Clarkston Farm and Garden Club hosts its 19th Annual Greens Market, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 4, at the Church of the Resurrection, 6490 Clarkston Road.
The Greens Market, the club’s main fund-raiser, is a festival of holiday designs, highlighted by Michigan-grown traditional wreaths in three sizes, with red or burgundy bows, and roping in 25- and 50-foot lengths.
The church’s social center and hallways will be filled with conventional decorations like door arches, centerpieces and mantle tops, swags, potpourri, kissing balls, sachets, and loose greens.
Bundles containing nine kinds of plant materials including pine, cedar, blueberry juniper, silver fir, noble fir, incense cedar, yew, ilex and curly willow are also available for your use in designing your own unique arrangements for the holidays.
‘We really concentrated this year on gathering local greenery and using in-state growers for materials to produce arrangements,? said Anita Andes, Greens Market chair.
Mother Nature’s magic keeps the needles in place through the long holiday season. This precaution helps to ensure long-lasting freshness of the items you receive and those you send as gifts. ‘By going local we were able to reduce our costs without compromising the gorgeous pieces we offer,? explained Andes.
Barbara Trueman, who has been a garden club member for nearly 20 years, said a number of local people have opened their backyards and vacation properties to members to cull for greens and other natural materials. ‘That helps keep our costs low, which is important to the success of the event because our club keeps adding to the services it provides to the community.?
There is no admission fee for the event. Proceeds from the sale of merchandise benefit the club’s maintaining and seasonally decorating downtown planters, library gardens, college scholarships, and mini grants to elementary schools for horticultural and environmental projects, among others.
Along with the sale, members are conducting a raffle of gingerbread renditions of Clarkston buildings, including Rudy’s Market, KH Home, Clarkston News, and the old Post Office.
The village houses will be given away at a noon raffle at the Greens Market. Ladies from the Church of the Resurrection will also conduct a bake sale on site.
Serving with Anita on the planning committee for the Greens Market are Lauren Brasile, Vicki Little, Nancy Foley, Sue White, and Mary Jane Scharfenkamp.
? Sue Sajdak