Carmel-by-the-Sea Garden Club Honored

October 29, 2019

Civic Projects, Community Outreach, and Education

The Carmel-by-the-Sea Garden Club was honored by the city of Carmel, California for its dedicated service and significant contributions to the community. The collaboration between the city and the garden club has restored gardens, protected land from commercial development, and restored native plants and habitats to upland prairies, marshlands, and threatened areas. Since 1981, Carmel-by-the-Sea Garden Club has concentrated its efforts on civic projects, community outreach, and education. 

The dedication to civic improvement and community outreach began in 1979 when Carol J. Stratton and Jean B. Mitchell launched a campaign to save a parcel of land from commercial development. In the process, they founded the Carmel-by-the-Sea Garden Club which raised funds to create a city-owned park, now known as Piccadilly Park, almost 20 years later. The club continues to maintain the property for the enjoyment of the community. 

The club also restored the garden on the steps of City Hall using native and drought resistant plants. In 2015, the garden was documented and accepted into The Garden Club of America Collection in the Smithsonian's Archives of American Gardens. Another restoration initiative that began in 2009, as a long-term collaboration with the City of Carmel, was the North Dunes Habitat Restoration Project. It recently became a Garden Club of America's Partners for Plants project joining a nationwide effort to restore native plants and habitat on federal, state, and local lands throughout the United States. In addition, the club maintains the gardens at the Harrison Memorial Library. A fund was recently established to assure that these public gardens and spaces will be cared for in perpetuity.

In the proclamation honoring the club, Mayor Dave Potter, on behalf of the City Council, thanked the Carmel-by-the-Sea Garden Club "for all they do to make our community beautiful, welcoming, and verdant."

Right photo: Vice President Allyson Kavner, North Dunes Project Chairman Hallie Dow, and President Terice Clark received the proclamation from Carmel-by-the-Sea thanking the club for its contributions to the city.

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