Edgewood Garden Club – Accepting New Members

(Just not gay ones)

Are you interested in joining the Edgewood Garden Club? They are celebrating their 90th anniversary in 2025 and are accepting new members. The membership criteria seems simple – not gay.

Hi! I’m Eliott. I have lived in Edgewood for more than 10 years.

Six years ago I reached out to Edgewood Garden Club President Bobbi Holland about joining. Bobbi quickly responded and invited me to the Facebook group. We exchanged pleasantries and established some personal connections.

I was excited about my new membership. The next day, I told my neighbors (another gay couple) that I had joined the garden club. They laughed at me and said, “oh, sweetie, you are not a member of the garden club.” I was confused and maybe naive. I confidently showed them my messages with Bobbi Holland. Having wisdom from past experiences, they instructed me to ask Bobbi about the membership dues. So I did. When I asked for information about the dues, she replied, “That’s only for actual members.” You can read the messages below.

Since my initial inquiry was not apparently clear, I replied expressing interest in becoming an actual member. She gave me an elusive response, but agreed to send me an application. That was 6 years ago.

Bobbi:

Did not send me the application.
Did not supply the location of the upcoming meeting (meetings are held in personal homes).
Did not vote on me at the next meeting, as she said she would.

Fast forward to 2024. I was nominated for Yard of the Month. I was contacted by Leslie – a member of the club.

I immediately asked for information on the membership process. As Bobbi did before, Leslie gave me a cryptic response.

I told her I was not interested in accepting the nomination if the Club precludes gays from becoming members.

I asked Leslie specifically, “is sexual orientation a part of the membership decision?”

She responded apologetically and dismissed the notion that they would exclude me because of my sexual orientation. As Bobbi did before, Leslie agreed to bring me a membership application. Can you guess what happened next? Nothing.

So, here I am, 6 years later. My application is “still in the mail” apparently.

I nudged Leslie via text reaction “?” about my application. She did not respond.

In the past year, I’ve made a couple “snide” remarks on Edgewood Garden Club facebook posts. “Snide” is Bobbi’s word. For example, in March, someone expressed interest in joining the Club through a post in the Club’s facebook page. I commented on the post about having never received my application. This was weeks before their 90th celebration.

No one responded. No messages. No phone calls. No texts. They actually deleted my comment. They clearly saw it and dismissed it.

The Edgewood Garden Club is part of National Garden Clubs, Inc. National Garden Club, Inc. maintains a “commitment to inclusivity” and “is committed to an environment that promotes a culture of diversity and inclusion in alignment with the mission, vision, and values of the organization.

I guess being gay doesn’t align with their mission, vision, or values.

Contact with National

I’ve emailed Brenda Moore, President of National Garden Club, Inc., at bmoore@gardenclub.org for comment. She hasn’t responded.

Peaceful Demonstration 04/09/2025

The Club’s 90^th anniversary was announced recently. I saw it as my opportunity to be seen after years of being ignored. Remember, they deleted my comment from weeks earlier about my “lost” application.

I placed a sign in my yard 04/08/2025.

I peacefully demonstrated at the Club’s 90^th anniversary on 04/09/2025. I had a large smile and my best garden-chic outfit on. I spoke with numerous people: workers at the country club, neighbors, visitors of the Elementary school, adult children of current Club members, and more. I received a lot of positive responses. But surprise, no one from the Club talked to me. They only offered snarls and eye rolls as they drove in and out of the meeting, clutched pearls in tow.

After most members had left, I was approached by Barb – she introduced herself as the membership chair. She was pleasant and welcoming. She gave me a copy of the application!

Closing Thoughts

Was Leslie’s and Bobbi’s mishandling of my membership inquiry intentional? Maybe. Maybe not. There was a series of events that suggested I wasn’t welcome.

Leslie knew that I connected the Club’s dismissal of my inquiries to my sexuality. I could not have been any clearer about that. Considering her failure to handle my inquiry, and my eerily similar experience years before, is my conclusion that they exclude gays so farfetched? If the 2019 and 2024 failures to send me an application were mistakes, then what about my 2025 notice to them that I hadn’t received it? They deleted the comment and still never supplied the application. Is all this merely circumstantial? Maybe. Maybe not. Bystanders can reach their own verdicts.

It’s unfortunate that my experience with two or three members has shaped my vision of the Group as a whole. But that’s the Club’s cross to bear- not mine. The Club should evaluate their leadership or public interfacing officers/members.

My multiple inquires, messages, and comments did not compel them to follow through. Those ordinary measures weren’t enough. It took a very visible yard sign and me confronting them through a peaceful demonstration to compel them to follow through. It took public embarrassment.

I have the application. That’s the close of the chapter. Let’s hope it doesn’t take another 6 years for the Club to “process” my application. Oh yea, I need a current member to sponsor my application. Any volunteers?