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The Beautification Committee of the Neighborhood Club was started more than a dozen years ago, with the aim of enhancing the appearance of Bala Cynwyd by establishing and expanding public gardens throughout the neighborhood. The resulting gardens, now totaling seven sites, help to further the Neighborhood Club's goal of fostering civic pride.
In 2001, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) rewarded the Beautification Committee for its efforts in the gardens at the Bala Cynwyd Library by recognizing the committee with a Suburban Greening Award; in 2002, a Suburban Greening Award went to the committee for its beds and planters at the Cynwyd Station. The award, instituted by PHS in 2000, is given to select gardens outside Philadelphia that are, in the words of PHS's Program Manager, "deemed exceptional."
In 2004, PHS instituted a new award, one for maintenance. To qualify, a garden must not only be maintained properly, but expanded and "improved upon." The Neighborhood Club's Bala Cynwyd Library and Cynwyd Station gardens were both nominated, and both received awards.
Through the years, the Beautification Committee has managed to maintain its projects by purchasing plants mainly with Neighborhood Club dues, and always relying upon volunteers for the considerable labor needed for planting, weeding and watering. The township, in addition to helping with the tree-planting at the Bala Cynwyd Library, assists the committee by delivering compost and mulch to selected locations.
The most important word in the above paragraph is VOLUNTEER. None of the Beautification Committee's planning, organizing, or follow-through is done with paid labor. All those of us who contribute to the efforts of the committee do so on our own time because it affords us the opportunity to combine our love of gardening with a desire to make a meaningful contribution to the community. Serving on the committee also puts each of us in touch with other gardeners with whom we exchange both information and knowledge. Periodically we have to put out an appeal for more willing hands because, for any number of reasons, some of us move on and have to be replaced. The jobs that currently need filling don't require a lot of skill or time, mostly just a reliable, dependable character, a knowledge of the basics of gardening, and enough strength to help with planting, weeding, occasional watering, raking, and picking up of trash and debris. If you want to be one of those who helps maintain the beauty of Bala Cynwyd, please contact Mary Anne Diamond at jdiamond34@comcast.net or at 610-667-5080 and volunteer!
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