GREENFIELD — The Greenfield Garden Club’s 25th annual plant sale on Saturday morning drew shoppers from around the county.
Returning shoppers, however, may have noticed it wasn’t quite the “free for all” that the annual event tends to be, one organizer said.
Rather, customers lined up in the parking lot of the Jon Zon Center on Pleasant Street and waited their turn to peruse the club’s selection of perennials, vegetables, tree shrubs and bulbs outside the front entrance of the building. Club members and customers wore masks and were encouraged to observe social distancing.
“I felt badly that we had to make people wait,” said Laura Schlaikjer, club president. “I think it’s really hard for people — especially as a plant lover myself — to see everyone else looking at the plants, and (you’re) still waiting in line. But we want to keep people safe while feeding their souls.”
The Greenfield Garden Club hosts two main events — the plant sale and a garden tour held every other year in July — to raise money in support of community programs around Franklin County that promote children’s interest in gardening.
“We decided that we could run it socially responsibly, and nature keeps providing so we did have quite a lot of volunteer plants (a clump that needs dividing) this year,” Schlaikjer said.
Debbie Mielke of Bernardston attended the sale for the first time this year with her daughter, a Greenfield resident.
“It’s very well organized,” Mielke said.
In preparation for Saturday’s sale, the club began advertising to let people know the sale was still scheduled to take place, rain or shine. But because COVID-19 shuttered the doors of many businesses and changed the traffic patterns of others, the club had to consider alternatives to hanging posters in local stores.
“I even looked at the Agway the other day,” Schlaikjer said. “We usually put one there, but … who’s going to see it? Everyone’s rushing in and out … so Facebook was the best place to advertise.”
Schlaikjer said she posted on the club’s Facebook page and the public group, Positively Greenfield, and “it took off.”
People were asked to drop off their donations to the sale outside the Jon Zon Community Center on Friday afternoon.
Unlike previous years, the sale didn’t include a raffle nor a bake sale, said longtime club member and former club president Richard Willard.
“We’re trying to control it more because of the virus,” he said, noting that shoppers this year were smaller in numbers. “Crowds still think they need to stay home, and older people don’t like coming out.”
Still, the event on Saturday saw a number of new and repeat customers — with a rush in the morning that leveled out about an hour after opening.
Charlie Olchowski, a member of the club, said the annual sale is a result of members trimming their own gardens, which develops funding for grants and the club’s other programs.
“It’s a cool circle,” he said.
Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 263. Twitter: @MaryEByrne