Click Below for Information about the 2012 Flower
Show:
2012 Flower Show Adult Schedule and Cover page
A History of the Community Flower Shows
Written by Betty Perry
The Garden Club of Nyack
February, 2012
March 31, 2012 marks the 19th Annual Community Flower Show of the Garden Club of Nyack. Out of curiosity I checked back in the annual booklets to see how this began.
On March 19, 1994 a Spring Solstice Flower Show was held at the Nyack Center on South Broadway at Depew Avenue, “our Special Event for Spring 1994”. That year Ann Gray was President, Betty Bennett, Nancy Rubel, Gale Berger and Marjorie Morgan were the other officers. Isabel Wortendyke was Director and Miriam Wexler the Beautification Chair; Valerie Bartolacci was the Custodian Chair. Felicia Deyrup lectured on “Backyard Birds”; the Plant Sale and the Picnic Supper were held at Miriam’s, and the Holiday Party at Sally Seiler’s home in South Nyack. A trip to Wave Hill and one to the Pepsico Sculpture Garden rounded out the year, along with planting a new garden at the Nyack Center. Along with Miriam, Valerie. Isabel and Sally, the other members at that time who are still with us today, are Astrith Deyrup and Florence Katzenstein.
A year later the “Second Community Flower Show” was held at the Upper Nyack Elementary School, where it has remained. Trish Schroer joined the Garden Club.
March 23, 1996, the Flower Show was chaired by Trish Schroer and Charlotte Gross joined the club. Emma Leigh Goodwin was President that year.
In 1997 the Annual Community Flower Show was held in April. Miriam Wexler and Ann Gray were co-presidents.
The Fifth Annual Community Flower Show was again in April in 1998. Loretta Tito, Mae Garrison and Randi Shebitz joined Nyack’s Garden Club in 1998, and Loretta chaired the flower show for its sixth appearance in 1999.
Miriam was still co-president in 1999, and Florence was chair of Programs. There was a trip to Wildflower Island at Teatown Reservation and a visit from the River Keeper. Miriam’s poems began to appear in the booklet, and have continued since. The 7th Flower Show was March 25, 2000.
In 2000, with Miriam still President, Jean Berechid and Joyce Blossom joined the club- also Richard Kavesh, future mayor of Nyack, Sharon Quayle, Ronnie Swinkin, Cynthia Turner and Beata Wooley. The 8th annual flower show was March 24, 2001, and trips were made to Boscobel and the NY Botanical Gardens as well as Stone Crop.
It was the 2000-2001 year that first lists the Nyack Memorial Park Butterfly Habitat/Garden, with Florence and Trish as the chairs. Our wonderful butterfly garden is 10 years old in 2010.
—If anyone has a copy of the booklet for 2001-2002, I would like to add it to our collection. I haven’t been able to locate a copy for the “archives” thus far —
The 2002–2003 booklet and the 2003-2004 booklet have the same wonderful photo of the butterfly garden as its cover. From that point on the booklets have featured a photo cover and many photos inside. In the 2002-2003 booklet Joanne Scarmato appears as the Flower Show chair. She remembers joining in the fall of 2000, and would be in the missing booklet. A year later Joanne was not only a member, but President and also Flower Show chair. Other new members were Janice Kurzweil, Joy Macy, Elaine O’Rourke, and Lorna Kirven-Smith.
The 2004-2005 booklet is more than double the size of any previous issue, bearing the stamp of new member Margot Lee. Joanne continued as Pres., and other new members were Bev Hargen and Mary Ellen McDermott. Beata Woolley was Flower Show Chair. And it was in the summer of 2004 that yours truly (Betty Perry) retired as a school librarian and joined the club.
In 2005-2006 Loretta Tito became Vice Pres. to Joanne as Pres. Mary Ellen and Betty P. took over as Chairs of the Flower Show and Betty as Historian. Margot managed the Community Garden in downtown Nyack. Kay Farian, Frieda and Regina Haring, Betty Isaacson and Dottie Kilroy became part of the club, as did Barbara Mark, Naomi Park, Andrea and Sylvia Smith, Anya Taylor and Sharon Wong.
2006-2007 looked just about the same as the previous year, with the addition of members Liza Altman, Bev Colgan, Dottie Dessau, Arlene Falk, Celia Juris, Ann Montana, Sheila Schneider and Adele Yeiser.
2007-2008 featured Joanne and Loretta as co-presidents, as they have pretty much remained to this day, Betty P. and Anya as Flower Show co-chairs, since joined by Bev Colgan and sometimes others, with shows continuing in late March or early April. Active new members: Ann Ellis, Mary Johnson, Padma Patel, Marie Thorpe, Helga Van Wagner.
Three years later our new 2010-2011 booklet is being designed. After 6 years of creating it, Margot is handing that job over to Mary Johnson, ‘though she has already made her distinctive flyers for Flower Show in April.
This little synopsis covers the 17 years the Garden Club has featured a Community Flower Show.
Here are a list of plants that CANNOT be used in arrangements entered into the show:
Species Common Name
Arisaema dracontium Green Dragon
Asclepias tuberosa Butterfly-weed, Orange Milkweed
Campanula rotundifolia Harebell, Bluebell of Scotland
Celastrus scandens American bittersweet
Chimaphila umbellata Spotted Wintergreen
C. maculata Pipsissewa
Cornus florida Flowering dogwood
Drosera rotundifolia Sundew
Epigaea repens Trailing Arbutus, Mayflower
Euonymus americanum Strawberry bush,
E. obovata Bursting heart, Running St Bush
Ferns, all native except Hay Scented, Sensitive, and Bracken.
Including: Maidenhair, Spleenwort, Lady, Ostrich, Christmas,
Cinnamon, Interrupted, Royal, Rock, Common Polypody
Gentiana all native species Gentians
Ilex all native species e.g. Inkberry, American holly
I. glabra; I.opaca; I. verticillata Winterberry, Black Alder
Kalmia all native species Laurel
Lilium all native species Canada, Wood Turk’s Cap
Lobelia cardinalis Cardinal Flower
Lycopodium complanatum
L. stichense Clubmosses, Princess Pine
Malus glaucesens Am. Crabapple
Mertensia virginica Virginia Bluebell
Myrica Pennsylvania Bayberry
Opuntia humifusa Eastern pricklypear cactus
Orchidaceae Ladyslippers,
(all native species) Rattlesnake Plaintain, Twayblades,
Ladies-tresses, Pogonias,
Orontium aquaticum Golden-club
Panax quinquefolius Ginseng, Sang
Rhododendron arborescens Rhodora,Rosebay,Pinkster azalea, Great Laurel (Rosebay)
R. canadense Swamp azalea, Clammy azalea
Sabatia all native species Marsh pink, Swamp pink
Sanguinaria Canadensis Blood-root
Sarasenia purpurea Pitcher-plant
Silene caroliniana Marsh pink, Wild pink
Trillium all native species Trillium
Viola pedata Bird’s foot violet
