’s priorities.
Vandergriff noted that the original yearly dues began at one dollar. Throughout the Club’s history, the dues grew from one dollar in 1949 to twenty-five dollars in 2023. Vandergriff’s humorous delivery delighted the audience.
She then detailed how the Hill Country Garden Club helped all the area local clubs work together and form connections. She noted that three of the Hill Country Garden Club presidents were members of the Rose Garden Club of Medina.
Vandergriff asked the audience to send her any pictures or articles to include in the scrapbooks.
