September 14, 2005
Memorial garden offers seeds of hope
Friendly Garden Club donates birdbath to adorn Sara Anderson Memorial Garden
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Members of the Friendly Garden Club donated a birdbath last Tuesday to the Women's Resource Center, which was installed as part of the Sara Anderson Memorial Garden.
Anderson, a shelter advocate for the Women's Resource Center for five years was also a renowned folk singer and songwriter. A survivor of domestic violence who found strength and solace at the Women's Resource Center a decade ago, Anderson died in August of 2004.
The garden in her honor adjoins the center's temporary emergency shelter, Helen's House, where Anderson worked helping other women both as a volunteer and staff member. The birdbath is surrounded by impatiens, Anderson's favorite flower, planted in her memory.
"The garden club wanted to do something useful for the moms and kids who stay at the shelter," said Mary Lee Lord, executive director of the Women's Resource Center. "We put Sara's garden right next to the vegetable garden and the purpose of the garden is to provide an opportunity and place for clients to have a quite and restful place to focus on nature and flowers."
"It really is a nice memorial to her," she added.
Sharing a common resource of Helen Milliken, the Women's Resource Center and the Friendly Garden Club intersected around the birdbath.
The Friendly Garden Club donation was made in honor of the organization's Past Presidents, 20-Year and Life Members Luncheon, scheduled this year for Tuesday, September 27. The luncheon is not strictly an annual event but held every few years or as desired.
The social meeting will thank 18 living past presidents for their contributions. It will also include a program by local artist Donna Johnston as well as a tribute to a longtime member who died this year.
"Edna Rosenfield was an outstanding member who was a generous supporter of the club," said Mary Ann Pobuda of Suttons Bay, a past president of the club during the 1980s who is co-chair of the luncheon.
A few years ago, the Friendly Garden Club modified a tradition of giving all attending past presidents a gift to donating a gift to an organization in their honor. Last year, the group chose the Munson Hospice House. This year, following a tribute during last year's luncheon to Helen Milliken, they chose Helen's House.
"It made us feel so good to go over there and meet Mickie [Novorolsky, a shelter advocate] and Mary Lee Lord," said Pobuda. "They were so appreciative and we just knew we had done the right thing."
Helen's House opened in 1992, the 22-bed shelter replacing a 12-bed facility that had operated since 1986. Helen's House served 229 women from between September of 2004 and August of 2005, who spent 3,389 nights. During that time period, 159 children spent 1,227 nights at the shelter. The shelter does not track average length of stays as some women come in overnight until they can find accommodations while others spend up to a couple of months.
Helen Milliken, a member of the Women's Resource Center board from the late 1980s, was instrumental in the opening of the new shelter.
"When we got the new shelter, which was the house where we are now, the board decided and asked her permission to name it after her," said Lord. "Because she has been a long-standing supporter of the Women's Resource Center and women's rights and women's issues all of her life - she's a strong community leader who supports women."
The Past Presidents, 20-Year and Life Members Luncheon will be held on Tuesday, September 27, at noon at the Traverse City Golf and Country Club. The open meeting welcomes guests; please make a reservation, before September 21, by contacting either a Friendly Garden Club member or Ann Nichols at 256-9542. The cost is $16.50 for lunch.