Club History
On September 17, 1965, eight women who loved to garden met at the home of Mrs. Clarence Hale to discuss the formation of a new garden club in North Port Charlotte. They met again at the Community Center the following Friday with sixteen women present. Several members from the Port Charlotte Garden Club helped with the organizational details as well as the first election of officers. The Allamanda Women’s Garden Club of North Port Charlotte was born!
The first president was Mrs. Harry Dover. Annual dues were just $3.00! The yellow Allamanda was established as the club flower and color. The motto was “A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever”. (We have the first handwritten yearbook and minutes in our archives.) The word Women’s was dropped from the club name within months.
By the next meeting in November, the club had 20 members, and the local Men’s Garden Club presented a program on soil. Monthly meetings were held on the 4th Friday of the month. They often featured flower arrangements created by members and educational programs with a presenter.
By March 1966, there were 33 charter members. The club joined the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs (FFGC) the following year.
From the beginning, the club took on ambitious projects like Yard of the Month contests, Christmas decorating competitions and Flower Shows. It sponsored Anti-Litter Week and purchased trash containers to support this effort. The Allamanda Garden Club participated in community-wide rummage and bake sales. It honored deceased club members by planting memorial trees.
In 1968, the club raised $125.00 to purchase a Blue Star Memorial Marker, a cast bronze marker that honors current and past members of the armed forces. It’s currently located at Veteran’s Memorial Park on the corner of U.S. 41 and Pan American Blvd. The marker was rededicated in 1976 with a military ceremony attended by several branches of the armed services and veteran’s groups. It was subsequently turned over to the city of North Port for maintenance. We’re disappointed by its current condition and hope to resume possession of it in the near future so we can restore it and landscape the area surrounding it. Carolyn Davidson is leading that effort.
In the 70’s, the club continued to sponsor community activities and events: bazaars, card parties, hat parades, poster contests, landscaping projects at the Scout House, Arbor Day tree plantings and Anti-Litter Week – to name a few!
In the 80’s, the Allamanda Garden Club held flower arranging workshops, sponsored Spruce Up Week for Arbor Day and started a Youth Garden Club at North Port Elementary School; 32 students from third to fifth grade were members. During these years, the club began organizing popular group trips with adventures to various destinations like Spanish Point and Everglades Corkscrew Swamp.
In the 90’s, the club sponsored a Yard of the Year Contest as part of the North Port Days Celebration. In 1991 the Yard of the Week Contest was held for 7 consecutive weeks.
Allamanda Garden Club members visited residents of Quality Care Center, an assisted living facility, monthly. The club planted a garden for residents to enjoy and regularly brought in plants to share. During this time period, the club joined the City of North Port’s Adopt-A-Street program. Also, in the 90’s, the club participated in the annual holiday Poinsettia Parade for many years. Members went on a big adventure to Epcot Center in Disney World in 1990.
Like garden clubs everywhere in the 1990’s, the Allamanda Garden Club became increasingly involved in protecting the environment. It was instrumental in saving a heritage oak tree from being cut down. Members tied yellow ribbons around the tree and promoted their cause in local newspapers, gathered petition signatures, and made calls to bolster support. Their efforts paid off and the heritage oak was saved! The club was instrumental in assisting the City of North Port in receiving the Tree City USA designation for planting over 800 trees in two years.
The Allamanda Garden Club created a cookbook with member’s special recipes in 1997. By the late 1990’s, dues were increased to $8.00!
In the 2000’s, the club held its first “English Tea” to raise money for scholarships. The tea has been extremely popular and has been a sold-out event every year since it began. We credit its success to the hard work of a dedicated group of members. Special thanks go out to JoJo Lucibello, the chair of the English Tea Committee. We’ve done so well that last year we gave out two $2,500 scholarships to college students who major in horticulture-related fields. Sadly, we won’t be having our English Tea next spring (2021) because of COVID-19. We’re confident that people will be standing in line to buy tickets to the next English Tea as soon as we announce the date.
The Allamanda Garden Club is proud to support local charitable organizations that benefit the environment and the children of North Port. We make annual donations to People for Trees, Friends of the Little Spring and Backpack Angels. In addition, we donate science and gardening books to local schools.
The Allamanda Garden Club has been fortunate to have members who’ve distinguished themselves with extensive contributions to the community. One such member, Valerie Ollinger, a Florida Master Gardener and volunteer extraordinaire, has been recognized by the City for her work in educating residents about Florida Friendly Landscaping and Design, contributing to the health of our environment. In fact, we now have quite a few members who’ve gone on to distinguish themselves as Master Gardeners. We’re also fortunate to have Susie Cochran, a National Garden Club Accredited Flower Show Judge as our club’s Flower Show Chair.
The Allamanda Garden Club of North Port has come a long way. In 2018, the club became a not for profit corporation and was designated as a 501©3 charitable organization thanks to the hard work and efforts of former president Emily Panek. Recently, the club’s president, Lisa Colburn, created a website and Facebook page for the club.
The Allamanda Garden Club of North Port is now 55 years old!
Despite the fact that many organizations are on hiatus because of COVID-19, we felt certain that we wanted to meet!!! In order to do so safely, we’ve all agreed to wear masks and socially distance. Yes, wearing a mask is uncomfortable and inconvenient!! Yes, it takes some getting used to… But if it means we can get together and have fun, then it is worth it.
Our meetings are always educational. We tackle timely topics related to horticulture, birds and butterflies, as well as climate change.
This year, we’ll have several hands-on workshops – making flower arrangements, air plant wreaths and cast leaves. We’ll be learning more about bromeliads, succulents and Ikebana!
A few things we know for sure!
We’ve worked hard to get where we are today.
Our future is bright because we also know how to have fun!