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Thorold Garden Club honours local gardeners

On Saturday the Thorold Garden Club held its annual awards ceremony, where John and Rita O'Brien's garden was declared the most beautiful in Thorold

On Saturday afternoon the Thorold Garden Club held its annual awards ceremony at the Thorold Seniors’ Centre.

Prizes were doled out for the winners of the Flower & Rose Show held earlier this summer.

Patsy Ingoldsby was the big winner as she took home six different awards for her beautiful roses.

Garden Hero of the Year went to Nikki Szczechura because she has been an invaluable asset as a Thorold Garden Club board member. 

The Ontario Horticulture Association District Service Award went to Betty Beck who has been a member of the Thorold Garden Club for 46 years and who has long held the position of club treasurer.

The award was introduced by the vice-president of the Thorold Garden Club, Brenda Martin, who gave a speech in which she explained that Beck had been instrumental in transitioning the club to an online model during the pandemic.

“Betty Beck has been an invaluable asset to our society,” Martin said. “Until retirement Betty worked for the Thorold municipality. Her insight always included how horticulture fit into municipal plans and activities.”

Rita and John O’Brien, who live on Marlatts Road, won for having the most beautiful garden in Thorold, which was a new category created to celebrate Canada’s Year of the Garden.

The award was presented by garden columnist Theresa Forte who also judged the category.

“It was a real pleasure seeing the gardens,” said Forte. “There was quite the variety. They all had that nice feeling of this relaxing oasis. What a nice thing for your neighbours because you really improved the neighbourhood. It creates a really nice atmosphere on the street as well. ”

This is the first year the Thorold Garden Club is hosting in-person events again since the pandemic started.

“It turned out really nice,” said the club’s president Leslie Daniels.


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Bernard Lansbergen

About the Author: Bernard Lansbergen

Bernard was born and raised in Belgium but moved to Canada in 2012 and has lived in Niagara since 2020. Bernard loves telling people’s stories and wants to get to know those that make Thorold into the great place it is
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