Happy 10th Anniversary to the Stafford Garden Club! For a decade, we have brought flowers and beauty to Stafford, staying true to our mission of filling the town with vibrant blooms and festive winter decorations. Our annual Halloween Scarecrow Contest continues to attract new participants each year, showcasing creative and whimsical designs. From just three founding members, our club has grown to 25 members strong by the end of 2024. Here's to the next 10 years of growth, creativity, and community!

Club members plant 1,500 more daffodil bulbs at Heritage Park, completing a yellow row of 3,000 spring flowers that brighten the main eastern entrance to downtown Stafford.

The Club switches from batteries to solar power to light holiday lanterns hanging from lampposts on Main Street, further embracing the Club's efforts to be sustainable and green.

The Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut gives the Stafford Garden Club the Lucille Schavoir Award, presented annually to a Connecticut club for outstanding garden club work. The award recognized the Club for its 2019 Tricentennial gardening designs that adorned Stafford's Main Street and villages with colorful plantings during spring, summer and fall, followed by holiday decorations that enlivened WinterFest and Future Night festivities.

A bee sculpture made by Eric Johnson of Shameless Iron Works in Stafford is added to the Spring Street River Garden, a linear garden alongside the Middle River in downtown Stafford.

The Club joins the Pollinator Pathway movement, registering the Spring Street River Garden as an official Pollinator Pathway. Other Club-maintained gardens contain plants that attract pollinators, including the Haymarket Common gardens on Main Street.

1,500 daffodil bulbs planted at Heritage Park alongside Route 190 and in Stafford Hollow across from the Stafford Department of Public Works.

The Club commissions Peter Rossi to design a Welcome to Stafford sign that is placed at the commuter lot on Route 32, greeting people driving into downtown Stafford.

The first flowers are planted in the Spring Street River Garden, marking the start of a project that Club members talked about for several years. Since 2018 the garden has expanded to fill the green swath of land between the Middle River and the Xtra Mart community parking lot.

WFSB-TV broadcasts live from Haymarket Common as part of its 20 Towns in 20 Days series. Club members are interviewed, and the Club is awarded a $1,000 donation. The money goes to starting the Spring Street River Garden.

The Town of Stafford names the Club Citizens of the Month.

Dino Lusa, who runs Stafford Coffee with wife Corrina, donates one of his cement creations, a planter, to the Club. Club members and volunteers put it in Haymarket Common, where it has been filled with colorful flowers every growing season since then.

Club members begin discussing planting a fruit tree trail for residents to pick fruit and berries as they ripen. Fruit tree trails eventually are established next to Haymarket Common and at the Stafford Library.

Club members help plant a children's garden outside the Stafford Library on Levinthal Run.

The first Club Scarecrow Contest showcases imaginative scarecrows constructed by Stafford businesses and organizations, and displayed in downtown Stafford. The contest quickly becomes a centerpiece of Stafford's Trick-or-Treat on Main Street Halloween celebration.

Club members plant bulbs at the front entrance to Stafford Library, the first of many Club plantings and holiday decorations at the library.

The Club adds Holt Memorial Fountain in front of Town Hall to its garden list. The fountain becomes a centerpiece for downtown beautification, brimming with spring flowers, summer annuals, and winter lights and greens.

The Stafford Lions Club begins its support of the Club, which continues until today, by purchasing hanging baskets for Main Street that the Club will care for.

An annual holiday decorating tradition begins as club members make wreaths to hang in downtown Stafford for the winter holidays.

Club members decide to focus their initial efforts on Haymarket Common on Main Street and Stafford Library on Levinthal Run.

Stafford Garden Club takes shape with a chance conversation. Terry Armelin and Kim Kwasknik, who know each other from TTM in Stafford, were talking about filling their spare time. “I always wanted to start a garden club,” Terry recalls. “So we said, 'Let's do it then,' and that's where the garden club comes from. We asked another gentleman that works at at TTM, Steve Zamsky.”

And so the Club begins on April 11, 2014, with Terry as president, Kim as secretary and Steve as treasurer. By the end of the year Paul Davies, Mary Quinn and Donna Wright join the Club.es here