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Roscoe Garden Club launches Gardens of Distinction and community garden to support local food pantries
Summary
The Roscoe Garden Club presented a new Gardens of Distinction program (May–August photo submissions; two awards) and announced a small community garden at Rockton United Methodist Church to grow produce for area food pantries. Village staff will assist with promotion and sign placement; Ziegler Ace Hardware is a sponsor.
The Roscoe Garden Club presented a new community program to the Village of Roscoe board on April 15, announcing a Gardens of Distinction initiative and a small community garden that organizers said will supply produce to local food pantries.
Lisa Brown, identified in the meeting as the club’s marketing manager, and Sherry Henson, the club’s vice president, described the Gardens of Distinction program as a community contest that will invite residents to submit photographs of their home gardens during the growing season (May–August). The selection committee, made up of Garden Club members, will pick winners; organizers said there will be two garden awards in the first year and a separate "Doors of Distinction" contest for seasonal front-entry decorations running into the fall and winter holiday season. Winners will receive yard signs and gift certificates donated by local businesses. Brown said the club’s first year of operation focused on community engagement and that the program will start smaller than similar programs in larger cities while organizers learn what works.
Brown and Henson said the group is also organizing a community garden at Rockton United Methodist Church. The club expects to grow vegetables as well as flowers and intends to distribute produce to food pantries and churches in the northern Illinois area.
Organizers asked the village for promotional support; village staff said the village will publicize the program on the village website and that public-works personnel will assist with signage placement. Brown said Ziegler Ace Hardware is sponsoring the front-yard prizes and that several businesses have pledged gift certificates for the Doors of Distinction awards. The club emphasized that entrants should be home gardeners (not commercial landscaping contractors) and that the program is open to everyone.
The board did not take a formal vote on the program during the meeting; the presentation was informational and the club said it would follow up with promotional materials for the village to post.
