A local organization recently started its 2014-2015 year with a tea party themed gathering and recognized some its past presidents.

The Washington Garden Club held its first gathering of the 2014-2015 year, themed “Hats Off to a New Year,” at the Grace Harwell Senior Center on Sept. 12, at which members decorated hats with flowers, gardening pins, photographs and logos, said Dee Congleton, co-chair of the garden club’s Civic Beautification Committee. The gathering, themed “A cup of tea with the ladies,” brought members and past presidents of the organization together for hot tea, sandwiches and desserts, provided by the executive board of the club. Awards were given for the best hats in terms of design, creativity and color, and past presidents in attendance, dating back to 1970, were recognized with corsages, Congleton said.

WGC President Mary George Hocevar recognized Sally Brodie and Edit Miller for their work in organizing the tea and commented on past presidents of the club joining the gathering.

“To have 11 past presidents was very special and it gave us a sense of history of the Washington Garden Club,” Hocevar said.

Congleton said the party was part of the club’s monthly meetings, in which specimens of annuals or perennials are on display and discussed with a speaker and a program. The club holds its monthly meetings the second Friday of each month.

The club seeks to stimulate knowledge and love of gardening as well as encourage environmental improvement through civic development and beautification, Congleton said.

The club’s beautification project can be seen all over Washington—the Brown Library Garden, the area at Market and Third Street, the children’s playground at Festival Park, the Grace Harwell Senior Center streetscape and Harding Square, which has won both North Carolina and National Garden awards and featured in the Welcome Magazine, Congleton said.

Among the club’s ongoing projects are an annual herb/plant sale in support of Beaufort County Habitat for Humanity and support for the Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo.