Perhaps the mission of the Ripon Garden Club says it all.

At Wednesday’s monthly session, club President Deb Travaille read that part out aloud: “to stimulate the knowledge and love of gardening; to aid in the protection of native trees, plants and birds; to improve and protect and protect the quality of the environment through programs and action in the fields of conservation and education.”

She added: “(The Ripon Garden Club) is more than seeds and plants – it’s about children and the love we give and spread around.”

Travaille and those involved in the local non-profit organization were thrilled to have the honor of being named grand marshals of the 60th annual Almond Blossom Festival, as announced by the Ripon Chamber of Commerce.

Members of the Ripon Garden Club, Travaille noted, spent time with the Miss Almond Blossom /Miss Ripon Queen candidates – namely, Shay Cunningham, Annie Wild, Mackenzie Loechler, Hailey Knief, Ines Rodriguez, Brianna Alvarez, Jade Diaz, Katherine Van Unen, Chloe Price, Paris Ferrill, Ruth Visser, Kacy Thurman, Brooke Barros, Briley Perez and Heaven Elisary – in preparation of last month’s speech competition, incorporating this year’s theme: “Plant it, nurture it, watch it grow.”

Each was applauded for their efforts.

“They were amazing,” Travaille said.

The Ripon Garden Club was created as a non-profit in 1954. A year before that, Pansy Dolezal, who garden club’s first-ever president, helped put the group together at the old Ripon Rifle clubhouse, according to Connie Jorgensen of the Historical Museum Commission.

She was the special guest at the meeting held at American Legion Post #190.

One of the early club donations from the early years was that of the ginkgo tree in front of the museum. Planted in 1962, the tree still stands to this day, towering over the former library, Jorgensen noted.

She mentioned the Daisy Do’ers, which was an all-girls club at Ripon High consisting of eight members in the late 1960s through the early ‘70s. They not only did cleanup and beautification projects around town but entered in the open division of the San Joaquin County Fair’s horticulture projects, taking second place. “There wasn’t a category for high school girls back then,” Jorgensen said.

The Ripon Garden Club, meanwhile, continues to support the local high school seniors and community college transfer students who are interested in pursuing an environmental, agricultural or horticultural focused degree, conducting the September Stroll in support of that endeavor.

The club also supports current projects involving the downtown flower pots, Garden Therapy, arbor day activities, and the various school gardens and education programs, to name a few.

The Ripon Garden Club, in addition, helped in saving the declining butterfly population by carefully creating the Butterfly Garden at Mavis Stouffer Park.

As grand marshals, Travaille said that her group will be featured in Almond Blossom Festival Parade on Saturday, Feb. 26, beginning at 1 p.m.

They’ll do so while riding in their own designed parade float.