Red Bluff Tour, District Meeting, & Community Project fill SSGC April calendar

For members of the San Saba Garden Club (SSGC), the month of April started with a trip to nearby Red Bluff in lieu of the regular meeting at Mill Pond Clubhouse. The afternoon began with a tour of the beautifully restored and historically preserved home of Dan and Leanne Pollock. The original two-story structure was built on family land in 1924 as the residence of Dan’s grandparents, John Kirk Buttrill and Ida Wittenburg Buttrill. Ida designed the house herself. The first floor included a master bedroom, private sitting room, kitchen, dining room, and parlor. Upstairs were four large rooms with spacious closets (uncharacteristic for homes built prior to WW II). In 1936, the home was expanded to include a back porch, full baths upstairs and down, and an enlarged master bedroom. At some point, Grandfather Pollock built a battery house to provide the family with electricity. In the 1950s, a guest house was added a few hundred yards from the main residence.

Today, the parlor is home to a baby grand piano Ida purchased for her daughters in 1948 and had shipped from New York City to Lometa. It is one of many family heirlooms Leanne has preserved. Just outside the parlor is a long, covered porch overlooking pastureland that stretches to the Colorado River. Garden Club members were fascinated to learn so much local history and also to step back in time as they observed the museumquality memorabilia preserved in Dan and Leanne’s home.

From the Pollock home, the group traveled a few miles to Lope Along Ranch where Tom and Beth Griess reside on land inherited from her parents, Beth and J.T. King, a familial line that stretches back to Mark Wittenburg’s Providence Ranch founded in 1879. In addition to their modern residence, the Griesses have a charming log cabin nestled in a copse of trees a few hundred yards from the main house. Antelope Creek runs through the Griesses’ ranch; its banks have become the site of several archaeological digs revealing ancient Native American artifacts. The cabin is used both as a guest house and a VRBO rental with well over a hundred 5-star reviews. Beth, a truly gifted host, knowledgeable local historian, and active community participant in both Lometa and San Saba, used her natural storytelling skills to entertain club members with the rich history of her ranch as well as the experience of short-term rental ownership.

Following Beth’s talk, Garden Club members enjoyed refreshing fruit pizza served outdoors on tables decorated with grapevine wreaths and pasture greenery. Hostesses were Beth Griess, Sandra Lott, Trish Fullerton, and Janis Murray.

Also in April, representatives from SSGC attended the District V Texas Garden Club spring meeting, held this year in Liberty Hill with nearly 20 clubs in attendance and over 100 participants. Sherie Clarkson, Terri Dickey, Trish Fullerton, Rhonda Killion, and Debbie Shahan represented the San Saba chapter.

Our local Garden Club received numerous District awards and recognitions, including the following:

• Youth Environmental Education Award – First Place, Kids Nature Kamp

• Community Concern Award – First Place, San Saba Nursing and Rehabilitation (volunteer activities, events, gifts)

• Club Yearbook Award – Second Place

• President’s Report Award – Third Place

• District club with greatest membership growth – 16 new members! $100 award

April also marked the date for participating in an ongoing community project. Several years ago, SSGC built and planted a large keyhole garden at Shady Shores Nursing Home (now known as San Saba Nursing and Rehabilitation). Situated outside the facility’s large dining room window, the garden is intended to lift residents’ spirits as they watch plants and flowers grow and change with the seasons. Ongoing maintenance of the garden is sponsored by the Garden Club’s Therapy Committee, currently chaired by Rebecca Britton. In addition to Britton, members Marty Free, Dianna Furlan, Beth Griess, Sarah Lott, Mona McMahan, and Karen Sloan participated in a spring makeover. New potting medium was provided by SSGC, and members donated a variety of flowers, including perennials such as lantana, plumbago, verbena, day lilies, Greg’s mist, yarrow, rock roses, society garlic, violets, and oxalis. Petunias, zinnias, and marigolds were added for bursts of summer color. With the help of Nursing Home staff member Daniel Alcorn, the Therapy Committee tends the garden several times weekly, watering, weeding, and feeding as needed. It’s not unusual to look up and see one or more residents’ happy faces watching from the dining room window. As always, SSGC feels privileged to participate in activities that help keep San Saba a beautiful, friendly place to live.