Sharing the Holiday Spirit, Ladue Garden Club

December 19, 2019

Decorates City Hall along with Fire and Police Departments

For forty-six years, members of the Ladue Garden Club, in Ladue, Missouri, have decorated Ladue City Hall for the holidays. The effort began in 1973 when a Ladue Garden Club member approached the mayor with the idea of decorating a prominent evergreen tree with food for the birds as the ornaments – a “smorgasbird tree!” The tree was covered in seed bells, suet cakes, popcorn balls, peanut butter and cornmeal ornaments, spaghetti icicles, and handmade bows. The Ladue Garden Club replenished the food throughout the winter, and it was lauded by the mayor as a conservation effort.    

One year later, the club members approached the mayor again, this time with an elaborate plan to decorate the entire City Hall in a Williamsburg style. To accomplish this extensive task, the Ladue police and fire departments offered their equipment and ladders and joined the effort. Wreaths and roping, accented with brightly colored fruit, red velvet bows, pinecones, and pineapples, were hung around doors, windows, and the three-story high tower. 

Decorations have changed throughout the years, but the tradition and Ladue Garden Club’s relationship with the city’s police and fire departments have remained strong. Since the 1990’s, the “City Hall Decorating Committee” recognizes the efforts of the police and fire departments by providing lunch. In recent years, a local restaurant caught the holiday spirit and provided a luncheon feast for over forty-two police, firemen, and city personnel which is organized and served by the members of Ladue Garden Club. 

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