The Garden Club of Ramsey County (GCRC) focuses its giving on organizations that plant trees in Ramsey County, and gives scholarships to college students in horticulture programs.
Since 2021 GCRC has given annually to the Parks Conservancy. Karen Van Norman, an enthusiastic member of the Club, says, “We give to the SPPC because planting trees is one of the best things we can do for climate change.”
GCRC was started as the male-only Men’s Garden Club of Ramsey County, with thirty members, and began inviting women to join in 1931. In 1952 they elected their first female president, Anne Koempel. It is the oldest continuously operating garden club in Minnesota and has about 150 members.
The Club holds a plant sale, has informal tours of member’s gardens, and maintains gardens in the city, including those at the corner of Montreal and Edgcumbe in St. Paul. The late St. Paul Parks Conservancy board member Marge Hols was an active member of the club.
They have donated to Como Park for building projects and the Japanese Garden, Friends of Parks and Trails of St. Paul and Ramsey County, and to St. Paul Parks and Recreation for Blooming St. Paul, Green Teams and tree plantings. Recently, their donations to the St. Paul Parks Conservancy replaced two Linden trees in Rice Park that were felled by storms .
The Saint Paul Parks Conservancy is grateful to the Garden Club for their generous contributions to growing St. Paul Parks and their commitment to climate change activism.
Inez, I looked more closely at the spreadsheet and came up with these numbers related to Saint Paul Parks:
$5000 to Como Park for building projects and the Japanese Garden (2001-2005)
$1100 to Friends of Parks and Trails of Saint Paul and Ramsey County (2003-2009)
$5100 Saint Paul Parks and Recreation for Blooming Saint Paul, Green Teams, and tree plantings (2003-2019)
Here’s a note from Michael-Jon regarding how 2022 GCRC funds were used:
We replaced two trees in Rice Park that were felled by storms to keep the landscape plan complete. Both replacement trees were Lindens to match the trees in the corresponding Linden Allee in the park.
For more information about the Ramsey County Garden Club, please follow the link down below: