Month: June 2026

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DGC Annual Luncheon 2026.

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It was a beautiful day for the members of the Driftwood Garden Club to gather for their annual business meeting and luncheon. Smiles and chatter filled the rooms as members arrived and began connecting with each other.

Many thanks to Adrienne Sweetser for sharing her beautiful home for our annual meeting. DGC hosts provided a delicious variety of salads, fruit, and side dishes to accompany our main course. We especially thank Louise Moore of ‘Every Little Breeze Catering’ for the amazing lobster rolls and lobster salads, as well as Lily at ‘Three Hundred Fifty Bakery’ for the scrumptious cupcakes.

DGC President Cheryl Miller began the meeting with an overview of the past year’s activities, and thanked the chairpeople and members for continuing to work hard to make this club such a vital part of the community. Along with our work in the gardens of Abbot Library and Farrell Court, we attended wonderful programs over the winter, and took several fields trips together. A new civic activity that was started this year was to bring food donations to every meeting. After each meeting, the donations were brought to either the Marblehead Food Pantry or the Anchor Food Pantry in Swampscott and both organizations were truly appreciative. We then voted on bylaw changes with Joyce Raymond, welcomed new members, and approved the roster of incoming officers and committee chairs.

Laurie Boggis, Treasurer, give her financial report to the members and talked about possible projects at both the library and Farrell Court for the coming year. Of course, we were anxious to hear the end results of our hard work at the 2026 plant sale, and we were not disappointed! Everyone said how much fun they had had, and we were happy to hear it was successful once again. 

Susan McMullen, our incoming President, presented Barbie Saraceno with the DGC’s very own “Unsung Hero” award. Barbie has many talents, but she has an exceptional ability to manage anything and everything computer-related. From creating an online membership application to managing Sign-Up Genius to helping a member with a computer issue, Barbie is there, with a smile on her face. Congratulations, Barbie!

Luncheon was served, and we each found a place to enjoy our delicious lobster with wonderful friends, old and new, all of us looking forward to many Driftwood Garden Club events and programs in the coming year.

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Art in Bloom 2026: Max Beckmann’s ‘Still Life with Three Skulls’.

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Congratulations to our DGC members, Susan McMullen and Pinar Gokce, for their participation in the 50th Anniversary of the MFA’s Art in Bloom. Their creativity and interpretation of Max Beckman’s piece was stunning.

Art in Bloom took place on May 1 to May 3 of this year, but the work for our designers began well before that. On March 2, 2026, Susan and Pinar reported to the museum to receive their assignment. Up until this time, it was a total surprise to the participants what their art piece might be. The designers were then given an opportunity to visit their piece of art, closely observing details of the work. Because of the heavy lines, dark colors, and three skulls in this piece, Pinar’s first reaction was a bit of shock. But as she and Susan looked closely, and talked about the details in the painting, they began to see where their design could lead them.

Max Beckmann was a German painter, printer, sculptor, and writer. Although classified as an Expressionist, he rejected that label. He fled Germany in 1937 after the Nazis seized 500 of his paintings which they called “degenerative art.” Unable to get a US visa, he spent the war years in Amsterdam, where he experienced Nazi persecutions, bombs, and hunger. Beckmann printed this tabletop scene during the final months of the war, using objects such as skulls, playing cards, and an extinguished candle to symbolize the transience of life.

With this background knowledge, and the design sketches they had each made, our designers went to the flower market for the first time on March 2. This first trip was to see which flowers might be available and would work in their floral piece. They made a second trip on April 2 to check out the inventory of flowers. And then, on April 29, they went to the flower market for a third visit, this time to purchase the flowers that they would need for their arrangement. They chose chartreuse green hydrangeas for each of the three skulls, a gerber daisy for the candle, and lily blooms for the cards. 

Everything from the flower market went home with them in buckets of water because on the following day, April 30, they would be driving back into the MFA for Arranging Day. They were ready!

During the three-day Art in Bloom exhibit, our designers had to make sure their arrangement stayed watered and refreshed which meant going in early to make sure everything was perfect. Art in Bloom is one of the MFA’s major fundraisers, and Pinar and Susan both said it was an honor to be participants. We, as the Driftwood Garden Club, are honored to have members like Susan and Pinar who are excited to put in their time, energy, and creativity to represent us in such a positive light!