In 1948 Mrs Nancy Nivison of ‘Mirani’ asked a group of fellow keen Walcha gardeners if they would like to start a club and the Walcha Horticultural Society was planted. Back then the group consisted of 80 members, and over the years it blossomed into the Walcha Garden Club . Today there are still about 80 members, and while none of them is an original member, 95-year-old patron Gwen Lisle comes pretty close.
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“Things haven’t really changed in regards to our membership numbers,” said Walcha Garden Club secretary Diana Lisle at the groups’ 70th annual spring luncheon on Friday at the Walcha Golf Club.
“In the last seventy years we’ve had lots of speakers at our lunches, we’ve had lots of interesting people join the club, and we’ve gone on many bus trips.”
The president of Gardening Clubs of Australia George Hoad was on hand to help with celebrations, and he said the Walcha Garden Club epitomised the organisation’s motto ‘friendship through gardening’.
“The Garden Clubs of Australia is an umbrella organisation for affiliated garden clubs and like-minded groups throughout Australia,” he said.
The Walcha Garden Club epitomises our motto 'friendship through gardening'
- George Hoad president of The Garden Clubs of Australia
“While we do have a couple of club’s who are twice your age there are not many who make it to 70 years and few who maintain active membership numbers.”
Mrs Lisle said the group worked together as a team and an average of 25 members met monthly. The Walcha Garden Club has also raised money for the community and supported community events.
“The Walcha Garden Club runs the horticultural section at the Walcha Agricultural Show and we have three members here today who lead that for the club, and i’ts a big job,” she said.
“In 2012 our late member Mrs Olga Lisle instigated the biennial Walcha Garden Festival. It was originally to raise money for the new section of the Apsley Riverview Hostel, and over the years we’ve expanded from that to include other worthy causes. In that time we’ve raised close to $300,000 which we’ve put back into the local community. Unfortunately, because of the dry weather, we have had to cancel the festival for this year, but we hope to be back when climatic conditions improve.”