Viterbo garden club in bloom

  Though the winter months have seemed to drag on and spring has not quite arrived yet, the Viterbo University Garden Club is in full swing.  

     VUGC, which began in 2009, is headed by faculty advisor, Toni Wissestad, a professor of nursing, and student president Jackelyn Lutes, a nursing major from Benton, Wis.

     "The club actually started because we saw someone walk by with a plant," said Lutes, who was having lunch with friends when the idea of having a garden club came about. "The person had a smile on their face," remembered Lutes as the group thought it would be fun to share that experience on a larger scale.

     Thus, Garden Club came into existence.

     "We're still establishing ourselves, since we are so young," Lutes said. "Even though we have around 96 listed members, we only have 15 to 20 that are really active."

     Most students already know about the popular tee shirts the Garden Club offers. The slogans for the past have been "We Don't Care if You're a Pansy" and "Here We Grow Again." This year, the tee shirt slogan is "We Pick Flowers, Not Fights."  

     The club holds monthly meetings in which members plan upcoming activities. Some programs the Garden Club participated in were a Halloween party for the club's members and a Christmas tree trimming contest that was held in the Fine Arts Center last semester. 

     The most recent event the Garden Club put on was Tuesday, March 1. Members of the club went to the Boys and Girls Club and helped students decorate their own flower pots and plant their own seeds in them. In addition, they learned how to plant their own plants like basil, and then how to use it in their own recipes. 

     "It had more of an educational aspect," Lutes said. "It was a good way for our students to act as role models for the younger students at the Boys and Girls club and we hope to do it again next year."

     Another event the Garden Club is planning on hosting is a campus wide glow-in-the-dark ultimate frisbee game in honor of Earth Hour. This year, earth hour is on March 26; for one hour, everyone should shut off all electricity in order to save on electricity to protect the earth. 

     "We live in a world full of cell phones and electronics," commented Lutes. "By participating in Earth Hour, and having an activity that does not require electricity, we are upholding part of our mission of being environmentally sustainable." 

     In addition, the Garden Club plans to participate in the La Crosse area Neighbor Day, held by the La Crosse Jaycees this upcoming spring. During the event, members will go as a group and help the elderly and disabled with yard work. 

     "Hopefully in the future we will be able to offer new and more activities," Lutes said. "We're hoping to have a chrysanthemum sale in the fall, take a trip to the Madison gardens, and hold a window garden clinic." 

     For more information, students are encouraged to look at the Garden Club's website, www.vugc.smugmug.com, email Garden Club at gardenclub@viterbo.edu with any questions, or look VUGC up on Facebook.