Holly Berry Brunch 2018 Fundraiser

The Dearborn Garden Club held our 22nd Annual Holly Berry Brunch Benefit Fundraiser on Saturday, December 1st at the Dearborn Inn. Four hundred and twenty five guests and members attended the fundraiser event this year that was held in the beautiful ballroom at the Dearborn Inn.

Our guests were welcomed to our Holly Berry Brunch 2018 Fundraiser this year by a delicious pastry buffet and everyone enjoyed some sweets while mingling with other guests and members as they admired this year’s raffle items. Coffee, tea and juice was served, as well as Bloody Marys and Mimosas, available at the cash bar.

Lunch consisted of a fruit platter, tomato & mozzarella salad, chicken parmesan with orzo alfredo, zucchini, tomato parmesan or butternut squash. Dessert was a shortbread tart with raspberry coulis, vanilla cream topped with berries.

Holly-Berry-Lunch-2018-Pastry-Buffet — On arrival guests and members enjoy pastries, refreshments and socializing.

Holly-Berry-Lunch-2018-Raffle-Prizes — Our sponsors provided fabulous raffle items for our 2018 fundraiser event. Here they are displayed before bidding begins.

Sponsors-Holly-Berry-Lunch-2018 — To the many fine sponsors of our 2018 Holly Berry Brunch Fundraiser Luncheon – Thank You!

Garden Club of Dearborn organizes our annual Holly Berry Brunch fundraiser to fund numerous scholarships to the University of Michigan – Dearborn and Henry Ford Community College students, internships and garden restoration at the Henry Ford Estate, and landscaping projects at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center, Environmental Interpretive Center at the University of Michigan – Dearborn and other local schools. The club also provides intra-club scholarships for members attending the Fall Conservation Conference, Flower Show School, and the Gardening Study Course and Landscape Design School, where one can become an accredited judge. These people then bring their knowledge back to the club and the community.

Once again our annual fundraiser was a huge success and we couldn’t do it without our wonderful sponsors and the many hours our fantastic members devote to planning and organizing the Holly Berry Brunch. Thank you all!

End of Season Luncheon June, 2018

Garden Club of Dearborn’s Annual End of the Season Luncheon was held at the Dearborn Country Club on Wed. June 6th. The elegant Fireplace Lounge was our venue and 41 members were in attendance.

Presenter, Chris Lapinski, a master gardener and landscape consultant, and all-around Bee Expert presented the topic: “All about Mason Bees.”

If you’ve never been inside The Dearborn Country Club, this historic landmark built by Henry Ford, this indeed, is something to see and experience.

We had our first Garden Club raffle at the Country Club. We had six bee-u-tiful centerpieces with potted plants and a hand-decorated decoupage pot, a charming “Tea Chest” decked out in decoupage with bee themes in lovely purple and green colors, with 5 miniature drawers which can hold about 60 tea bags. Also raffeld were art deco period “bee” vase, done in black and white for those interiors that are so classic. There is a “bee pollinator” kit from English Gardens. The last four were bee-u-tiful mystery gifts.

Valentine Tea 2018

At our February 12 meeting, we had a wonderful Valentine Tea arranged by the Late Bloomers, led by Judy Henn. THANK YOU ladies! Such tasty treats!

We also enjoyed a lovely lunch…meatballs, chicken & mashed potatoes, courtesy of Marie Chapman, in honor of her 90th birthday.

Then, Mindy led us in a project to transform little vinegar bottles. We had fun working with pretty napkins, using decoupage to secure the design to the bottles, and creating a beautifully decorated container. They can be either bud vases, or as a charming vinegar bottle to serve at a table. They make excellent gifts!

Our Hosts - The Late Bloomers — Our Hosts – The Late Bloomers

Judy Henn slicing up our Valentine Tea cake

Make & Take Project

The Valentine’s project was “Decoupage with Napkin” to create a whimsical bud vase, upcycled from a vinegar bottle! The napkins are a choice of beautiful floral and butterfly designs from Winterthur Museum or a recent shipment from England which are whimsical. The uniqueness of the beautiful napkin designs outweighed the cost of postage after viewing 1000’s of napkins on eBay. We had the cream of the crop to create our project.

Decoupage project materials:

1 vinegar bottle
1 mini Mod Podge
1 napkin
Scissors
Saran Wrap

Decoupage involves glue and top coat which is called Mod Podge. Product is applied to vase, then design on napkin is smoothed & treated. It can be a messy process, but oh so fun to create! We had a mentor at each table for guidance. The vessel (the vinegar bottle) is just as important as flowers!

We had a great time letting our creative juices flow!

Check out our February 2018 Newsletter – we have a new issue monthly and you can find archived issues of the newsletter on the same page.

21st Annual Holly Berry Brunch Fundraiser

The Dearborn Garden Club hosted its annual fundraiser, Holly Berry Luncheon, on December 2, 2017 at the Dearborn Inn. Gratitude for each and every volunteer on committees making our 21st Holly Berry Brunch another huge success. We wrapped and assembled gifts, created beautiful bows and other artistic touches along with the ever important logging of donations and large sponsorships. Busy, though highly fulfilling work organizing the Holly Berry Brunch fundraiser.

The menu consisted of meatloaf and vegetables or a vegetarian meal of butternut squash, plus dessert. The luncheon was another huge success as we had 464 guests.

Members Enjoying The Holly Berry Lunch — Great Fun at the Holly Berry Brunch

Garden Club of Dearborn organizes our annual Holly Berry Brunch fundraiser to fund numerous scholarships to University of Michigan – Dearborn and Henry Ford Community College students, internships and garden restoration at the Henry Ford Estate, and landscaping projects at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center, Environmental Interpretive Center at the University of Michigan – Dearborn and other local schools. The club also provides intra-club scholarships for members attending the Fall Conservation Conference, Flower Show School, and the Gardening Study Course and Landscape Design School, where one can become an accredited judge. These people then bring their knowledge back to the club and the community.

This Year’s Raffle Prizes

This year we had many generous gifts and donations from area merchants for our Holly Berry fundraiser brunch. Dearborn Mayor John O’Reilly read off the names of the raffle winners as he does for our brunch every year.

Tables filled with raffle prizes. — Tables filled with raffle prizes donated by area merchants

Thank you! to these fine organizations and area merchants for their generosity to Holly Berry Brunch:

Beaumont Health, Fairlane Ford, Leader Printing, Westborn Market, Dearborn Bank and Trust, Fairlane Town Center, Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Dearborn Federal Savings Bank, Henry Ford College, Park Place Catering, Dearborn Inn, Henry Ford Village, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn Sausage, Historic Ford Estates, Village Ford, Driver Source, Inc., Jack Demmer Lincoln, West Dearborn Downtown Development Authority.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone next December at Holly Berry!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Annual Christmas Potluck

The Dearborn Garden Club hosted our annual Christmas potluck for members and guests at the First Presbyterian Church. We all enjoyed a meal together and each other’s company.

: Christmas Potluck: Bringing a dish and sharing a meal.

: Christmas Potluck: Dearborn Garden Club