New Officers for 2023-2024
President Lilly Fusaro passing the gavel to President elect, Nancy Sloan
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President: Loretta Smith Worsham
Vice-president: Suzanne Dull Treasurer: Cheryl Fashandi Recording Secretary: Debbie Trumble Corresponding Secretary: Debby Malandra Directors: Cindy Herbeck, Candace Hill, Deb Palatto, Mary Tyke |
Fran Dice, Cheryl Fashandi, Loretta Worsham, Debby Malandra, Lilly Fusaro, Nancy Sloan and Mary Lear, Heather Pletcher, and Cindy Herbeck.
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A Brief History of the Garden Club of Oakmont
The Garden Club of Oakmont began its own mission in 1987, with the merger of two well-established garden clubs. The Oakmont Garden Club had been started in 1927 by a core of active women. Because the by-laws of the Oakmont Garden Club limited its membership to 50 women, there was no longer room for additional members. As a result, Dark Hollow Woods Garden Club was formed in 1954. In later years, there were discussions on several different occasions about the possibility of merging clubs and in 1987 the two clubs agreed to a merger and legally formed the Garden Club of Oakmont.
In 1989, the year of Oakmont's Centennial, the club prepared a special gift to the community - a plan for revival of the corridor from Hulton Bridge to College Avenue. The proposed project involved entirely rebuilding and landscaping the corridor and included improving the signage, removing one railroad track, cutting and moving curbs, the addition of decorative street lights, and the coordination of future plans with Penn Dot. The project was finished in a few years and completely changed the look of the business corridor in Oakmont. The results were beautiful.
Many grants and fundraisers covered the cost of this enormous project, which was totally supervised and overseen by garden club volunteers. Much thought and work was put into this project by the entire membership of the club. This project was later separated from the Garden Club of Oakmont and became The Oakmont Boulevard Project. The Garden Club continues to beautify the Oakmont business district by planting and caring for the tree wells and urns along Allegheny River Boulevard and decorating the train station and clock tower with lovely hanging baskets and hay baskets.
Dark Hollow Woods has been a major project of the club. Members had at one time been responsible for maintaining much of the large wooded area involving the schools and scouts to assist with and learn about this little gem of Oakmont.
In 2019 the borough’s Recreation Committee voted to allow dogs off leash and bicycles in Dark Hollow Woods. They also agreed to take responsibility for maintenance of the woods and trails. The Garden Club changed its focus to beautification of Dark Hollow Woods on a volunteer basis. The commitment to beautification was extended to cover all the parks in Oakmont. The committee was renamed “The “Parks Committee”.
Gardening with Seniors has been one of the greatest strengths and contributions of the Garden Club of Oakmont. It is a bi-weekly program in the spring and fall that brings therapeutic and fun gardening and flower arranging projects to the residents of Presbyterian Senior Care, many of whom were garden club members themselves. In 2015 the program was expanded to include The Oakmont Center for Nursing and Rehab where members also help with planning and maintenance of the outdoor gardens.
The Garden Club of Oakmont is responsible for weekly floral arrangements and Christmas decorations at the Oakmont Carnegie Library, hosts a spectacular annual holiday luncheon fundraiser and a huge spring plant sale, and provides a scholarship for local students. It continues to be a very strong, hard-working organization. The Borough of Oakmont has benefited greatly from the efforts of the club. And in the course of all this work, the women involved in the club have discovered the joy of making some very dear friends.
Copyright © 2012 - 2024 Garden Club of Oakmont
In 1989, the year of Oakmont's Centennial, the club prepared a special gift to the community - a plan for revival of the corridor from Hulton Bridge to College Avenue. The proposed project involved entirely rebuilding and landscaping the corridor and included improving the signage, removing one railroad track, cutting and moving curbs, the addition of decorative street lights, and the coordination of future plans with Penn Dot. The project was finished in a few years and completely changed the look of the business corridor in Oakmont. The results were beautiful.
Many grants and fundraisers covered the cost of this enormous project, which was totally supervised and overseen by garden club volunteers. Much thought and work was put into this project by the entire membership of the club. This project was later separated from the Garden Club of Oakmont and became The Oakmont Boulevard Project. The Garden Club continues to beautify the Oakmont business district by planting and caring for the tree wells and urns along Allegheny River Boulevard and decorating the train station and clock tower with lovely hanging baskets and hay baskets.
Dark Hollow Woods has been a major project of the club. Members had at one time been responsible for maintaining much of the large wooded area involving the schools and scouts to assist with and learn about this little gem of Oakmont.
In 2019 the borough’s Recreation Committee voted to allow dogs off leash and bicycles in Dark Hollow Woods. They also agreed to take responsibility for maintenance of the woods and trails. The Garden Club changed its focus to beautification of Dark Hollow Woods on a volunteer basis. The commitment to beautification was extended to cover all the parks in Oakmont. The committee was renamed “The “Parks Committee”.
Gardening with Seniors has been one of the greatest strengths and contributions of the Garden Club of Oakmont. It is a bi-weekly program in the spring and fall that brings therapeutic and fun gardening and flower arranging projects to the residents of Presbyterian Senior Care, many of whom were garden club members themselves. In 2015 the program was expanded to include The Oakmont Center for Nursing and Rehab where members also help with planning and maintenance of the outdoor gardens.
The Garden Club of Oakmont is responsible for weekly floral arrangements and Christmas decorations at the Oakmont Carnegie Library, hosts a spectacular annual holiday luncheon fundraiser and a huge spring plant sale, and provides a scholarship for local students. It continues to be a very strong, hard-working organization. The Borough of Oakmont has benefited greatly from the efforts of the club. And in the course of all this work, the women involved in the club have discovered the joy of making some very dear friends.
Copyright © 2012 - 2024 Garden Club of Oakmont
