BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer
ALLENTOWN – Some local children recently transformed the color gray into all the vivid hues of spring.
Ladybugs, flowers and butterflies adorned the once-gray river rocks when the kindergarten and first-grade students from Upper Freehold Regional Elementary School had finished their creative work.
The Earth Day event took place April 20 at Allentown Presbyterian Church with the help of the Allentown Garden Club, according to Kathy Fidler, publicity chair for the garden club.
Each year, the garden club tries to sponsor a program or event with the youth in the community in honor of Earth Day, according to Fidler.
“This year we collaborated with some of the kindergartners and first-graders from Upper Freehold Elementary School at ‘Childwatch’ [an after-school program],” Fidler said.
The children painted the rocks to help celebrate Earth Day, which is April 22.
“The rocks, which have outlines of either a flower, butterfly, bug or snake, will be proudly displayed at the Allentown Public Library until the end of June,” Fidler said.
Once the showcase ends, the children can pick up their rocks at the library and take them home to display in their own yard or garden, Fidler said.
Timothy’s Center for Gardening donated the rocks, according to Fidler.
The Allentown Garden Club was re-established in March 2000. The group currently has about 35 members of all ages, both males and females, with varied gardening interests and levels of experience, according to the club’s Web site.
The group functions as a service organization in the community. Club members take on committee assignments and actively participate in club and community projects, according to the Web site.
In order to support the program, the club holds fundraising events, including its biannual “Hidden Gardens Tour,” during which area residents open up their gardens to visitors.
Membership is open to all area residents and includes monthly meetings that feature a variety of topics and speakers, discounts to some area nurseries, an annual plant exchange among members, and discount magazine subscriptions. Dues are $20 for individuals and $30 for families.
Meetings take place at 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of the month, September through June, at the Allentown Methodist Church on Church Street.
For more information visit www.allentowngardenclub.org.