Buy a wreath to help to spread holiday cheer.

By Cathleen Twardzik

It’s that time of year again. Christmas is starting to waft through the air, but at the Somerville Center that means wreath assembly time. You could partake in the creation of beautiful, festive creations by volunteering at The Somerville Growing Center: Volunteer Opportunities (signupgenius.com).

This annual event is “our biggest” fundraiser. Each wreath is “handcrafted” and “made with love by our volunteers, which helps to support programming and care for the Growing Center.”

Orders may be placed at their online store. To locate it: log onto the Growing Center’s homepage (thegrowingcenter.org), click on support us, and then, click on wreath sale fundraiser).

Conveniently, you can get your wonderful wreath delivered for an extra $5 delivery fee if you live in Somerville, Cambridge or Medford.

It is impressive that, “The Wreath Project/Fundraiser started as a collaboration between the Growing Center and the Walnut Street Center back in 1995 – almost 30 years. Since then, it has become the major annual fundraiser for the Growing Center,” said Lisa Brukilacchio, Vice President of the Board of Directors and Co-Founder of the Friends of the Community Growing Center. Brukilacchio “started the annual wreath project/fundraiser more than two decades ago.”

This yuletide event, initially started as a way to fund the Walnut Street’s Garden Group at the Center, raises funds to support the Growing Center’s completely-free-to-the-public cultural programming, workshops and festivals, as well as to pay for our very part-time staff members and other operational expenses. It also happens to be a wonderful community event that brings together dozens of volunteers every year. Our wreath crew works behind-the-scenes — starting as far back as the summer-growing, picking and drying flowers, and gathering nature materials from farms and woodlands to create hand-decorated evergreen wreaths, each featuring a homemade bow, adorned with locally sourced pinecones, delicate dried flowers and ornamental peppers and berries. We are grateful for donations of local flowers from Late Bloom Farm, Red Fire Farm and Gaining Ground,” said Brukilacchio.

Besides this event, what else does the Growing Center do for the community? “The Somerville Community Growing Center is a municipally-owned community green space situated on a quarter-acre of gently sloped hillside outside of Union Square, Somerville. [It is] 100 percent operated by volunteers, this shared community garden hosts rich programming including nature education, cultural performances, festivals and events for children, as well as a vibrant Children in Nature Initiative that welcomes dozens of area preschoolers and school-aged children into the garden to learn, explore and play,” she said.

Further, “We also offer a multi-year-old Community Herb Project that supports programming around growing and using herbs, and were the co-founders of the Somerville Maple Syrup

Project, hosting the very first Maple Boil Down in 2000. The Growing Center also offers unique volunteer opportunities for people of all ages – providing opportunities to give back to the community while spending time in nature and meeting other people,” said Brukilacchio.

This year, 2024, marks the Growing Center’s 30-year anniversary. “In the fall of 1993, the first “work days” were held to break ground on the then-newly formed Somerville Community Growing Center. Volunteers showed up in clusters to help move dirt and sand, and form retaining walls and paths on this rough patch of hillside,” she said.

In more detail, “To mark the three decades that have passed since those initial work days in 1993, we opened up the garden on October 14, 2023 for our 30th Anniversary Kickoff. Visitors were able to listen to live jazz, check out archival photos, take a child-led tour and learn about our map-making, art and children’s narrative project.”

In May 2024, “Visitors were invited to tour a true hidden gem of a backyard with the owners, sample regionally grown crudités donated by Farmers to You, and sip drinks donated by local breweries. The event also featured an introduction to the household’s five chickens,” said Brukilacchio.

To top off the 2024 festivities, “In June of 2024, we held a public “FUN-raising” party to celebrate our 30th with the whole community. Festivities included dancing to the tunes of a local band, kids’ crafts and activities, a bake sale, and ice cream donated by Forge and drizzled with the Growing Center’s own Maple Syrup. Spring of 2024 also marked the end of our 30-30-30 Campaign: Over the course of 30 weeks – from mid-October 2023 to the end of May 2024, we made a goal of raising $30,000 to mark our 30 years. By May 31, we had raised $30,534 to support our programming, operations and long-term growth,” she said.

If you have a Growing Center memory that you’d like to share, please reminisce here: bit.ly/scgc-memories.  

The Growing Center’s homepage includes tabs for events, general volunteering and news.

On a final note, the Somerville Growing Center has a YouTube channel: Somerville Community Growing Center – YouTube. For additional questions, then, please contact the Growing center, email them at info@thegrowingcenter.org.

It’s time to grab a Christmas wreath for “your own front door.”