Garden Club History

The first 15 members of the Mount Klitsa Garden Club met on March 24, 1955 at the home of Mrs. Ann Thomson at McCoy Lake. They selected the Trillium as their emblem.

The Club has a proud record of organizing flower and rose shows and donating trees and shrubs to significant Port Alberni buildings such as Alberni District High School (now Alberni District Secondary School), Echo Centre and City Hall. Member Margaret Smyth worked with the Club in the early 1990s to build the courtyard garden at Fir Park Village. Plants donated to West Coast General Hospital's old site remain to grace the grounds of what is now Abbeyfield. And a sizeable donation to the new hospital provided many of the tropical plants in the atrium.

Two of the original founding members, Vivian Thomson and Ann Rudy, are still with the Club.

Historical items in the Club's keeping include:

* Trillium pins made by Betty Crozier in 1958

* The Gavel made by Martin Lovdal and donated to the Club in 1957

* The Silver Rose Bowl, donated by the Garden Club Centennial Committee in 1971, engraved and awarded as a perpetual trophy to the winner of the annual Flower Show

Did you know?

It was the hard work of the Mount Klitsa Garden Club that resulted in a law being passed in 1958 protecting Trillium ovatum from being picked or moved.

A painting of the Trillium by founding member Ann Thomson was hung in the corridor of the Parliament Buildings on Nov. 17, 1958. In 2005, the Club proudly celebrated its 50th Anniversary.

Honorary Life Members

Larry Brechin	Bonnie Dufour