The fifth time was finally the charm for The Garden Club of Newtown.

Members of the longstanding club welcomed multiple guests and celebrated more than three score years of gardening service to Newtown last week after four previous COVID-19-related delays pushed the club’s 65th anniversary celebration into its 66th season.

Club President Peg Jepsen and the Anniversary Gala hosted 91 guests at Rock Ridge Country Club on September 21. Dozens filled the ballroom of the Sugar Street venue, with many taking up the invitation to wear their most spectacular hats.

Anniversary Committee member and former club president Peggy Townsend was indecisive about her chapeau choice for Tuesday.

“I just couldn’t decide,” she said as lunch was being cleared. Wearing a black fascinator as she continued to move the program along, she indicated an equally adorable brimless hat, this one fuchsia, attached to her clipboard.

“I’m going to wear this one,” she said of the second headpiece, “when I announce the raffle and silent auction winners.”

For the nearly 100 people, the afternoon was a long-awaited opportunity do have some fun, celebrated a very successful club, and catch up with each other after what has been for many a very long break.

Guests were seated at tables named for herbs, including dill, garlic, marjoram, fennel and thyme. Each table featured a detailed centerpiece reflecting garden themes.

Before First Selectman Dan Rosenthal presented a proclamation, he acknowledged that the club does “a lot more for Newtown than tend gardens.” He told those in attendance that he recognized many people in the room not only as members of the garden club, “but also as people who serve and contribute to Newtown in myriad ways.

“If we ever lose the spirit of volunteerism that is so strong in this town,” he said, “we will lose a lot of what makes Newtown very magical.”

Rosenthal’s proclamation noted in part that the club has in fact reached its 66th anniversary year, and maintains membership in The Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut and The National Garden Club.

It also highlighted many of the ongoing club projects, including its work in The Victory Garden, and donations of produce from those efforts to FAITH Food Pantry and Nunnawauk Meadows; a Blue Star Memorial Garden at the VFW Post; and donations made by the club to “various nonprofit organizations in the community.”

The proclamation additional celebrated the club’s “66 years of dedicated commitment to the beautification of Newtown.”

A Special Surprise

Former club president and longtime member Deb Osborne was also surprised on Tuesday, when she was presented with a Lifetime Membership by Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut (FGCCT) Vice President Karin Pyskaty.

Calling Osborne “the epitome of cooperation,” Pyskaty read from a nomination letter that had been submitted by The Garden Club of Newtown to FGCCT. She purposely did not announce Osborne’s name until nearly the end of her announcement, and then invited the honoree to join her in front of the room.

“Deb is a friend to all, she never seeks accolades, she never tires, and she never gives up,” Pyskaty said, as Osborne joined her and many in the room stood to applaud the announcement.

A visibly surprised Osborne had tears in her eyes as she listened to the remainder of Pyskat’s presentation.

“She possesses a quiet confidence, which makes her a valued member of our organization,” Pyskaty read, before adding her own congratulations to the newest Life Member of The Federated Garden Club of Connecticut.

Pyskaty also presented a certificate to Jepsen, from The National Garden Club, that recognized The Garden Club of Newtown’s anniversary.

Master Gardener Sydney Eddison, a celebrated author and resident of Newtown who often participates in Garden Club holiday events and other special programs, was also celebrated on Tuesday.

‘The New Heirloom Garden’

Ellen Ecker Ogden also waited with the garden club for September 21 to arrive. Scheduled as the featured speaker back when the club had originally planned to celebrate its anniversary in March 2020, Ecker Ogden stayed with the club through all of its postponements, joining everyone else last week and presenting her long-awaited “The New Heirloom Garden: Designed for Cooks Who Love to Garden.”

Ecker Ogden laughed through some audio challenges with the county club’s wireless microphone, moving around the room until she found a location where she could stand and speak without the benefit of a mic. She shared some of her professional background, the definition of an heirloom garden, and encouraged those present to remember “garden fatigue” — “what many of us are feeling right now,” she explained — when winter is midseason in a few months.

“If nothing else, make a few notes about today and remember how good all of this feels,” she said.

Following Ecker Ogden’s program, the afternoon concluded with the announcement of raffle and silent auction item winners. Dozens of items lined a table in the entryway to the ballroom, all up through raffle. At least 12 more offerings were awarded through silent auction.

In addition to members of the club celebrating its anniversary, regional garden clubs were also represented on September 21. Members of Danbury Garden Club, Naugatuck Garden Club, Old Greenwich Garden Club, Redding Garden Club, Southbury Garden Club, and Town & Country Garden Club of Newtown were all in attendance.

Formed by Adrienne Green and Janet Leahy in May 1955, The Garden Club of Newtown continues to honor its mission “to inspire interest in horticulture and artistic design, to support conservation of natural resources, and to promote civic beauty.” The club usually meets the second Tuesday afternoon of the month, September through June.

For additional information contact Peggy Jepsen at peggyjepsen@frontier.com.

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Associate Editor Shannon Hicks can be reached at shannon@thebee.com.