FELLSMERE — The Fellsmere Community Center on N. Broadway is looking more green and lush after the Garden Club of Indian River County in Vero Beach selected it for some fresh landscaping. In all, 116 shrubs, palms and flowers found new homes along the walkway, around the perimeter and near the sign of the community center.
“It’s wonderful,” said Fellsmere Community Development Director Mark Mathes of the work the Garden Club provided. “I’m ‘tickled pink,’ as they say.”
The Garden Club approached the city to offer some beautification assistance to the historic center, which was once the State Bank of Fellsmere, then more recently Oculina Bank, and now the Community Center. At one time, it served as Fellsmere’s City Hall.
“The community center was once the heart of the town,” said Civic Committee Chair Gay Brown.
Funds raised through members’ dues and from the annual GardenFest in Vero Beach were used to pay for the plants and installation of the Fellsmere project and four others done this season.
“It needed it very badly,” said Garden Club Civic Committee member Linda Beardslee of the Fellsmere Community Center. “This is going to be nice.”
“Every time I ride by projects it just makes me feel good,” she added.
The Garden Club, founded in 1928, serves various functions, including educating members and public, studying and providing aid in protecting native plant and bird life, supporting and practicing conservation of natural resources, and, of course, encouraging county beautification – such as sprucing up the Fellsmere Community Center.
The Fellsmere project was a first for the Garden Club, according to Brown. The club reached out to the city as a way to expand the club’s reach beyond the Vero Beach area.
“We want to get all parts of the community,” Brown said. “We were lucky the city wanted to do this.”
Mathes said he was a bit surprised when Brown reached out to him at the city and suggested the project at the community center.
“We love the end product,” he said, adding that he is looking forward to next Thursday’s City Council meeting when he and the Garden Club will present a slideshow to the council depicting the before and after of the project and present a proclamation to the Garden Club in recognition of its efforts to beautify the center.
As part of the project, Mathes agreed that the city would take over the maintenance of the landscaping once the Garden Club was done – a task the city fully expects to accomplish.
To that end, Mathes said the city would be calling out its irrigation contractor to ensure that the sprinklers and hoses are where they need to be and make any adjustments necessary to keep the plants watered.
Brett Hall, president of Creative Landscaping, worked with the Garden Club to manage and install the project with Orchid Island Botanicals. His 5-man crew worked for about 3 1/2 hours to plant the shrubs, flowers and palms.
“I love it,” he said of being able to help the Garden Club on the project. “We’re very proud to be a part of it and really enjoy it.”
Other projects the Garden Club took on this season included landscaping part of the circle at the VNA Hospice, some landscaping at the Homeless Family Center, and donations to the Indian River Land Trust and to Dogs For Life.
Beardslee stressed that the beautification projects the club works on each season would not be possible if not for the public’s support during GardenFest or their members’ support through dues.
The club declined to say what the budget was overall for this season’s worth of projects or the individual budget for the Fellsmere project.
The Garden Club of Indian River County consists of nine garden circles and can be reached by mail at 2526 17th Ave., Vero Beach, FL 32960, by phone at (772) 567-4602, and online at www.gardenclubofirc.org.
The club is always looking for non-profits and civic partners – including municipalities and government agencies – to consider for future beautification projects.
