giving back
A VERY GARDEN APPEAL By Rena Malai
O
ne of the earliest memories for Cecelia Rhoads is watching both of her grandmothers garden. Although they had equally impressive green thumbs, she remembers her maternal grandmother, Becky, in particular constantly digging. “She grew up on a farm in southern Virginia, and she had a remarkable eye for floral design,” Cecelia Rhoads said. “She always had her hands in the soil.” It runs in the family. Cecelia is current President of the Manassas Garden Club, following in the footsteps of her Grandmother Becky and her mother Leigh Ann, who also held the presidency in the past. “We have been a part of the club’s lineage for 60 years,” says Leigh Ann Rhoads, who serves as current Vice President. Together with a team of about 25 members, the mother-daughter duo works to aesthetically enhance the community year round, through planting, design, and annual projects.
Rooted in Community
The Manassas Garden Club is a volunteer organization, founded in 1923, and it is the oldest running garden club in Prince William. The goal of the club is to beautify the city and county. Residents may have passed an outdoor potted plant at a shopping center or walked by a landscape around town put in place by the club’s hard working members.
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“We are celebrating 90 years in 2023,” says Leigh Ann. With two main fundraising projects a year — a spring plant sale and a poinsettia sale in the fall — the club uses the funds for its community beautification projects. Most recently, this included designing and maintaining a garden on the grounds of the Manassas Museum and planting trees throughout Manassas and the county. These kinds of community beautification efforts can take other forms besides gardening, like improving accessibility. The club worked on this within Nelson Park and installed a handicap accessible walkway for park goers to use. “This was a great project that we worked very closely with the City of Manassas on,” Cecelia said. Another interesting aspect of the Manassas Garden Club is its devotion to floral design throughout the entirety of the club’s 90 year existence. It involves an emphasis on members learning the ins and outs of arranging flowers as well as participating in flower shows to showcase creative floral designs for both judging and general admiring. Although floral design is something some folks may be apprehensive to try, Leigh Ann says it’s something most embrace wholeheartedly after learning a few basics. “Many members, including myself, may not join knowing much about it so there’s some trepidation,” she said. “But everyone brings such tremendous creativity to the table.”
