Loveland Garden Club was the proud proposer of Mike Forsberg for the first GCA Photography Medal ever presented. The J. Sherwood Chalmers Medal is awarded for outstanding achievement in the field of photography/photography education as it relates to the purposes of The Garden Club of America. Mike is being honored for his awe-inspiring photography that depicts the beauty and fragility of the Great Plains, along with his passionate commitment to conservation education and environmental action. Babs Weinberg created the portfolio of eight letters of support from Mike’s colleagues and friends, as well as, documentation of his career which was submitted to the GCA Awards Committee. His selection was publicly announced by the GCA in January 2020. Loveland Garden Club proudly celebrates Mike and his incredible photographic works. He is an inspiration to all who see his stunning talent and depictions of love and connection to the natural world.
This August, we had the pleasure of doing small group backyard tours of two of our members’ personal gardens. Thank you to Joyce and Cindy for hosting us!
On a cool, clear early September morning the Horticulture and Conservation committees of the Loveland Garden Club met at Glacier Creek Preserve in northwest Omaha, NE.
What did we see and hear? Monarchs, busy bees, pollinators and insects, red-headed woodpeckers, goldenrod, sunflowers, tall thistle, little and big bluestem, side-oats grama, coneflower, round-headed bush clover, and many more native prairie grasses and forbs. Our guide was Tracy Coleman, Outreach & Admistrative Specialist. She described the various projects at the prairie and then as we walked, she helped us identify numerous plants and collect a few seeds.
GCP was the site of a recent P4P project and was also included as part of the Shirley Meniece Conference in 2017.
On Wednesday, July 24th, 2019, some Hort Committee members took advantage of a beautiful summer day to visit a few urban gardens in Omaha. Our first visit was to a “Sacred Seed Pop Up” at 727 S. 13th Street. What was recently a vacant property where a building had been torn down, is now a garden tended by several Omaha area organizations. You can read more about it at sacredseedpopup.org.
Our second garden was at the Heartland of America Park, a stunning perennial garden maintained by local Master Gardeners. The park is going to be reconfigured and the garden removed with the new green space being developed for downtown Omaha, so this is the last summer for this particular garden.
The ladies of the Loveland Garden Club gathered for our annual May luncheon at the Happy Hollow Country Club in Omaha, Nebraska.
New members were inducted, new provisional members were introduced and welcomed and some very worthy organizations and people were awarded!
Our president of the past two years, Carol Lynch, “passed the trowel” to incoming President, Kara Walters. Our three new members include Kathy Bertolini, Molly Garriott and Stacy Williams. Five new provisionals include Julie Anderson, LesLee Hacker, Sheila Fitzgerald, Mary Pat Paul, and Christine Webster.
Our garden club made donations to Lauritzen Gardens for the Endowed Lecture Series and for the new Conservation Intern Program. Jim Locklear accepted on behalf of Lauritzen Gardens.
The garden club’s annual Conservation Award was presented to Heron Haven, a spring-fed wetland sanctuary. The sanctuary features one of the last oxbow wetlands of the Big Papillion Creek and is in Omaha. The award was accepted by Verla Shaner and Bruce Warr of Heron Haven.
The garden club’s Civic Improvement Commendation was presented to Nebraska Statewide Arboretum. The NSA is a Nebraska non-profit that works toward sustainable home and community landscapes through initiatives in education, public gardens, and the environment. Accepting on behalf of the NSA were Christina Hoyt, Executive Director and Justin Evertson, Green Infrastructure Coordinator.
Jane Hamer was honored by all the club members with our annual Loveland Garden Club Appreciation Award for her many contributions to our organization!
Members of the Loveland Garden Club gathered on a cool Spring morning in Omaha to plant annuals in planters on the rooftop terrace at Methodist Hospital. The garden is just outside the hospital cafeteria and is enjoyed by hospital employees, visitors and patients.
The ladies of the Loveland Garden Club came together to put on a fantastic evening of delicious food and drink, a fabulous venue, and fun with friends at our Spring Fundraiser. We welcomed husbands, provisional club members and friends to learn a little more about our plans for installing sensory gardens at JP Lord School and Sheltering Tree.
We toured the state of the art public school where our club will help to install a “garden of the senses”. We were amazed at the sensory room, full of light, sound and texture.
Members of Loveland Garden Club were given the opportunity in April to visit the massive First Star recycling center in Omaha. An in depth tour included everything from where the recyclable items are dumped, to the conveyer belts that do the initial sorting, and the bales of sorted items ready to be shipped where they will be made into new products. We were most amazed by the new “orange bag” program, where previously un-recyclable plastics (such as straws, baggies and styrofoam) are turned into energy through the use of energy recovery technologies.
