December 2025, The Festival of the Trees in Basking RidgeMembers of the club were busy for months preparing for the Somerset County Parks Commission Festival of the Trees held at Lord Stirling Park in Basking Ridge. In early December, Pat Olivo, Arlene Dolegiewitz, Patti Cerrato, and Robin Shaw (left to right in the top photo) gathered at the festival site, the Environmental Education Center, to set up our 6 ft tree entitled: “WINGS and WONDER!” that honors pollinators’ habitats. This theme ties into the NJ Garden Club theme for the 2025/26 which is “The Importance of Pollinators -- Go Native”. Decorations used included those prepared by children at the Martin Luther King Youth Center in Bridgewater. This was the 47th year for the event and the first year BGC participated. 58 trees were presented by local organizations and the park commission states there were nearly 2800 visitors to the event.
Autumn 2025, Happenings with the Martin Luther King Center.The Bridgewater Garden Club has extended its community outreach to Martin Luther King Youth Center once a month for the last 2 years to teach them a variety of educational activities designed to foster a love for nature and a deep appreciation of the environment. All MLKYC students are eligible to participate in our free programs, developed by and paid for by the BGC. This past autumn, club members taught the children about pollinators (birds, bees, butterflies, etc.) to tie into the NJ Garden Club theme for the 2025/26 of “The Importance of Pollinators -- Go Native”. The children, ages 5-13, painted and bejeweled pollinator Christmas tree decorations that were displayed, along with added decorations from our garden club, at the Festival of the Trees in Basking Ridge which ran throughout the month of December, 2025. Our theme this year was honoring pollinators and their habitats, with our decorations displayed on our 6 ft tree entitled: “WINGS and WONDER!”
2025 Maintenance of the therapy garden at the Somerset County Adult Day Care Center continues. Most Thursday mornings and some Saturday mornings, from March to October, you will find members of the BGC, led by Beth Spinelli, at the garden caring for the plants.
From the left, are Ellen Hulsen, Debbie Miller, Beth Spinelli and Tom Ritter. (Tom is a non-member of the club, who volunteers often in the therapy garden to aid with the heavy lifting and tree trimming).
June Luncheon held on Thursday, June 12, 2025. The club returned to the Stoney Brook Grill in Branchburg for our end of year gathering. President Marianne Marrone presided over the announcements and awards ceremony.
(Click on photos to enlarge.) Arlene Dolegiewitz was the 2025 recipient of the Judy Steggall Membership Award. This award is presented annually to a deserving member who has given dedicated support to the club and its many projects. The selection is made by club members.
Arlene receiving the Joy Steggall cup.
Club activity, Annual Spring Tea: This year the event took place on March 13, 2025, at Sally Lunn’s Restaurant and Tearoom in Chester, NJ. This is a favorite annual social outing and gathering for many members of the Bridgewater Garden Club.
Click on photos to enlarge.
March 26, 2025 - general meeting: Lesley Parness, Superintendent of Horticulture Education at the Morris County Park Commission, presented the program: BEYOND THE POTTED PALM: How Victorians gave us house plants.
Lesley speaking about house plants at the March 2025 general meeting. The variety of house plants burgeoned during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837 – 1901). Lesley discussed how to introduce the Victorian touch to our homes through plants and plant care.
The March club meeting in the Sanctuary & Seed meeting room.
2025 Annual Achievement Scholarship.
In Photo, Left to Right: Erik Fargo, Pat Schofield, Barbara Lane, Cooper Rever. Cooper Rever, a student at Somerset Vocational Technical High School in the Agricultural Science program, received the Bridgewater Garden Club Achievement 2025 Award on May 16th. This included both a Certificate and a substantial cash award. Bridgewater Garden Club members, Margaret Esposito, Gail Smith, Pat Schofield, and Barbara Lane, have supported the achievement award for a graduating senior in SCVTHS' Agricultural Science program since 2013. Cooper is the 20th graduating senior of Somerset Vo Tech AG program to receive recognition and scholarship monies from the Bridgewater Garden Club. Cooper is the proud son of Rachel and Scott Rever of Basking Ridge and one of a triplet (his sister Peyton and brother Emerson are full time Ridge students). The entire Rever Family, Mr. Fargo, a Vo-Tech teacher, along with Barbara Lane and Pat Schofield, of BGC, were all present at the award ceremony of May 16th. Cooper spends the first part of each school day at the Bridgewater Vo Tech campus studying Animal and Plant Biotechnology (holding a 4.0 GPA), and then returns to Ridge High School, where he maintains a 3.9 GPA. At the Vo-Tech, the greenhouse contains dozens of Cooper’s plants, raised by seed and from cuttings, which he tends to daily. His work ethic stands out, and classmates admire his patience and support. His interest in removing invasive plants and replacing them with native pollinators has fostered both patience and teamwork. Cooper's love for the environment was further enhanced by a leaders’ academy offered by the Raritan Headwaters. Cooper wholeheartedly took part in incubating and raising chickens from eggs along with his class. He also tracks the emerging fish, grown in a classroom tank, to be released to a local river. Cooper's intense desire to learn, his willingness to work with others, and his participation in class activities have influenced his future studies of the natural world. Teacher, Erik Fargo, says: “I have known Cooper for nearly 3 years. Cooper is trustworthy, reliable, cooperative, persistent, and honest. “He spends time each day at school day geminating seeds and caring for his plants while asking questions to better understand a wide variety of plant topics. “Copper loves to explore new experiences and went to two camps last year to learn more about ecology, since he plans to educate others on this topic.” (Erik Fargo, the Bridgewater Garden Club liaison with Vo-Tech, is an outstanding teacher, a clever motivator, and many graduates of his program have gone on to prestigious positions. When Fargo’s students appear in state of NJ FFA skill tests, they excel and often return to campus with first place finishes.) Cooper Rever, Congratulations! We are so proud of your accomplishments AND what you are doing after your high schools’ graduation: Cooper plans to work a seven-week program as a Counselor at Camp River Bend, where he was a camper as a youth. He will then attend the University of Vermont where he will be majoring in Plant Biology.
January 22, 2025, General Meeting program The Bridgewater Garden Club is thrilled to have Patti Cerrato as one of its exceptional flower designers. Patti Cerrato presented the program 'Hearts Around the Corner'. She demonstrated romantic flower designs which included a topiary made with cut flowers, a design using a base of Valentine heart candy, and our favorite a design using Patti’s recycled red high heal shoe.
September 2024 The Bridgewater Garden Club (BGC) concluded its first year in August 2024 with their community outreach to the Martin Luther King Center in Bridgewater. Sixty children, ages 5-13, participated in the programs that were offered. All MLKYC students were eligible to participate in our free programs, developed by and paid for by the BGC. Our initiative included a variety of educational activities designed to foster a love for nature and a deep appreciation for the environment. “We wanted to extend our outreach to our community, and the MLK Youth Center became a perfect partner for this endeavor,” said Sandra Rhue, former President of the Bridgewater Garden Club, and liaison to MLKYC. Our goal was to create meaningful experiences that would be both fun and educational. The programs offered by BGC included: hands-on gardening, crafting, and environmental education such as:
Through various outreach programs and events, the club aims to enrich the local community and foster a love for nature among all ages. Interested parties in joining our club or wanting help in presenting a program to your organization, please email us at spinelligirls@aol.com.
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