In The Community
Cherry Avenue Garden
The Community Garden on the corner of Cherry Avenue and Delaware Avenue in Delmar, NY welcomes drivers into the village. The garden, created in 2003, was the first town garden to be installed on a highway by the Bethlehem Garden Club. That year, the garden won an award from the Perennial Plant magazine.
Route 9W Garden
The Community Garden at Route 9W, Glenmont, created in 2004, was designed using a prairie theme enhanced by trees. It is located at the intersection of 9W and Route 32.
Bethlehem Town Hall Native Garden
The Community Garden at Bethlehem Town Hall, was created in 2006. It is located at the corner of Delaware Avenue and Borthwick Avenue.
Our newest endeavor created in Spring 2022, is an educational garden to teach the use of native and host plants for pollinators. It was created as a collaboration with Cornell Master Gardeners, Bethlehem Garden Club, The Children’s School in Slingerlands, and Town employees.
It includes an informational kiosk, and benches to sit and ponder our need to create more spaces like this in our own yards.
Maintaining Our Community Gardens
Members gather from spring through fall to weed, trim, plant, mulch, and finally put the community gardens to bed. New and current members are encouraged and always needed to help in maintaining these town treasures.
The Bethlehem Garden Club also accepts applicants for volunteering from April through November for PIG credits. Please contact us via email at bethlehemgardenclub@gmail.com for more information about how to help.
We are very thankful to the Town of Bethlehem Highway Department for their heavy lifting, delivery of mulch, and concerted maintenance efforts with the Bethlehem Garden Club at each of the gardens. Please contact us to help with this effort and enjoy viewing the results around town.
"We are all connected to the earth..."
Virginia DiFabio Acquario
On January 21, 2021, our family, church, town and society in general lost one of humanity's greatest and most gifted treasures. Virginia was a wife, mother, grandmother, registered nurse and child birth educator, poet, artist, gardener (master certified), certified arborist, landscaper, home designer, chef, baker and just about anything she wanted to be and she did it well. From church redesign (St. Thomas in Delmar) and church worship decor to home design of Schroon Lake house to several Bethlehem Town gardens, including the Veteran's Park and her own home gardens, she gave her genius and the results improved her world, the town's and everyone who came in contact.
She was a treasure that will be missed by all. We are grateful to have known and loved her. God speed Virginia and thank you for your contributions to our lives.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Bethlehem Garden Club, P.O. Box 485, Delmar, NY, 12054.
Published by Albany Times Union from Jan. 22 to Jan. 23, 2021.
Virginia Acquario in her own words.
"Thank you for sharing your time and effort. The work, we as Garden Club Members do, show an example to the community. It’s not just about beauty, it is about the health of the environment. Planting trees, shrubs, and flowers are an integral part of pollution control and propagation in the planet. Just look at the bees at the Town Hall Garden. The fragrance and color of the plants give the senses an opportunity to appreciate what nature has to offer. The bonus here is that the birds add to the picture. Just yesterday I saw and heard a red cardinal squawking in hopes that I would not disturb its habitat. We are all connected to the earth and the animals, birds, and bees know it. We must do our part to preserve the planet.
As a group, we are making a difference with our work. We can attract people to start their own gardens giving back to the environment the much-needed oxygen that photosynthesis provides. At the same time, the resulting effect of the green space can be a source of tranquility and satisfaction.
Without your time and effort, our gardens would not be a reality. You will be blessed a hundredfold by giving in to gardening."
