1925
Lawrence Flower Club
“A shared interest in flowers and gardening drew together a group of people in February of 1925 for the purpose of forming a club which would provide mutual pleasure and instruction, and a vehicle for making Lawrence a city of flowers.” Thus begins the History of the Lawrence Flower Club, 1925-1975, written by Mrs. Olie R. (Vivian) Parsons. Sixty-one people, men and women, signed the club charter. The club joined the Kansas Associated Garden Clubs in 1929. Eighty years later, that same purpose drives the membership of the current Lawrence Flower Club, still composed of men and women. The first yearbook, started in 1927, was four pages long. Yearbooks now list officers, members, programs and speakers. Business is kept short and to-the-point. Meetings are held in a public building, so that the size of the meeting place does not dictate membership numbers.
Civic projects have always been high on the list of priorities for the Lawrence Flower Club. In the 1925-1975 history, Mrs. Parsons tells of the Manley Memorial Rock Garden and Pool in Central Park (now Watson Park), dedicated in May 1934. The pool was later filled in at the request of the city when it became too much of an attraction to children. Plantings were also done in the parks, at the hospital, at some churches, one of the fire stations, the county convalescent home and others. In 1938, members made 1,300 bouquets for decorating soldiers’ graves.
In 1997, a plan to renovate the dysfunctional “Teddy Roosevelt” fountain on the east side of South Park came from the Countryside Garden Club. At a city sponsored planning meeting, the suggestion to move the fountain close to the gazebo in South Park came from a Lawrence Flower Club member.
A dedication ceremony on June 20, 2001, saw the fountain, with water flowing, located in the center of the beautiful flower beds. A flyer, written by a Lawrence Flower Club member, gives the history of the fountain and is available through the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department.
In April 2001, the will of the late Marvin Selichnow, a Lawrence businessman, included a substantial bequest to the Lawrence Flower Club, honoring his wife, Alberta, a former member. This gift has enabled the club to give $2,000 toward a grant to enlarge the Sensory Gardens at the Audio Reader site near the University of Kansas campus. Prairie Acres Garden Club and the Lawrence Flower Club collaborated on a grant from the National Garden Clubs, Inc., for this project. And now we are able to sponsor a footstone for the pathway at Sesquicentennial Point. We are grateful to Mr. Selichnow for his generosity! Our members are proud of the history of the Lawrence Flower Club, one of the oldest garden clubs in Kansas. Other garden clubs in Lawrence are Prairie Acres, Green Thumb, Meadowlark, Designer’s Guild and Countryside.
History provided by Lois Harrell and Mary Y. Allen.
Step Sponsored By: The Lawrence Flower Club