Meetings are held on the first Tuesday at 2:00 p.m., March-November. We meet at the J.C. Davis Auditorium and welcome new members. Our programs for 2009 will include speakers from Bellingrath Gardens and Smith's Hardware.

Chickasaw Garden Club Celebrates NeighborhoodWorks in October!
By Tom Hayward

Many cities and counties around the country, along with Chickasaw, took up the banner of a tree campaign or public canopy initiative. The Chickasaw Garden Club and students from Mrs. Diaz’s third grade class at Chickasaw School of Math & Science planted a gardenia bush in honor of national Celebrate Neighborhoodwoods month on Thursday, Oct. 28 in the school’s garden area. The garden club will plant a tree in Brooks Park as part of their mission to help improve the environment in the community. Along with garden club members Tom Hayward, Joy Middleton and Barbara Pulliam, city councilman Ross Naze joined the group in digging the hole, preparing the soil and planting the bush. The class had just finished a study on trees and answered questions about trees from community health advocate Sher Graham.

The Alliance for Community Trees is a membership association solely focused on the needs of nonprofit and community organizations engaged in urban forest protection. Their independent, community-based members plant preserve, and maintain the tree canopies of all major metro markets and many towns in between. Their work is improving the environment where 86% of Americans live: our cities, towns, and villages. Together, ACT's national network of members have planted and cared for 7.8 million trees with help from 450,000 volunteers.

Pictured below are Mrs. Diaz’s third grade class along with science teacher Alisa Turner, city councilman Ross Naze, and Chickasaw Garden Club members Tom Hayward, Barbara Pulliam, Sher Graham and Joy Middleton.

(Roll over images to pause)

Pictured at left is Irvin Dailey, president of the Chickasaw Garden Club and club member Tom Hayward holding a resolution given by city council adopting the red rose as the official flower of the city of Chickasaw. The Garden Club has been in existence since 1946. The red rose symbolizes the fact that the beauty of life has some pain.

Chickasaw Garden Club hosted The Tomato Walk May 30

The first annual Chickasaw Garden Club ‘walk around the park’ was Saturday, May 30, at Millers Park. Twenty people walked a one mile path as part of this year’s event - The Tomato Walk.

“The walk was named after the tomato, as it is the best plant for the best value for a home garden,” said Ervin Dailey, garden club president. “Each year, the garden club will sponsor a walk; each year it will be named after a plant or flower. The 2010 walk will be dedicated to the rose, the official flower of the garden club."

He continued to say that this is the type of event that families of all generations can participate in together, and he hopes that residents will invite their families and friends to join them in the next walk.

Robin Blackwell, local Chickasaw artist, created the design for this year’s tee-shirt, and will design the tee-shirts for future walks. Smith Hardware of Saraland donated 220 tomato plants that were given to participants, other community residents and to the Chickasaw United Methodist Church kindergarten children.

Tee-shirts are still available, and may be purchased from Kathy Couey at the J. C. Davis Civic Auditorium in Chickasaw for $10 each. Sizes are M, L, and XL.

Daily said that there will be a fall walk but no date has been set. For more information on the garden club walk, contact Ervin Dailey at (251) 452-8623.

The Garden Club, with the help of "trustees," replanted the flower bed at the front of City Hall and re-sodded the opposite side of the sidewalk during the April.

The Chickasaw Garden Club met on Wednesday, April 1, where several projects were discussed and passed to help beautify the city. Horace and Bonnie Allen provided refreshments. James Harrell Kimbrell talked on the subject of growing a vegetable garden.