Finally, fall is here!

This is one of my favorite times of the year. I am overwhelmed by the lovely colors nature displays for our enjoyment.

Maybe your family likes to take sightseeing trips to places like DeSoto State Park or the Guntersville State Park, which has views of the Tennessee Valley.

If you don’t have the time for travel, take in the autumn scenery Franklin County has to offer.  You might just want to ride around at your leisure in communities or downtown to enjoy the fall decorations.

As you do so, consider the work that goes into making these beautiful fall decorations.

One of Cultura Garden Club’s projects is decorating the downtown for fall.

Cultura consists of 16 women who are dedicated to making downtown beautiful for the different seasons. These ladies are volunteers and work tirelessly for the beautification of our city.   

No accolades are expected; however, we do have a few passersby who honk their horns or give shout outs of “thank y’all” or “ya’ll are really sprucing up town.” Acknowledgement of our work is always appreciated.

How does the garden club fund these seasonal projects? Mostly through fundraisers. Cultura just completed its fall mum fundraiser, in which a little over 284 mums were sold. We appreciate our local friends for their continued support of our projects.

Also, applications for grants have been submitted to assist with projects. The last one we received was a $2,000 grant from the Franklin County Community Development Commission.

Also, Pilgrim’s Pride made a monetary donation to the garden club.

The grant and donation were used for various beautification projects for downtown.

An item the garden club needs is an automatic watering system for the hanging baskets and pots downtown. For years our members have watered plants yearly with gallon jugs. The past few years, Shannon Wilson along with the city water department workers have assisted us in watering plants, for which we are very appreciative. Many cities have these automatic watering systems that help with the growth and the maintenance of their plants. Hopefully the automatic watering system will be purchased soon and installed in downtown.

In the meantime, the members will continue to take care of the plants as we have in the past.

This year is a milestone one for the Cultura Garden Club, as it marks 70 years of service to our community. As an affiliate of the The Garden Club of Alabama, National Garden Clubs and Deep South Region, Cultura has received numerous awards.

However, our main focus centers on beautifying the community, making it a better place and preserving the historic landmarks.