BARRY’S BAY – The Madawaska Valley Horticultural Society is celebrating 25 years of making the Valley beautiful.
The local society was started by Inez Boehme in the community of Combermere. She grew up on a farm and was always interested in plants. She wrote to Guelph in 1986 and received some information on how to start a local society. The idea stayed on the backburner for a while until 1989, when Inez ran an advertisement in the local newspaper asking interested people to come to a meeting.
In October that same year, around 20 people turned out to the first gathering. An invite was sent out to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, asking a representative to come to a future meeting to provide information on organizing a group.
The group was officially named the Madawaska Valley Horticulture Society and became a member of the Ontario Horticulture Association in 1990. By that time, the membership had grown to 80 people and the first executive group was led by president Barbara Commandant.
The white daisy was originally chosen as the group’s logo, but, for some reason, the Lilly of the Valley was settled on instead.
Get your September 30, 2015 edition of The Valley Gazette to read the full story.