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Amateur Garden Club
The Amateur Garden Club is the oldest garden club on the Peninsula, organized
on March 12, 1926 with nine charter members. The group held their
first flower show in a small room adjoining the Sweeney Store
at the head of the bay.
The group competed and consistantly won
prizes in local contests (e.g. the Community Fair and the Home
Beautification Contest for Pierce County). The group did more
than just garden. They financed the planing of a lawn in front
of the Union High School and made donations toward school pianos
and the town band stand. They made quilts and sheets for the
town's emergency center. During WW II they sewed garmets for
the Red Cross.
By 1938, the membership had increased and
the group was too large to meet in private homes. The club began
to formulate a plan to create a building of their own. The new
clubhouse was built using the vertical log construction method
invented by local sawmill owner C.O. Austin. The club held their
first meeting in their new home August 23, 1938.
In 1946 the club joined the State Federation of Garden Clubs.
In the 1950s they participated in local parades with floral floats,
and staged flower shows with other clubs.
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Club Motto:
 A kiss of the sun for
pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth:
One is nearer God's heart in the garden
Than anywhere else on earth.
Amateur Garden Club sign
Amateur Garden Club Tablecloth
with Amateur Garden Club members signatures
~Gift of Beulah Snyder
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