Edgewood Garden Club to Memorialize Longtime Member, Wins Awards

The Edgewood Garden Club will hold a plaque dedication this Saturday, May 10, at 10:30 a.m. at Stillhouse Cove in Edgewood. The club will remember its long-time member, Anita “Billie” Ball, who passed away in 2011. Contributions from a memorial fund set up by her family helped pay some of the expenses for the re-planting of the club’s garden at the Monument Rock.  In addition to members, city officials, neighbors, friends and members of the Ball family are expected to attend.

A member of the club for 56 years, Mrs. Ball was a lifelong Edgewood resident, and tireless community volunteer, despite a vigorous family and work life. Among the other organizations that benefitted from her efforts were The Rhode Island Hospital Guild, the Rhode Island Federation of Garden Clubs and her alma mater, Brown University. She was the wife of the late Edward E. Ball.

In other news, the club was the recipient of several at the recent Rhode Island Federation of Garden Clubs Annual Meeting at the Twin Rivers Event Center in Lincoln.

The club receive an Award of Merit for its June 2013 Standard Flower Show, “Sailing Away,” as well as the Silver Trowel Garden Tour Award for its June 2013 “Secret Gardens By The Bay” tour which was  held in conjunction with its Flower Show.

The club’s activities were recognized with the Edith Fricker Award (Class 5) for well-rounded programming, as well as the Yearbook Award (Class 5), and the Newsletter Award (Class 5).

In addition, club member Kathy Lanphear of Cranston was awarded the Joan F. Pesola Award for Best Traditional Design in either the State or Local Flower Shows for her design in the club’s June 2013 Standard Flower Show.

he Edgewood Garden Club was organized in January 1933. Its current membership consists of more than 70 women and men, from a wide range of ages and backgrounds, residing primarily in the Edgewood, Pawtuxet Village and Gaspee Plateau neighborhoods of Cranston and Warwick. The club is dedicated to furthering gardening education and practices, promoting environmental stewardship and supporting community improvement efforts. It maintains gardens at Stillhouse Cove and the Village Playground on Commercial Street in Cranston. Members lend expertise and time to local projects, including the ongoing hydroponic gardening project at E.S. Rhodes School and acted as a consultant in the recent neighborhood effort to further improve the World War I Memorial at Grand Avenue.