Who We Are | Four Counties GC

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Who We Are

Our Mission

The purpose of the club shall be to stimulate the knowledge and the love of gardening. Its aim shall be to encourage members to increase their knowledge of horticulture and conservation, and to improve and protect the quality of the environment through programs of education and community service.

History

Four Counties Garden Club celebrated its 95th Anniversary in 2017. We have continued the love and expertise in horticulture; the knowledge of the most cutting edge in artistic design; conservation issues; and the civic endeavors in which we are involved.

As members of the Four Counties Garden Club, we are also members of the Garden Club of America (GCA), the Philadelphia Committee of the Garden Club of America (PCGCA), and supporters of the 2013 conservation project "The Restoration of Concourse Lake" in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. Besides service to our community, FCGC members take great pleasure in sharing our horticultural knowledge and demonstrating our skills through club, regional, and national presentations and competitions.

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Founded: 1922

Joined the Garden Club of America: 1924

Our club has a long history of participation throughout the Philadelphia area. During the 1930's many members helped in planting Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve.

In the 1940's, the war years, with 3 other clubs, we opened our gardens to the Allied War Relief. Our members have participated over the years in the Rittenhouse Flower Market, the Philadelphia Vest Pocket Parks, the Neighborhood Garden Association, and the Physic Garden at Pennsylvania Hospital. At Mt. Pleasant (an historic home in Fairmount Park), we contributed to the painting of the exterior of the building, and paid for the historical architectural drawing of the view shed which Four Counties maintained. We have supported the Kearsley Retirement Community, Meals on Wheels, T&E Cares, St. James School bulb planting, and the Stonehurst Hills Elementary School project of preparation and planting of a Children's Reading Garden.

We can not overlook the 90 years our members have participated in the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society programs, and the talented members who volunteer and exhibit annually in the Philadelphia International Flower Show where they garner many ribbons in Horticulture and in Artistic Design.

Our members will ever continue to honor the foresighted group of ladies who began with a small vision for our club, but who quickly recognized and mentored the remarkable talent and enthusiasm that would guide Four Counties garden club into the future of growth and knowledge of gardening and our environment.

Founding Members

Miss Edith Biddle

Miss Helen Brinton

Mrs. J. Gordon Fetterman

Mrs. Samual J. Henderson

Miss Katherine P. Hutchinson

Miss Elizabeth Keating

Mrs. D. Braden Kyle

Mrs. J. Packard Lair

Mrs. Robert Lesley

Mrs. Robert H. Page

Mrs. Walter T. Roach

Mrs. J. Madison Taylor

Mrs. Frank G. Thomson

Mrs. Walter S, Thomson

Mrs. William J. Wilcox