A group of friends gathered in the winter of 1967 and decided to form a garden club. In April 1968, after meeting with leaders of the Council of Garden Clubs of Virginia Beach, electing and installing our officers and adopting Bylaws, we received our Charter and joined the State, District, and National Council of Garden Clubs. We were on our way to many fulfilling hours of community service.
Club History
May Farm Garden Club of Kingston
From those neighbors and friends, two clubs were formed, the Kingston Garden Club, a daytime club, and May Farm Garden Club of Kingston which met in the evening. We chose the name “May Farm” after the May family, the owners of the farmland where most of our homes were built. From those original fifteen members, our membership has grown to as many as 50 during our history.
In the early 90’s we welcomed the first gentlemen members and since then several men have joined our club! Throughout our history our husbands and children have assisted us with projects by doing plantings, fund raising, and various other tasks. We are a community-minded club and have beautified community churches, schools, street medians, a traffic circle, and planted numerous trees in local parks and at schools. We have landscaped the front of King’s Grant Elementary School and built an outdoor classroom in honor and memory of a teacher. We erected the first Blue Star Memorial Marker in Virginia Beach at the Visitors Center. It was placed in honor of those who served, died, and are still actively serving our country in the armed forces. We also built an entire playground in the community in the 70’s when there were no City parks in our neighborhood.
Our fund-raising efforts have also included the community. We were purchasing mulch to beautify and enrich our own landscapes, so we decided to sell pine straw, primarily within the community. It has been so successful that we have had pine straw sales for over forty years! This has been a great service to our community and a great fund-raiser for our club. We have worked with the Boy Scouts who have been so supportive in this effort. They, in turn, earn community service badges.
Throughout our years, we have sponsored many students who have attended Nature Camp and continue to do so. Nature Camp is a two-week camp, formerly sponsored by our state organization, the VFGC. We have also sponsored a Junior Garden Club at King’s Grant Elementary School for ten years and an Environmental Club at Lynnhaven Middle School for many years. Currently, we support local scouts in the community with various projects. We help young scouts finance projects including an outdoor chapel, a Little Free Library, and benches at First Landing State Park Campgrounds. At Christmas, our members contribute small wrapped personal items for residents of a nursing home in our community.
Our members have enjoyed working with the elderly in many area nursing homes and continue to work monthly with them. Flowers, containers and greenery are provided by the members to help the patients create cheery arrangements.
Throughout our history of over fifty years, May Farm has entered and won numerous National, State, District and local awards for our successful projects. A National Garden Clubs, Inc. Byway Award was won in 2008. This award was for the Anniversary Garden created at First Landing State Park in celebration of our nation’s 400th anniversary. This $500 award brought National recognition to our club.
We are very proud that four of our members are past presidents of the Council of Garden Clubs of Virginia Beach and led that group in the establishment of Red Wing Park, saving the historic Francis Land House, and funding the expansion of the Japanese Garden at Red Wing Park. We have also been honored to have three of our members serve as President of the Tidewater District of the VFGC.
Socially, our club enjoys late summer picnics, a Christmas party, and a wine/cheese/silent auction in February.
Our club continues to grow and prosper as we serve our community. Our success is due in part to the fact that our meetings are fun and informative as well as entertaining! Our committee chairmen educate our members with fascinating information on birds, conservation, horticulture, etc. We offer incentives (awards) for floral arrangements, houseplants and horticulture. Our programs are on a variety of gardening and related subjects. Many times, our program chairman arranges a garden club tour during our final spring meeting. We have visited members’ gardens, the Norfolk Botanical Garden, local historic houses, Norfolk and Portsmouth historic houses, the wildflower garden at the Virginia Aquarium and Science Center and other areas of interest.
May Farm Garden Club of Kingston has cultivated friendships and gardens along its historic journey. The communities of King’s Grant, Little Neck, and many other areas in our city have benefited from our efforts and, we, as members, have been nourished and have “bloomed” along the journey.