The Neshanic Garden Club, which celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2019, supports gardens in Hillsborough, Montgomery and Branchburg, including the Gazebo Garden at the Hillsborough Municipal Complex, the Sensory Garden at Ann Van Middlesworth Park, the Station House Garden and Pond Overlook Garden at White Oak Park, and Otto Kaufman Center Gardens.
Earlier this fall, the Neshanic Garden Club, in conjunction with the Hillsborough Township Parks Department, installed a Blue Star Memorial on the grounds of the township’s Municipal Complex.
“This was about two years in the making,” Garden Club President Barbara Zielsdorff said in a statement released by the township, referring to when the Garden Club first decided to pursue a memorial in Hillsborough. “We have been working with the Administration Office and the Parks Department to have this monument installed and are happy to finally see it.”
“This is another example of what makes Hillsborough so great. Thank you to the Neshanic Garden Club for working with us to have this memorial erected on township property but more importantly along the parade route for our annual Memorial Day Parade,” Mayor Doug Tomson said in the statement.
According to the National Garden Clubs website, the Blue Star Program honors all men and women who serve in the United States Armed Services. This program began with the planting of 8,000 dogwood trees by the New Jersey Council of Garden Clubs in 1944 as a living memorial to veterans of World War II. In 1945, the National Council of State Garden Clubs (now NGC, Inc.) adopted this program and began a Blue Star Highway system that covers thousands of miles across the Continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii. The Blue Star was adopted because it had become an icon in World War II and was seen on flags and banners in homes for sons and daughters away at war as well as in churches and businesses.
A formal dedication ceremony of the memorial is planned for 2021.