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By Lynette Wikle

Bermuda Run Garden Club

When members of the Garden Club stepped into the ballroom of Bermuda Run Country Club Sept. 4, they were met with a display of buckets of flowers, the scent of lilies and a table displaying notebooks that chronicled the club’s history from its inception.

It was going to be a special day.

President Donna Lamonds shared highlights of the club’s history, starting with the N.C. Garden Club award for starting the Davie County Recycling project headed by member Carol Quinn.

The Bermuda Run Post Office landscape was designed, planted and is maintained by the club.

The Blue Memorial and Daffodil Garden at the I-40 rest stop won state and regional awards.

C;ub members contributed to the Blue Heron Trail, and this spring won another state award for their work with the Junior Gardeners at Ellis Middle School.

Members take part in continuing education and plan for more opportunities to serve our communities.

After a lunch was cleared, guest Reggie Walser was welcomed. He hardly needed an introduction to these flower-lovers as he has been their guest three other times. Reggie has been creating floral arrangements since he was a teen, going on to run Reggie’s Floral Shop in Welcome, for the past 40 years.

He’s decorated the White House at Christmas, been named North Carolina and South Carolina designer of the year, and North Carolina florist of the year in 2012. Due to health concerns, he closed the shop two years ago, but he proved that his talent and passion are as strong as ever.

Then the fun began.

Each member was given a large container of at least 15 flowers and a ceramic vase with floral oasis. All eyes turned to Reggie as he took members step-by-step through the placement of flowers into the oasis.

He gave tips of how to get the flowers to last the longest, why to prune petals and leaves and how to create a balanced display on all four sides.

He frequently stepped from his work table to give personal instruction. Membes learned a lot. One thing was clear, you cannot hurry when you attempt to create beauty with live flowers. Another is that even though members watched, listened and emulated this award-winning florist, each of their creations was different and yet all were spectacular.

Clearly, the anniversary celebration was more than enough to propel them into another decade.