by Martin Gwynn

(From an interview with Jack and Eileen Routson 4/29/2003)

Every year the Laramie Garden Club has a plant sale which provides a service to the community and funding for club projects, which also benefit the community.

The east garden at the Albany County Public Library

     Revenues from the plant sale have been crucial due to the fact that club dues, until recently, were only $1 per year.  They are now $2 per year.  There were no matching grants from any state agencies in the early years.

     During the formative years of the Laramie Garden Club, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Sunshine Flowers, Windmill Hill, Gibson, Brentlingers, Safeway, Ideal, Albertsons and various other retailers didn't exist in Laramie or didn't carry flowers and shrubs.  Therefore, the annual plant sale really filled a need in the community.

     With plants taken from yards full of proven perennials and shrubs, and with 12 dozen vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, & cauliflower), the first plant sale was held in 1964 in the JC Penney center aisle because a previously booked building ended up being double-booked.  The proceeds from this first sale totaled $154.

     By 1992 the plant sale was being held in the old 4-H building at the fairgrounds.  There was a long line of people waiting to get in.  Receipts that year totaled $2,900, and within a half hour everything was sold.

     Each succeeding year the plant sale has met with similar success.