Garden Club Through the Years at the Agricultural Fair
The Agricultural Society Fair is a great way for the Martha's Vineyard Garden Club to show its creative side while supporting the Fair and our Island Community!
Sights and scenes from the 2025 Fair
CENTENNIAL CONGRATULATIONS to the MVGC Ag Fair Team at the 2024 Agricultural Fair!
The MVGC team for the Ag Fair booth consisted of Fern Vaughan, Angela Egerton, Fawn Hurwitz, Minor Gibson, and Irene Ziebarth. After Blooming Art we held our first brainstorming meeting to share ideas. Lots of very creative concepts were shared. We all liked the photo Fawn presented of a female figure made of wire and to feature the garden club founder, Agnes Meikleham. One hundred years ago, Agnes spearheaded the first organization to focus on and fight for conservation on the island. Next we needed someone to help us with the wire figure, which we named Agnes.
When Irene had met with the artist, Marston Clough, in his studio to discuss his work for her Blooming Art design, she noted he worked with wire. She contacted Marston and happily within a few days he and his wife, Louise, had created Agnes. Our next challenge was to come up with the setting for Agnes. We needed to dress Agnes and provide a garden setting so we could invite the Ag Fair visitors to come sit in Agnes' garden. This required assorted props - Angela had an antique wheel barrow, plant stands and some flowers in pots. Thanks to member, Chris Wiley, owner of Vineyard Gardens, Minor was able to select and deliver additional plants to use at the fair.. She also provided some fun props. Fern coordinated and managed the team. and created the instructional signs. She met with Stephen Chapman who was instrumental in creating the sign - Martha's Vineyard Garden Club - A Century of Conservation.
Lastly we wish to thank Ed Hongosh for helping with the set up, Sarah and John Lolly for the membership material and Donna Arold for her internet posting and newsletter reporting. The goal for the team was to create something special for the Centennial and to have fun doing it. Our great team earned a Red ribbon. -submitted by Fern Vaughan
The MVGC team for the Ag Fair booth consisted of Fern Vaughan, Angela Egerton, Fawn Hurwitz, Minor Gibson, and Irene Ziebarth. After Blooming Art we held our first brainstorming meeting to share ideas. Lots of very creative concepts were shared. We all liked the photo Fawn presented of a female figure made of wire and to feature the garden club founder, Agnes Meikleham. One hundred years ago, Agnes spearheaded the first organization to focus on and fight for conservation on the island. Next we needed someone to help us with the wire figure, which we named Agnes.
When Irene had met with the artist, Marston Clough, in his studio to discuss his work for her Blooming Art design, she noted he worked with wire. She contacted Marston and happily within a few days he and his wife, Louise, had created Agnes. Our next challenge was to come up with the setting for Agnes. We needed to dress Agnes and provide a garden setting so we could invite the Ag Fair visitors to come sit in Agnes' garden. This required assorted props - Angela had an antique wheel barrow, plant stands and some flowers in pots. Thanks to member, Chris Wiley, owner of Vineyard Gardens, Minor was able to select and deliver additional plants to use at the fair.. She also provided some fun props. Fern coordinated and managed the team. and created the instructional signs. She met with Stephen Chapman who was instrumental in creating the sign - Martha's Vineyard Garden Club - A Century of Conservation.
Lastly we wish to thank Ed Hongosh for helping with the set up, Sarah and John Lolly for the membership material and Donna Arold for her internet posting and newsletter reporting. The goal for the team was to create something special for the Centennial and to have fun doing it. Our great team earned a Red ribbon. -submitted by Fern Vaughan
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Blue Ribbon Winners: MVGC at the 2023 Ag Fair
“Where Island Traditions Meet” — and the MV Garden Club met the moment with creativity, fun, and flair!
HUGE congratulations to Laurisa, Angela, Fawn, and Fern for designing our first-place, blue-ribbon-winning display at the Fairgrounds. Your inspired work made MVGC shine!
“Where Island Traditions Meet” — and the MV Garden Club met the moment with creativity, fun, and flair!
HUGE congratulations to Laurisa, Angela, Fawn, and Fern for designing our first-place, blue-ribbon-winning display at the Fairgrounds. Your inspired work made MVGC shine!
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Third Place Win: MVGC at the 2022 Ag Fair
In celebration of “Growing Traditions,” MVGC created a vibrant, interactive display that earned a third-place ribbon at the Fair. Club members Fawn Hurwitz, Nancy Kilson, Laurisa Rich, Fern Vaughan and Irene Ziebarth, combined creativity and teamwork to design a photo-friendly exhibit featuring flowery frames for visitors to pose with and share on social media—blending garden beauty with community fun. Special thanks to Esther Brandon for capturing the setup in progress.
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Spotlight on our roots and history in 2021
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The 2019 theme was “All Roads Lead to the Fair, Sea You There.” Club members contributed whimsical garden animals, arranged in a parade leading to a photo of a signpost pointing the way to the Fair.
The 2018 theme honored farming traditions of the past. The Club’s display featured antique tools, vintage seed packets, and time-honored practices like mulching with seaweed and straw—and even a nod to the humble worm.
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It's such fun to be part of the fair with the garden club. Everyone loves us and our displays. All of the participants in the fair pitch in to help each other like giving us straw when I brought fresh seaweed when we needed dried, or giving us 2 x 4s and sawing them to the length we needed to level out our display, or bringing us a ladder and going up to hang lights. It's an incredible branding tool for us and every year we've had MVGC members from all six towns helping out." |
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