- December 3, 2024
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The Longboat Key Garden Club is exchanging its gardening gloves for oven mitts to get the island back into shape after Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
In November, the club released the "Longboat Key Garden Club Cookbook." It is now available to purchase for $45 at J. McLaughlin, Le Gardenia Bleu and at LBKGardenClub.org.
All the proceeds will go to its Environmental Recovery Fund, which aims to beautify the island after the 2024 hurricane season.
With resident donations, the fund plans to revive different nature scapes across the island, such as Bicentennial Park and its butterfly garden, which was created by the club.
President Melanie Dale said they will use the rest of the donations to enhance other areas where the demand is the highest, such as Bayfront Park and Joan M. Durante Community Park.
The cookbook project was announced at the club’s annual Arbor Day picnic on April 25, originally as a unique spin on its fundraising efforts. The book is a collection of 140 recipes from members to share with friends around Longboat Key.
To emphasize the club’s focus on environmental education and impact, the recipes incorporate natural and plant themes. It is also meant as a memento for members to look back on their favorite Garden Club memories.
The club started selling the cookbooks at the 10th-anniversary party for J. McLaughlin on Nov. 21. Fifteen percent of the proceeds were donated to the Environmental Recovery Fund as well of the sales from the book. Dale manages the Longboat shop and said the event raised $2,300 for the fund.
Along with this event, Garden Club members have also volunteered their time since coming back to Longboat by helping prepare Christmas in the Garden at the Longboat Island Chapel, which opened on Dec. 1.
As it looks toward the new year, the Garden Club’s newest event is Art in the Garden. The club will host around 14 local artists, April 3-6, at the gardens at Longboat Island Chapel as a way to promote the bond of art and nature and how important they are to Longboat Key.
“All of our members are very supportive of everything that we're doing,” said Dale. “It's just gonna be a tough year. Our goal is just doing everything we can to help the community recover.”
