The Arvada Gardeners are celebrating their 40 th anniversary this year. They began in 1967 as an all men's club with a children's garden and have grown to become a family club with a community garden and a partner with other organizations in the city. The club's membership now numbers 40+ men and women who share the common interest of gardening.

The community garden at 57 th and Garrison remains the major focus of the club. The garden contains 139 plots, each about 12' x 20', that are gardened by members and leased out to people in the community from May to October. These community gardeners are residents who don't have a yard, homeowners that don't have enough space or people that just enjoy the social environment at the community garden. The club members maintain the garden and its irrigation system, staff the garden during open hours, provide guidance and support to all gardeners, and try to make everyone's gardening experience a enjoyable one. The community garden is open Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Saturday mornings and Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings. The club invites the community in to visit and share the harvest of the garden during its' annual open house held on the second Saturday in August.

The Arvada Gardeners is a service club and partners with other organizations in the city:

· Arvada Food Bank - gardeners and members take fresh produce to the food bank on a regular basis. And there are gardenships available for food bank users at the community garden, with each assigned a mentor.

· Gold Strike Festival - club members volunteer to staff the Pepsi booths during this spring street festival. This is a fundraiser for Historic Olde Town Arvada with all proceeds going to fund other festival activities and entertainment.

· McIlvoy House - Clemency McIlvoy, an avid gardener herself, deeded the house to the city in 1919. The club is working with the city parks department in planning a nineteenth century English garden on the west side of this historic home.

· Arvada Historical Society - the club first planted a centennial vegetable garden just east of the Arvada Flour Mill. The garden was planted with crops that were popular 100 years ago. In succeeding years the club had done landscaping maintenance at the flour mill and planted and cared for a beautiful flower garden for visitors to enjoy.

· Arvada Harvest Festival - the club membership was successful in finding a sponsor and bringing back the Vegetable Contest to this annual Arvada event. Members and gardeners alike participated in last year's event, which saw over 100 entries, 33 alone in the Largest Zucchini category.

· Festival of Scarecrows - the club joined this ten-year-old festival by sponsoring a Giant Pumpkin Contest. The club also seeks donations for Indian corn, gourds, mini pumpkins and corn stalks that were grown at its community garden. The proceeds go to upkeep and improvements at the community garden and help defray the rental fees, which have not been raised in over ten years.

· Light Up Olde Town - after having participated in this event for several years, the club has recently taken a leadership role. Members now organize this year's event and work with Historic Olde Town Arvada to decorate the trees and lamp posts on Olde Wadsworth Boulevard and Grandview Avenue.

The Arvada Gardeners would use this grant to make improvements at their community garden, buy much needed tools and equipment and grow their partnerships in the Arvada community.