Vienna Garden Club

The Vienna Garden Club was organized on June 26, 1951, when six women met at the Vienna Township Volunteer Fire Department station with the aim of learning more about growing and arranging flowers. This they did with the help of two members of the Trumbull County Garden Forum.

The Club's first officers were:
President: Mrs. Donald Titus
Vice President: Mrs. Howard Bucy
Secretary-Treasurer: Mrs. Howard Shook
Assistant Secretary-Treasurer: Mrs. Paul Wolf
Historian: Mrs. Lawrence Foreman

Mrs. J. H. Neely, of Vienna, accredited flower show judge, was invited to join and guide the club and its programs and activities.

Membership of the Club was limited to 25 persons and the 21 member who had joined by this time would be considered charter members. The Vienna Garden Club became a member of the Trumbull County Garden Forum in January, 1952.

By the end of 1951, the Club was well established, offering interesting programs as well as a program book. Growing, caring for, and arranging flowers, horticulture, ecology, recycling, bird study, conservation, tours, and the environment became and still are subjects of concern and study.

The Club's first flower show was held on September 9, 1952. Members found it took lots of hard work and cooperation to put on a show. As members aged, and with fewer members to organize such events, the Club concluded the annual show in 1964. Members did, however, participate in the Trumbull County Garden Forum flower show at the Trumbull County Fair, bringing home a good share of ribbons.

By the end of 1953, the Club had its full membership of 25, but afterwards seemed to lose more than it gained. The members, however, kept going, and for several years, won the award for the best program book in the Trumbull County Garden Forum. The Club also won the state award in 1972 when Elizabeth Woodrum was president. Six members traveled to the state convention in Ashland, Ohio, to accept the award.

In 1981 Leona Governor and Marjorie Jennings attended the National Convention of State Garden Clubs in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Vienna Garden Club has undertaken several civic projects in Vienna: planting trees, shrubs, tulip bulbs, and other plants, giving seeds, and supporting Memorial Day observations.

The last Club project, from the summer of 1991 through 1997, was an annual Sunflower Show sponsored for students in kindergarten through fourth grade in the Mathews School District. The students were given sunflower seeds and were instructed in the planting, cultivating, and cutting of the flowers. The local winners placed second in the state competition in 1994 and 1995. In 1996, Brad Hughes, a first grade student from Currie Elementary School in Fowler, was the local and state winner. his sunflower head measured 22 1/2 inches in diameter.

Vienna Garden Club is honored to have member Elizabeth Woodrum and Honorary Associate Member Alta Cross as Life Members of the Garden Clubs of Ohio, Inc.

Vienna Garden Club meets on the second Tuesday of each month at noon in members' homes.

In 1999 the Club had eight members.