Fernwood Book Group
Third Saturdays, 10:30am - 12:00pm. Club meets February - November.
Location of Meetings: Visitor’s Center or join virtually!
Fun Fact: In 2024, the Fernwood Book Group is celebrating its 16th anniversary since its founding. Since that time, the group has read 157 books!
The books are thematically about nature, be it plants, animals, water, rocks and even the sun. Club members look for books that relate to how the environment affects us and how we affect the environment, plus biographies or memoirs of folks who have made an impact on our planet. Additionally, club members take turns being the moderator. The discussions between the club members are mind-opening and informative. They add layers of understanding and perspective to topics you may not even think you are interested in. Following group discussions, some choose to grab lunch at the Fernwood Cafe and continue to socialize by walking the grounds.
No reservations are required, and you don’t even have to read the book! Each club member is responsible for coming up with their own books. Many can be found through Michigan’s MEL program which loans out books from all of their libraries or purchased online for a small price.
Interested in joining meetings virtually? Forward your email address to cynharville@comcast.net to receive access to the link in monthly emails.
Visitors and new members are always welcome. For more information, contact Cyndy Harville at 269-473-2667 or cynharville@comcast.net.
Michiana Unit of the Herb Society of America
Third Sundays, 2-4 pm
The Herb Society of America, Michiana Unit is dedicated to the preservation and the cultivation of the Stan Beikmann Herb and Sensory Garden within Fernwood Botanical Gardens. Organized in 2004, the club is open to anyone with an interest in herbal gardening.
Garden Workdays and Monthly Meetings
As a rule the Herb Society works in the garden every Wednesday from 10am onwards and Sundays from 1pm onwards. The amount of time each volunteer works in the garden is up to their own availability, interest and discretion.
Members who work in the garden should bring their own tools (suggestions would be trowels, hori knives, spades, buckets for debris, water bottles, gardening gloves, comfortable clothing, snacks)
Many times garden volunteers will each lunch in the Fernwood Café and all members are welcome to join regardless of ability to work in the garden.
The monthly meetings of the Unit have a set agenda where the organizational business is conducted and also includes 15 minute presentations on the design and progress in diifferent sections of the garden.
New members are always welcome. For more information, contact Elaine Fletcher-Janzen, HSA, Michiana Unit Chairperson at 440-655-0951 or Jeanne Hook, HSA, Michiana Unit Vice-Chairperson at 708-878-5366.
Niles Handweavers Guild
First Wednesdays, 10 am. Club meets April - December.
Location of Meetings: Clark Gallery in the Visitor’s Center
Did you know Fernwood has a long history with the Niles Handweavers Guild? In 1949, Kay Boydston, a founder of Fernwood, discovered that her friend Gladys Kneeshaw shared her interest in weaving, and they decided to collaborate.
The purpose of the Guild is threefold:
1. To stimulate interest in handweaving and other fiber arts within our membership and in the community,
2. To encourage high quality of artistry and originality in handweaving and other fiber arts, and
3. To make information on handweaving and other fiber arts available to members.
There is always the fun of learning from each other, sharing what we have made, and bringing in teachers and projects to do together.
Visitors and new members are always welcome. For more information, contact the Guild President, Kathy Michener, at 269-429-6948 or kathymichener9@gmail.com.
Photography Club
First Sundays, 2 pm
Update: June 2 meeting has been moved to June 9.
Open to all ages and levels of experience. Meetings last about 90 minutes, starting with a sharing and discussion of recent images shot by club members, followed by a monthly topical program.
New members are always welcome. For more information, contact Paul Ewing or Mark Suggs at fernwoodphotoclub2@gmail.com.
