Haddonfield
Garden
Club

As the Haddonfield Garden Club (HGC) prepares for our 2022-23 year, it is hard not to reflect on our last official meeting, 2½ years ago, on March 10, 2020. We were preparing for our Annual Herb Sale fundraiser, slated for May 2020. We were busy and excited making plans, setting dates, passing around sign-up sheets (so many sign-up sheets!). We had no inkling that our event was not going to happen in May 2020, nor in May 2021 for that matter. We could not have foreseen the imminent chaos and upheaval that COVID-19 was about to inflict on us…on the world. Everything changed, seemingly, overnight. Careers, friends, family, holidays, school, shopping – everything was altered.However, there were places that did not change, where we could find refuge, peace and quiet to think through the “crazy” we were enduring. Those places were outside, in our yards, gardens, and parks. As we viewed the outdoors, we had to ask… Why are the plants not disrupted? Not stress-out? Not disturbed? Can plants guide us to normalcy?Reflecting on these questions, we learned that…Plants don’t set limits for themselves…Plants allow their struggles to make them stronger…Plants are adaptable…Plants add value to our lives…Plants grow and move at their own pace…Plants turn towards the sun. Realizing this, then maybe we could learn from the trees, shrubs, flowers, weeds. Maybe plants could help us navigate through the difficulty. Navigate we did! During the 18 months of shut-down followed by a year of transitioning back to a new normal, our Garden Club members stayed the course. We socially distanced outdoors to discuss gardening topics, share ideas and exchange recipes. We continued to organize and maintain the King’s Highway planters. Haddonfield Garden Club’s Blue Star Memorial project came to fruition. The herb garden at the Historical Society stayed weeded and tended. Senior citizens continued to meet at the Mabel Kay House and partake in garden therapy. Garden club members applied for a street tree grant and won. Garden club members opened up their garages and held Girl Scout meetings to promote youth education. The Club continued to grant scholarships at Haddonfield Memorial High School in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Club members and friends ventured to Cape May to visit a wildlife sanctuary, tour a working farm and sip some vino at a local winery. The world was shut down but Haddonfield Garden Club thrived! Upon reflection, we see that we do not limit ourselves, our struggles make us stronger, we are adaptable, we value doing what we love, we work at our own steady pace, always facing the light, our sun. We are eager to get back to our “tried and true” activities, rethink and incorporate some changes, build on our 100+ year tradition of learning, living, and loving our environment and community. Most of all, we are excited to reconnect with old friends, meet new ones, and of course, continue to listen and to be guided by our much loved, very wise friends…Plants!