WAKEFIELD FOOD PANTRY Manager Deb Jones (center) accepts donations from Village Home and Garden Club co-presidents Carol Schelzi (left) and Sue Cullen.
LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield Village Home & Garden Club recently kicked off its new year with the meeting themed “A Bountiful Gathering, Eat, Drink and Be Thankful” at the newly renovated Meeting House.
Members brought a dinner item to share, enjoyed an informative presentation from Crystal Bee Supply/Essex County Honey, collected food donations for the Wakefield Food Pantry and swapped plants from their home gardens.
The Lynnfield Village Home & Garden Club is a community and social group made up of individuals with a diversity of backgrounds that gather monthly to exchange ideas on home gardening, inspire interests in decorative arranging, engage in civic beautification and encourage conservation.
The highlight of the kick off meeting was an entertaining and informative presentation by Joseph Gaglione of family-owned Crystal Bee Supply and Essex County Honey Company, 18 Lake St., West Peabody. Gaglione provided much information about bees as critical pollinators for plant and food production. In recent years, individuals have become interested in beekeeping as both a hobby and conservation measure. Joseph counts a dozen Lynnfield residents that maintain hives on their properties. Those simply interested in attracting more honeybees to their gardens can do so by planting catmint, bee balm, butterfly bush, autumn sedum, rose of Sharon, scotch broom, phlox and clover.
Club members also collected food donations for the Wakefield Food Pantry, which partners with the Boston Food Bank to meet the food insecurity and household necessities needs of Wakefield residents. The pantry is set up as a small grocery store furnished with aisles of shelves for dry goods groceries, refrigerators and freezers for dairy and meats and bountiful shelves for fresh produce.
“In the upcoming year, the Village Home & Garden Club will host a full calendar of fun, informative monthly meetings and invites you to become a member,” said Village Home & Garden Club member Jennifer Welter. “If you would like additional information about the Village Home & Garden Club of Lynnfield or are interested in joining, please email Sue Cullen at sue.cullen4@gmail.com or Carol Schelzi at cscheizi@gmail.com and a membership application will be mailed to you. Annual dues are $40.”
