GROVELAND — They meet quietly in the Little Red Schoolhouse on the West Newbury side of town.
They do lots of work in the community and residents see the results all over town, but often don't realize who's responsible.
Members of the Groveland Garden Club are gearing up for another successful year in town after last year's events ended in June with a club-wide dinner and the group receiving several state and national awards.
"We're a pretty active club," said Marion Branden, the club's publicity director. "We have a core group of people who are really active. We are one of the smaller clubs, but we manage to do a lot of stuff."
As an example, the club is generally responsible for sprucing up the town with floral arrangements, she said.
"We take care of the traffic islands in town," Branden said. "They're a mess right now, but because of the heat, nobody has the guts to go out there and weed."
The club also put together a cookbook last year. It was called "Cooking with the Groveland Garden Club," and it covered every category of dining from appetizers and beverages to main dishes, breads and desserts.
The book, which sells for $12.50, won the Publication Award from the State and Federal Garden Federation for its presentation, Branden said.
The club also received a national award from the federation for its Junior Gardeners program, where the group takes gardening children on trips to areas throughout the Merrimack Valley and beyond.
Even individual members of the club were recognized by awards last year, Branden said.
"We're trying to encourage people to go organic," Branden said, adding that one member of the club was recognized for her efforts in increasing awareness of organic gardening.
Founded in 1967, the club is set to start a new year tomorrow with its first meeting since June. The club is hoping for new members to breathe fresh life into the group, Branden said.
"There are so many new people in town, and everybody's life is crazy," Branden said. "We'd like to have new people in town come in with new ideas."
The meeting will be held tomorrow night at 7 at the recently renovated Little Red Schoolhouse on Broad Street.
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