Horticultural Society 102 years young
Betty Moore
blink of an eye for the devoted garden- ers in St. James. For the past century, members of the club have been making St. James beautiful, as well as work- ing to improve vegetable production in Manitoba and passing on their knowl- edge by doing and showing and, for a while, recording and reporting, to the University of Manitoba. It all started back in 1914 on the brink
O
of the Great War which was declared on Aug. 5. Just five weeks later, on Sept. 13, the St. James Horticultural Society was formed. The club received official recognition with a certificate of organization from the Minister of Agriculture and Immigration, Albert Prefontaine, in November of that same year. It was only the eighth such certifi- cate that was issued. The first meeting of the club was
held in the auditorium of the brand new Linwood School. Their annual exhibition was also held there for many years until they moved to the new civic centre in 1967. The exhibition stayed put until eight years ago when they moved to the New Heritage Commu- nity Centre. The club was a force to be reckoned
with over the years, supported by the city’s leading citizens including George and Muriel Richardson, who served as honorary patrons for many years until eventually replaced by Kathleen. The original garden plot was on
Vernon Street where the Patersons used to have their garden centre and near the old house that is now occu-
localgardener.net deadheading gardens on Silver Ave.
ne hundred years is a long time for any organization to exist, but the years sped by in the
the community
pied by Sandy Venton, vice president of the North American Lily Society. In 1929, the club was again recognized by the province and, in the 1940s after the Second World War, they moved their garden plot to the location on Silver Avenue, near the airport. They still garden there under an arrange- ment that costs the club $500 a year for the use of the two to three acres set aside for them. Over the years, the St. James Horti-
culture society has filled many roles, an important one in conjunction with the University of Manitoba when 30 gardeners from the club were asked to assist with testing vegetable seeds. This wasn’t as simple as it sounds – the reporting had to be meticulous and there was a lot of it, including weath- er observations and detailed notes on how the seeds and plants were doing. Muriel Sheridan, a life member since
1984 (there is a long list of lifetime members, too numerous to mention), has been trying to keep records of some of the names and events over the years. She notes that for many years, the mayor of St. James and later the councillors were honorary presidents of the club. It always had an active junior
gardeners program and even today, although the formal junior gardeners number only two, many of the families bring their children with them to the garden plot. Now, just over 102 years later, the
club is still thriving, meeting the third Tuesday of every month, still in the auditorium at Linwood School. There are 130 members who live all over the city, loath to give up the club even though they may have moved from St. James. The club has also been holding an
annual flower show for more than 50 years. Congratulations to all the fine
gardeners who are members of this horticultural society. x
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Located on the 49th parallel on Highway 10, just south of Boissevain, Manitoba and just north of Dunseith, North Dakota. Fall 2016 • 49
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