I wondered what our town would be like if we spent more time sharing our talents and grace with one another for the good of our community? It dawned on me, that’s precisely what the quiet, gentle and gracious members of the Laguna Beach Garden Club do each and everyday!
From building educational school gardens for the children of Laguna Beach from elementary school through middle school, to providing scholarships to many Laguna Beach High School students and Saddleback horticultural students to funding the new educational gardens at the Boy’s and Girls Club and funding trail maintenance at the Hortense Miller Garden and so much more.
These busy folks also have an ongoing commitment to care for the downtown Pocket Park on Forest Street, the Sister’s Cities Garden in Laguna’s Heisler Park and a garden at Main Beach. Their environmental efforts include partnering with the Laguna Beach County Water District to fund a water filling station downtown to help us all fill our refillable containers while enjoying our time outdoors as well as funding and working on the city’s own pollinator garden.
The 160-plus member Club goes about all these acts of grace with quiet dignity, warmth and sheer joy. They have members from ages 30 to 95, from every socio-economic level, with careers as diverse as neurologist to chief financial officer, teachers, nurses, aerospace executives and everything in between!
They fund all these projects through their major fundraiser the annual Gate & Garden Tour, which is a walking tour of several of the loveliest gardens that Laguna Beach residents have to offer. The tour has become an annual source of excitement for the town for the last 17 years. This tour makes all their Fairy Godparent work possible! They tirelessly canvas neighborhoods each year to find a grouping of homes that will make for a wonderful experience for tour guests. Susan South, one of last year’s homeowners stated, “Allowing my garden to be used was a sheer delight as we saw the joy and excitement of the guests that visited on tour day, I’m so happy that so many of my neighbors joined in and opened their homes as well. Our neighborhood buzzed with goodwill and esprit de corps! Knowing how much good they do for the community with the funds earned by this tour was just fantastic.”
This year the club is looking for homes in the North Laguna area specifically around the Crescent Bay area. If you find a letter in your mailbox requesting that your home be on the tour or happen to meet them on their scouting walks in your neighborhood, please take a moment to consider allowing your garden to be part of this great Laguna Beach tradition.
In the words of Luther Burbank, “Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food, and medicine for the soul.” Please join the club in bringing more joy, happiness and grace to our beautiful city.
Karen Nelson, Laguna Beach Garden Club
