Thank You from Rehoboth Garden Club

On behalf of the Rehoboth Garden Club, I would like to thank everyone who made our recent Plant Sale Fundraiser such an overwhelming success. At 9 AM on May 4th, the Miller Pavilion at Francis Farm was filled with 2,852 containers of plants. By 1 PM there were only 36 containers of plants left!

It truly “takes a village” to bring an event of this magnitude to fruition. In appreciation I’d like to recognize these important groups and individuals:

• Our Rehoboth Selectmen, who have allowed us to hold our fundraiser at Francis Farm since 2022.
• Selectman George Solas, who is our greatest advocate and supporter.
• Tish Vadnais and the Agricultural Commission, for their ongoing sponsorship.
• Buildings and Maintenance Supervisor Mike Viveiros and his crew, for all their hard work cleaning the pavilion, setting up and taking down the tables and making the Arcade building available for our use.
• Deputy Police Chief Brian Ramos and his officers, who diligently protected our plants and equipment from theft or vandalism.
• Adam Latham, the Department Head of Landscaping Design and Contracting at Bristol County Agricultural High School. Our collaboration with Adam makes unique bushes, shrubs and trees that were grown at their school available to our customers. Profits from the sale of those plants are shared by both Bristol Aggie and our Rehoboth Garden Club.
• Val Sousa, owner of Sousa Family Farm on 33 Agricultural Ave. Rehoboth, Barbara and David Frerich, owners of Frerichs Farm on 65 Kinnicutt Ave. in Warren, Rhode Island, and Marie Pray, owner of Oakdale Farms on 61 Wheaton Ave. Rehoboth, all of whom provided us with beautiful annuals, herbs and hanging plants at deeply discounted prices. We encourage you to patronize these local family businesses that contribute so much to their communities.
• Our dedicated club members who dug up and donated plants from their gardens, grew plants from seed, and volunteered their time and hard work before, during, and after the sale.
• Our hundreds of loyal customers from Rehoboth and our surrounding towns who supported our annual fundraiser. I’m sure that all 2,816 plants you purchased are happy in their new homes! By the way, those 36 unsold plants will not go to waste. They will be used to enhance Francis Farm or other sites in Rehoboth.

As always, your plant sale purchases will fund our scholarship, educational and civic programs. Thanks to you, this year’s fundraiser was the most successful one in our club’s history. As a result, we are thrilled to announce that we will be able to increase our 2024 scholarship from $4,000 to $5,000!

Our Rehoboth Garden Club was first organized in 1934. As we celebrate our 90th anniversary, we know how fortunate we are to be part of this wonderful community.

With thanks and appreciation,
Linda McHugh, Plant Sale Committee Chair