Porter Library tree glitters with gold

The lobby of Westlake Porter Public Library is glowing brightly with a beautiful holiday tree. On the Monday after Thanksgiving, the Westlake Garden Club came to the library with boxes and bags of ornaments and materials to decorate the tree. The garden club is winding down a yearlong 50th anniversary celebration – a Golden Anniversary. 

It seemed appropriate that the theme of this year’s tree is “golden” items from nature. In addition to hundreds of white lights, there are gold balls, bows, leaves, pine cones, acorns, pears, apples and swans, with white hydrangeas and baby’s breath garland. This is the second year the garden club has decorated a tree and according to library director Andrew Mangels, it will be an annual project. 

The tree committee consisted of chairperson Gail Morse, Pat Dailey, Judy Hullinger, Regina McCarthy, Robert Pearl, Alberta Ricciardi, Margaret Schulz, Jean Smith, Carolyn Steigman and Agnes Tark. The committee met several times to discuss a theme and select items to be displayed.

This project is a lot of fun to work on after the gardens are put to bed for the winter. There were many positive comments on the tree last year and we hope visitors to the library take a moment to stop by the tree this year and enjoy all of the different ornaments. The tree is located in the lobby near the door to the café. 

The Westlake Garden Club supports many educational and civic projects in Westlake and the Westshore community throughout the year. We meet the third Wednesday of every month, except January, at the library. Membership is open to anyone from any community who has an interest in horticulture and the environment and in meeting people and making friends. Visit our website at www.westlakegardenclub.org, and make sure you visit the holiday tree at Porter Library.