The Cultura Garden Club members work year-round planting seasonal flowers, weeding, watering and fertilizing the plants as well as decorating for the Christmas holidays in downtown Russellville. Why do they do this? To encourage pride in our community and to work with other groups such as the Book Lovers Study Club, businesses and individuals who are interested in educating the general public on the importance of keeping our city litter free and beautiful.

Recently Cultura Garden Club received the Club of Distinction Award, presented by the Garden Club of Alabama. The club also received first-place awards for the Deep South Garden Clubs’  Smokey Bear/Woodsy Owl Poster Contest entries. The first-place winners were Felix Garcia, 1^st Grade Division, West Elementary; Nevaeh Parks, 2^nd Grade Division, West Elementary; and Olivia Vincent, 3^rd Grade Division, Russellville Elementary.

Cultura Garden Club has also received state awards for its Every Light a Prayer for Peace ceremony.

Cultura’s annual fall mum sale is scheduled for late August.  The mums come in white, bronze, purple, red and yellow. The cost is $10 each. Proceeds from this fundraiser will be used for maintaining the flower pots and the decorations downtown.

The first meeting of this year will be Sept. 11.  The program is “How to Attract Butterflies to Your Garden.”

The officers are: Hillary Hall, president; Michelle Sibley, first vice president; Cheri McCain, second vice president; Sherry James, secretary; Carol Dykes, treasurer; Doris Woodruff, historian; and Debbie Beason, parliamentarian. They have been busy planning their projects, activities and fundraisers. The National Garden Clubs Inc. theme is “Plant America,” and in recognition of the 200 Alabama Bicentennial Celebration, the Cultura Garden Club’s theme is “Planting Our Roots: 200 Years Celebrating Russellville.”