OXFORD – The Oxford Garden Club (OGC) celebrated its 50th anniversary on Friday, June 19, at the home of member Anne Jackson. Women from the Oxford Club as well as past presidents, honored guests, member guests from the four surrounding Garden Clubs of Chenango County plus the Garden Clubs of Sidney and Butternut Valley came to celebrate the Oxford Garden Club’s golden anniversary.
The Oxford Garden Club members all contributed to the preparations that included tending the gardens for viewing, a fantastic array of special cookies and cakes, and in every room, fantastic floral arrangements in stunning displays. The breathtakingly lovely setting was perfect for this gala honoring the club that has enriched the visual landscape for the enjoyment of the community for so many years!
The original charter members of the OGC in 1959 were Mae Andrews, Ruth Ardron, Grace Beach, Ruth Beaumont, Letra Cady, Marian Friar, Irene Landers, Pauline Moffatt, Mae Phoenix, Dorothy Roberts, Doris Seeley, Vinnie Foule, Blanche Thorpe, Marian Vigus and Jane Walker. Only one of the original charter members has remained a club member and she was the guest of honor.
The special guest of honor was Doris (Johnson) Seeley, 88, who has been a member since 1959. She helped to establish the goal for the club which was to stimulate the creation of private gardens and to work towards the beautification of homes and community. Doris, well known for her poetry, wrote a special poem titled, “50 Years and Growing” that was printed for all the Oxford Garden Club members. Doris, who had an antique store in Oxford for 40 years, has always had a thirst for knowledge and learned everything about the business. The eldest of 7 children, she started gardening at the age of four on the Johnson farm and never stopped. She fondly remembers when the Garden Club would have little flower shows in empty stores in Oxford. Doris has enjoyed trading perennial plant roots and tubers with other garden club members and garden walks at their home meetings, and still attends when she can.
