History of Wreath & Greens Sale, December 7, 2024 10:00 am to 1:00 pm Creative Arts Building Pennington County Fairgrounds

Gathering of the Greens (from the 1998 Membership Handbook with updates for today's activities)

The annual Rapid City Garden Club Christmas Wreath and Swag (Greens) sale is the primary fundraising to support the mission of the club. The big sale items are wreaths, swags, centerpieces made with fresh greens.

Members begin gathering greens the beginning of October for Arborvitae, Kinnikinnick, Oregon Grape, Cedar, Juniper. Other Greens gathered include Spruce, Blue Spruce, Pine, Yellow Seeded Juniper, Silver Backed Juniper, Juniper Blueberries, Yew, Mugo Pine and Holly.

Greens are gathered in Rapid City at the Club Gardens, City Parks, area neighborhoods and in the Black Hills. Each year over 100+ large garbage bags of greens are gathered that make over 400+ products for public sale. Four to six products are made from each bag gathered.

Just the tips of branches are removed which allows trees to continue to produce a thicker, more dense growth. The greens are placed in large garbage bags, with wet newspaper placed on the bottom and top of each bag to keep the greens fresh. The bags are then stored in a cool, shaded space until the wreath and greens making begins that begins the last week of October until the sale the first Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Small bouquets are made out of the Kinnikinnick and Oregon Grape which are stored in shallow pans of water for placement in plastic bags to remain fresh as they are needed.

There are custom made wreath making tables that include holding the wireframes and a petal that clamps wires on the frame to hold the greens in place. Once the greens are all clamped on the wireframe, the frame is placed in a tub to soak and then hung to be decorated, sprayed and bagged for the sale.

The sale is held the first Saturday in December the week after Thanksgiving. Since this is the primary source of funding for the club yearly activities to support the mission for community beautification projects, a sellout is what builds the clubs future.

For a number of years the wreath/greens making was in a greenhouse at Cottonwood Acres until the move to the Pennington County Fairgrounds Creative Arts and Horticulture Buildings.

The sale began in 1961 in the YMCA as an afternoon event with centerpieces and wreaths. Sales were made to people who came to shop for their Christmas tree from the Y-Men's tree lot. The first show netted the club $50 after paying a $10 fee to the Y. It was a very cold, winter day, well below zero. The Y at the time was in an old house with high ceilings, no insulation and an antiquated heating system. The next year the Y was in the process of rebuilding, so wreaths were made and sold by taking order.

By December 1963, the Garden Club was invited to use the Hospitality Room of the Savings and Loan (S&L) Building. This space was used for eight years until the S&L required it for their 1970 expansion. Receipts grew to $1,200.

In 1971 the Club began holding the sale at the new Senior Citizens Center now the Canyon Lake Activities Center. A new, warm, modern building with furnishings all on one floor and ample parking. Receipts had grown to over $2,000. In 1993, sales grew to $5,625 with selling out by 10 am and in 1994 - 1995 sales receipts were over $8,000. In 1997 to compete with other groups selling wreaths, we moved the sale date to the Saturday after Thanksgiving and sold from two locations: Canyon Lake Senior Center and Rushmore Mall. The move to the Pennington County Fairgrounds in 2010 for the sale allowed for a one-stop making and sale for best use of time and resources.

The annual sale continues to be a popular community event with loyal buyers. Each year brings the fragrance of pine to welcome in the holiday season and building friendships through the art of wreath making!