Annual sale raises money for college scholarships
Published in the April 15-28, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Robert Airoldi
Photo by Robert Airoldi
Master Gardener Laura Balaoro speaks to the Morgan Hill Flower Lover’s Club at the April 1 meeting.
For more than 90 years, Morgan Hill women have met monthly to raise money for scholarships, plant flowers and trees throughout town and discuss various aspects of horticulture.
The Flower Lovers Club is one of the oldest organizations in Morgan Hill. It has been a vital part of Morgan Hill’s history since its first meeting April 3, 1925.
Margaret Rose, who became a member in 1989, recalls attending the club’s annual flower show in the 1950s as a young girl with their mother and grandmother.
“I remember how pretty is was,” she said of those shows in the ‘50s. “I still enjoy going to our annual flower show. I also love growing old fashion roses … they usually just bloom once during the spring. The beautiful blooms, fragrance and the hardiness of the plants is the reward.”
The Morgan Hill Flower Lovers Club was formed out of the remnants of the Morgan Hill Civic Club with the help of Horace Keesling, who was the garden writer for what was then the San Jose Mercury Herald, and the president of the Santa Clara County Garden Club. In those early years, the club boasted 25 members. By 1938 the membership had grown to 125. Today there are about 60 active members.
During the years, the club has been very active, not only in social functions but in civic projects as well – in the form of donations, improvements and beautification of the community.
In the late 1930s, the club donated money to purchase roses for a community roses garden. It was eventually located near the tennis courts at Live Oak High School (now Britton Middle School). In 1940, 611 people attended the flower show and that year the club planted a cedar tree on the grounds of the Friendly Inn in memory of Horace Keesling.
During World War II, the club played an important role in community participation of the “Victory Garden.” Even students from the agricultural class at Live Oak High School got involved. Many residents planted gardens, as did 19 students. During the 1950s, members planted Paul Scarlet roses at Mount Hope Cemetery and took turns keeping them watered and pruned. Two years later, members helped prepare a picnic area at the Friendly Inn for motorists.
The club donated a large mulberry tree in 1971 to the city and it was planted at the Friendly Inn. In 1980 it donated a tree that was planted at the entrance to the Mount Hope Cemetery, and that same year 1,000 bedding plants at Hale and Main avenues at the bus station.
“What’s impressive about our members is that we have so many in their 80s and 90s who are actively gardening,” said club president Susan Barrett.
About 15 years after the club was formed members were asked to join the Friendly Inn Association which emerged as the managers of the Friendly Inn. In 1946, the club kept the Inn from reverting back to the original owner who had donated it, by paying back taxes owed. That same year, the club turned the management of the Friendly Inn over to the city and the property was deeded to the city, which then sold the land for $65,000 to the Bank of America, which placed its building there. It later became the Morgan Hill Police Department headquarters. Today it is the home of the El Toro Brew Pub. The transaction with Bank of America provided funds to build the new Friendly Inn on Crest Avenue.
In 1976, in consideration for services rendered over the years, the city council agreed that the Flower Lovers Club would have a free permanent meeting place with a kitchen for 69 years, giving the club a free meeting place until 2045, and while they have moved around some, they now meet regularly from 12:30 to 2:15 p.m. the first Wednesday of the month at the Community and Cultural Center.
Today, Jeannette Harruff, 81, is the longest tenured member, having spent more than 36 years as a member.
“But I had been going for years before that because my mom was in the club but I didn’t officially join until 1979,” she said.
She enjoys the camaraderie with the other women and making arrangements.
“When I first joined my mother did beautiful work,” said Harruff, who grows cactus in her front yard and flowers and plants in the back and does all the gardening herself. “I enjoy it. The ladies are great and it’s a lot of fun.”
Part of that fun is the annual show at the end of April which raises money to support school gardens and scholarships for students studying horticulture, agriculture or a similar field.
The first flower show was held in 1933 and the show remains basically the same. Members bring flowers in vases that they grew in their garden, or bought and then arranged in various containers for sale.
Carrie Billalba, who joined in 1985, is 91 and remains very active in the club. She joined because it seemed like an interesting club and gave her something to do. Asked why she continues to remain active, she said “the ladies are interesting and the things we learn are great and can be transferred to our own gardens.”
Several years ago while researching the club’s history, Billalba came across this passage written by longtime members Virginia Action in 1998.
“A way of life is passing into the next millennium, gobbled up by the encroachment of time and progress. But this intrusion cannot quell the human spirit and the love for all growing and living things. It is deep seeded and will always remain in our hearts. It is the common thread that keeps this organization together — benefiting our community, our homes and our gardens. This gives you purpose and a sense of well being and balance.”
Today, those ladies continue that tradition.
