Boston Flora

Tag: First Lutheran Church of Boston

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Holiday Wreath Sale Deadline Approaching

    Just two days left to place your order for a fully decorated holiday wreath, custom made by members of The Garden Club of the Back Bay, and delivered to your door during the first full week of December, depending on your location, or available for pick up at The First Lutheran Church of Boston, 299 Berkeley Street. Don’t miss your opportunity to support an active not for profit organization dedicated to the beautification of the Back Bay, tree care throughout the City of Boston, and environmental causes throughout the region. Order at https://bostonflora.com/store/

  • Garden Club of the Back Bay Holiday Wreath Store Now Open

    The Garden Club of the Back Bay is pleased to announce the full resumption of its annual Holiday Wreath Sale, after a couple of years of suspension due to COVID and a year of limited sales and outreach for the same reason. As past customers remember, each wreath is lovingly created, by hand, by talented Club members, to the custom specifications of the purchaser, and all fully decorated wreaths must be ordered in advance. The November 30 deadline allows the committee to acquire all the necessary ribbons, greens, and decorations to enhance the wreath. To see examples and to order online, visit https://bostonflora.com/store Wreaths can be delivered free of charge to addresses in Back Bay, Beacon Hill, and the South End, or can be picked up at The First Lutheran Church of Boston, 299 Berkeley Street, on December 5, 6, and 7. Sadly, the wreaths cannot be mailed due to their fragility. We will post additional wreath pictures on Boston Flora now through Wreath Week as a reminder and incentive to support this important not for profit organization fundraiser. Proceeds benefit the street trees of Boston.

  • Wreath of the Day – Pastor James Hopkins

    The First Lutheran Church of Boston welcomed a new Pastor in 2019, just after our last Wreath Week before Covid. The Reverend James P. Hopkins was called to New England directly upon the completion of his resident MDiv studies at Concordia Theological Seminary — Fort Wayne, IN. During his time at seminary Rev. Hopkins played on the basketball team, wrote for the Jerome Exegetical Seminar, and tutored in Greek.

    Rev. Hopkins holds a B.A. in Sociology and Spanish from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL (2008), and performed postgraduate studies in International Relations at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

    Before being called into the Office of the Holy Ministry, Rev. Hopkins worked in the Department of Defense and served in the Marine Corps, both on active duty and in the reserves. In addition to deployments to Afghanistan and the Middle East, his fluency in Spanish and Portuguese caused him to be posted in Colombia, Brazil, Uruguay, Panama, and Nicaragua. He now continues his military service in the reserves as a Navy Chaplain. He was very gracious to our Club during Wreath Week, even joining our volunteers for a meal, and we look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with our new host. We have been active maintaining the north facing Church garden on Marlborough Street, which we are sure has been enjoyed by the Congregation as well as by neighbors.

  • Monday, December 5 – Thursday, December 8 – Where We Are This Week

    Looking for a Garden Club of the Back Bay member? Need to discuss wreath delivery options? You will find us at The First Lutheran Church, Boston, 299 Berkeley Street, where, for the first time since 2019, we will be decorating holiday wreaths! If you need immediate assistance, call our new phone number 617-872-2697 (617-USA-BOWS) or email info@bostonflora.com. Follow us on Instagram for up to the minute sneak peeks – @gardenclubbackbay.

  • November 30 – Ordering Deadline for Holiday Wreaths

    There is still time to get your order in for a festive holiday wreath. Just click on https://bostonflora.com/shop/ Unlike past seasons, we have not bombarded you with sales pitches since our supplies are limited this year. We hope you had a great Thanksgiving and are ready to focus one final time on checking this seasonal staple off your “to do” list. Remember, we deliver in Back Bay, Beacon Hill, and the South End, and pick up is simple at The First Lutheran Church of Boston, 299 Berkeley Street. If you need more information, email info@bostonflora.com, or call 617-872-2697.

  • Wreath of the Day, From the Archives – Margaret’s Basement

    For the first years of the Wreath Project, which began in the 1980’s, we decorated in the kitchen and basement of Past President Margaret Pokorny’s house. In those days we were there for two or three days (our switch to four days plus a half day of set up came later), and we made quite a mess. Margaret’s flagstone wall still bears evidence of some gold spray paint gone rogue. The amount of pine tar and ornamental grass dust shed was epic. I suspect some needles can still be found under the floorboards. Margaret’s long suffering husband would flee to New Hampshire. Even after we moved to The First Lutheran Church of Boston, a few special early orders were completed back on Marlborough Street. Wreath Week is always the first full week in December, but when the calendar doesn’t cooperate, some big buildings schedule their holiday parties on the weekend before we began decorating. To help with their dilemmas, we made a handful of wreaths early, including the one below, one of a fully decorated trio for 180 Beacon Street.

    Today’s Wreath of the Day post is sponsored by member Glenda Mattes, a decorator who specializes in the use of dried herbs, roses, and delicate materials, some of which are included below.

  • Wreath of the Day – From the Archives, Begins Today

    Thanksgiving is behind us, today is Black Friday, the coronavirus is still with us, and we now turn our attention to The Garden Club of the Back Bay’s annual holiday wreath project, sadly cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic. Club members and past purchasers were notified of this state of affairs in an October mailing, but we didn’t go into all the reasons behind our thinking. First and foremost was concern for the health of our volunteers. We make the wreaths in the basement of The First Lutheran Church of Boston, a venue where social distancing and proper ventilation would be challenging. As with all public spaces, we could not be assured the Church could rent to us if State or City guidelines became stricter as case numbers rise. Our volunteers are, in some instances, sheltering away from Back Bay. We always anticipate Wreath Week with excitement, and its loss in 2020 cuts deeply. Luckily we have a collection of photographs from years past, to bring some cheer and inspiration from now through the New Year.

