|
|
|
|
Vol. LXV, No. 39
|
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
|
|
|
|
|
|
Vol. LXV, No. 39
|
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
|
 FRENCH CONNECTION: “The Market is really our fund-raiser. It helps support our Garden Club of Princeton’s civic projects. All the proceeds of the sales go toward the organizations we support. And our customers, who really enjoy having fresh flowers in their homes, have helped us all these years.” Shown left to right are Mary Hulme, Market co-chair, Meg Michael, Erin Forrey, co-chair, and Trudy Healy at last Friday’s French Market flower sale. Missing is co-chair Maureen Stellato.(Photo by Barbara Morrison) |
Twice a year, for several weeks, it sets up shop on Friday mornings at Mercer Island Park, at the juncture of Nassau and Mercer Streets and University Place. The Garden Club of Princeton’s popular French Market is once again underway, and welcomed by all. Townspeople and tourists alike enjoy the wonderful display of fresh flowers and plants, and the opportunity to take some home.
“Right now, we have fall flowers, such as dahlias, asters, mums, zinnias, hydrangeas, and bulbs, including tulips and daffodils which will be planted now to bloom in the spring,” notes former Garden Club of Princeton (GCP) president and historian Barbara Chatham.
“Arrangements are also very popular,” adds Mary Hulme, co-chairman of The French Market. “We have unique arrangements. People are so busy now, they often don’t have time to do their own. Last week, we sold at least 20 arrangements, as well as all the loose flowers.”
All the flowers, plants, and arrangements at The French Market are donated from the Garden Club’s members’ own gardens.
Fund-Raiser
“We tell our members to remember The French Market when they plant,” says former GCP president and current public relations chair Cecilia Mathews. “We depend on this as our fund-raiser. Coordinating everything and getting everyone to participate and getting the flowers to the market is the challenge. Also, we have more competition today, not only from florists, but from grocery stores. Three or four club members volunteer to be on hand to oversee each Friday sale.”
The situation was different in the early days of The French Market, she points out. “In previous times, members often had very large gardens and big estates, and their chauffeurs or gardeners would bring large amounts of flowers to the market. It is different now.”
The market’s history is indeed a fascinating look at both changing times and enduring traditions in Princeton. It dates to 1915, when members of the Garden Club of Princeton (which is celebrating its centennial this year) held a flower market on May 20 on the grounds of Garrett Place, now Princeton University’s Palmer House. Proceeds from the sale went toward supplying the community library, other civic projects, and to pay half of the salary of a “nature” teacher for the Princeton Elementary School. In addition, some proceeds were sent to victims of World War I in Europe.
The next year, a second market was held at Thomson Hall, now the site of Borough Hall. Both this event and the sale from the previous year lasted all day, and included music, dancing, singing, fortune-telling, and refreshments. The U.S. Army sent its brass band from Ft. Dix to entertain the crowds.
“Stress of War”
When the U.S. entered the war in 1917, the flower markets were discontinued, “deeming it unwise during the stress of the war,” but sympathy for friends in France prompted the GCP to send donations to support the French War Relief. A number of Princeton University professors’ wives also began selling flowers in stalls set up near the current French Market, and club members assisted them. These stalls, called The French Flower Markets,” resembled the flower stalls outside L’Eglise de la Madeleine a Paris in France.
According to the GCP’s centennial publication, “the little stalls on the corner of University Place and Nassau Street were in danger of becoming a peace casualty, when some young women of the Garden Club of Princeton, who had assisted at the French Flower Market, adopted the name for the Club.”
After the end of the war in 1919, the Club expanded the French Market to include not only plants, flowers, eggs, vegetables, and fruit, but at times, “baked goods, kittens, squabs, canned goods, and bird cages.”
In 1932, the Market was established as a permanent fixture at its current location, Mercer Island Park. During the 1930s, The French Market became a weekly event, as it is now, for several weeks in the spring and fall.
Metro Stop
Its Mercer Island Park location has undergone refurbishing, renovation, and landscaping by the Garden Club over the years, including in 1967, 1997, 2001, and 2010. Columns were installed in 1997 to give an attractive contemporary look — “It was really meant to look like a Metro stop in Paris,” reports Ms. Mathews.
During the 1997 renovation, a plaque was erected in honor of the French Market’s longevity and contribution, and to the Princeton community which has supported it.
“This is Borough land, and we get permission from the Borough to hold the Market,” points out Ms. Chatham. “The Borough has been very cooperative.”
In fact, the Borough allows free parking surrounding the Market site every Friday during the sale.
The community has strongly supported the Market and in doing so, the many projects the Club champions, including the Delaware & Raritan Greenway, Friends of Princeton Open Space, Morven, NJ Conservation Foundation, Pinelands Preservation, Princeton School Garden Coop, and Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, among others,
The GCP has raised thousands of dollars over the years from the French Market, which takes in between $6000 and $8000 annually from its spring and fall sales.
Regular Customers
Many regular customers come weekly to see what is available, reports Barbara Morrison, the Club’s vice president. “They are everyone — all ages, men and women, people from abroad, tourists, University students. A University student came one morning, and got a single flower for his girl friend to surprise her. People often come early, mothers dropping kids off to school, and others getting flowers for their office before going to work.”
“One of the by-products of the Market is that GCP members really get to know each other when they are helping out at the Market,” adds Ms. Chatham. “I really enjoy the camaraderie with the other members, and of course, it’s fun to talk with the customers. We also all continue to learn more about the flowers.”
In addition to the flowers and plants, garden-related items, including garden tools and gift cards, are available.
“The challenge is to keep coming up with unique ideas to appeal to the customers. We have to keep up with the times,” notes Ms. Mathews. “People have been very happy with the Market all these years, and we want that to continue. We look forward to keeping the tradition going.”
The Market will be on-site through October 14. September 30 will feature a fall wreath workshop, October 7, fall bulbs, and October 14, pumpkins and mums. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
In addition to Mary Hulme, current Market co-chairs are Erin Forrey and Maureen Stellato. The Garden Club of Princeton, which was established in 1911, is a founding member of the Garden Club of America (established in 1913).