Benalla Garden Club celebrates 70 years of blooming success

One of the members had arranged an impressive cake to mark the occasion, and a table full of historical documents and photos elicited lots of smiles as members reminisced.

Current President Maureen Freshwater said it was an honour to have two of its oldest members cut the cake.

“Our oldest active members are in their 90s (Shirley McGill and Stewart Coutts), so we asked them to cut the cake,” Ms Freshwater said.

“We have our table of memorabilia with some great photos. There’s one of Dame Elizabeth Murdoch when she came up to and judged an open garden.

“Over the years, the garden club has done a lot. We have some benches dotted around, and we’re looking to install one near our new tree.”

Regular Ensign readers will have seen the recent article on a tree the Garden Club donated to Benalla as part of its birthday year celebrations.

Ms Freshwater said to look out for the Garden Club at the Benalla Show this weekend (Friday, October 20 - Saturday, October 21)

“All my stewards of the show this year are from the garden club,” she said.

If you are interested in joining the Benalla Garden Club, pop along to one of its meetings on the First Tuesday of each month at Benalla Bowls Club.

Alternatively, pop into the horticultural pavilion at the Benalla show this weekend and say hi.