    Generous members have contributed to bring these posts to you, and today we thank Nancy Devereaux, our director of site operations and able second-in-command bow maker, as our first Wreath of the Day sponsor. Contributions can be made at https://bostonflora.com/donate/ and we will be happy to acknowledge your support in a future post. All proceeds to our all volunteer organization go to the support of tree care and neighborhood beautification projects.

    Below is a wreath from 2008, hung outside the Church ready for delivery, with some of the address information edited out for privacy. We chose this image as an example of the many steps necessary before the wreath gets to the door – the production of the paperwork, the decorating in conformance to order specifications, the quality control, and the assignment to our drivers and driving assistants.

  • Monday, December 2 – Thursday, December 5, 8:00 am – 7:00 pm – Holiday Wreath Making

    Monday, December 2 – Thursday, December 5, 8:00 am – 7:00 pm – Holiday Wreath Making

    The Parish of The First Lutheran Church of Boston will again host The Garden Club of the Back Bay for wreath making on the lower level of Church, 299 Berkeley Street (on the corner of Berkeley and Marlborough Streets). We are very, very grateful. Please note that we are setting up the space on Sunday, December 1 and will be ready to work first thing Monday morning!  Monday participation by as many of you as possible is critical to our success. The hours are as follows:

    Monday, Dec. 2 – 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. (decorating)
    Tuesday, Dec. 3 – 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. (decorating)
    Wednesday, Dec. 4- 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. (decorating, delivery)
    Thursday, Dec. 5- 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. (decorating, delivery, clean up)

    Please come to the side door on Berkeley Street. We’ll post a sign. Coffee and baked goods will be available each morning, and catered lunches will be delivered all four days. Dried materials and fresh greens can be delivered to the Church no earlier than Monday, December 2. Please have all decorations cleaned down – branches cut down, dead leaves removed – so we can contain the mess we inevitably make. Delicate materials can be laid flat in sweater boxes or gently stacked in cardboard containers. We are going to need as many dried items as we can collect, and we especially want interesting fresh evergreen boughs and holly. Sturdy pine cones were in short supply at the end of last year, and we did a wholesale cleaning out of old dried flowers and dried fruit before storing supplies, so a fresh batch will be welcome.

    Bring clippers and scissors if you have them, labeled with masking tape for ease of identification. Aprons are also a good idea. Dress comfortably! We need everyone’s help, whether you decorate, deliver, organize, make telephone calls confirming delivery, or sweep. Contact info@bostonflora.com if you can take a delivery shift. Otherwise, we’ll see you on Monday. Non Club members are welcome to join us. Thank you.

  • Wednesday, March 27, 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm – Ikebana Workshop

    Wednesday, March 27, 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm – Ikebana Workshop

    Garden Club of the Back Bay member Kaye Vosburgh will teach us the basics of ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement, in our Club’s March meeting, to be held Wednesday, March 27 from 1:30 – 3:30 at The First Lutheran Church, 299 Berkeley Street in Boston.  Ms. Vosburgh is an accredited Master Judge in the National Garden Clubs, Inc, and a First Grade ikebana teacher, Riji, in the Sogetsu School of Ikebana. She teaches many classes and has won numerous awards here and abroad. There will be a materials fee of $30 per participant, and the number of participants will be limited. Garden Club members will receive notice of the meeting and may pay online at https://bostonflora.com/shop.

    Image result for Kaye Vosburgh ikebana

  • Wreath of the Day – A Retirement

    Years ago we moved our Wreath Project from the basement of Margaret Pokorny’s home to The First Lutheran Church of Boston, and were welcomed effusively by Pastor Ingo Dutzmann and his congregation.  The Church is the most perfect venue for us, combining a locked outer courtyard space to keep our wreaths fresh and safe, a large basement workshop for decorating, and a functioning kitchen for feeding our members. The Pastor has been a fixture during our four day workshop, smiling, good humored, and an endless source of corny jokes. We learned this year that he is retiring and we hope he will return as Pastor Emeritus or visiting clergy during Decembers, so we may again enjoy his company. The Church website describes him here: Pastor Ingo Dutzmann has been the senior Pastor at First Lutheran Church of Boston for over 20 years and has a great heart for Jesus, his congregation, and the people of Boston. Whether he’s preaching law and gospel to folks both big and small, taking visitors out for lunch, counseling the distraught, or just making bad puns to lighten the mood during Bible study, Pastor takes his responsibility to proclaim Jesus seriously. Pastor has a wonderful wife, Daria, four children, and two grandchildren. After the gas explosion and fire which destroyed their home in 2015 (but, God be praised, spared all who lived there), Pastor has continued to serve the church and LCEF with even greater compassion for the suffering, while looking for a new earthly abode. Their new home in Maine is one way in which Pastor is looking ahead to his retirement, planned for May 2019 (save the date for a celebration of his many years of faithful service on May 18)! Hopefully his new location will help satisfy his lifelong passion for snow, in which he delights. Pastor also delights in the fact that he has never once canceled Sunday services for snow, and to this day is pleased that parishioners have shown up to our downtown Boston location on cross country skis.  Below is a picture of the wreath we made for him this year along with a picture of him with wreath co-chair Margaret Pokorny. Pastor, we wish you well!