O’Fallon Garden Club co-founder honored with national award

Carolyn Sitzes knows how make things grow.

As a child, she regularly worked on her family’s farm in central Missouri planting gardens, tilling and harvesting agricultural fields, and taking care of the farm animals.

A registered nurse, Sitzes spent her entire professional career keeping people healthy so they might bloom to their full potential, and away from work, she has devoted countless hours cultivating projects for the betterment of her community.

“I’m extremely proud of this Garden Club and what we’ve done in the community. We started with just a handful of people and it has just grown, and grown and grown,” she said.

In 2009, following successful completion of the University of Illinois Master Gardener program, it was Sitzes who recognized the need for an active garden club in her community of O’Fallon. She approached Mayor Gary Graham to plant the seed of her idea. He liked the it, and the O’Fallon Garden Club was soon formed. Today, the club is thriving.

“The (Garden Club), which started with a handful of members, now exceeds over 80 memberships. Mrs. Sitzes became their first president,” O’Fallon Parks and Recreation Director Mary Jeanne Hutchinson wrote to Conversation Committee of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR), which recently bestowed upon Sitzes its prestigious Conservation Award.

Hutchinson said Sitzes was the backbone of getting the O’Fallon Garden Club, and the Community Garden started.

“We are very fortunate to have volunteers in community like this in O’Fallon, not everywhere you go and live you have this driving force,” Hutchinson said.

“She was chosen by the National Conservation Committee in Washington, D.C., for her outstanding commitment and dedication to nature preservation and conservation, while helping to build a healthy, active and caring community,” said Judy Jones, NSDAR Cahokia Mound Chapter conservation chair. “I sent the committee in Washington, D.C., a pretty hefty booklet containing articles and photos from the O’Fallon Progress, which detail the development of the Garden Club and its impact on our community over the years. However, I think her biography speaks succinctly to Carolyn’s ability to bring residents together to work toward our common good.”

Since it’s inception, the garden club has made a significant impact in the O’Fallon through beautification efforts, educational opportunities, partnerships with local schools, and most notably, a persistent and dedicated commitment to the O’Fallon Food Pantry to provide fresh fruits and healthful vegetables to those in need.

“Our O’Fallon families are enjoying a fresh bounty of radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant, okra, peppers, etc.,” Hutchinson wrote.

Sitzes said the O’Fallon Garden Club all started with an idea that she pitched to O’Fallon Mayor Gary Graham years ago.

But the crown jewel of the O’Fallon Garden Club has been the transformation of an abandoned trailer court at the corner of Smiley and State streets, just east of downtown O’Fallon. The lot, which was reclaimed by the city of O’Fallon, was in the process of being cleared of debris when the mayor and City Council offered the 2-acre tract to the club so that it could establish a Community Garden in its place.

“From the ruins of an eyesore in the middle of town, under the careful guidance and nurturing hand of Carolyn, along with other garden club members, emerged a medley of beautiful butterfly gardens, vegetable and herb gardens, walking trails, (and) beehives for both the production and sale of honey as well as the opportunity to replenish the dwindling bee population,” Mayor Graham wrote in his a letter accompanying Sitzes’ nomination for her DAR award.

Not only witnessing but quarterbacking the metamorphosis of the large corner lot, Sitzes said gives the club “a sense of pride.”

“Everyone enjoys to dig in the dirt and to watch things grow and make our community a better place,” she said. “It’s just been a tremendous opportunity for all of us to enjoy this beautiful area now.”

Pamela Jacobs, Madison-Monroe-St. Clair University of Illinois Extension director, echoed the praise for Sitzes.

“This garden park area includes a vegetable garden which produces over 3,000 pounds of produce which is donated to the O’Fallon food pantry; nine flower beds featuring two butterfly gardens; and an herb garden. Eagle Scout youth continue to be involved in many projects, such as creating a grape arbor as well as apiary and mulching and maintaining walking paths. Future plans include an educational center for community use,” Jacobs wrote to the DAR.

Sitzes said the award is a “tremendous honor.”

“I’m very humbled,” she said.

The Community Garden offers, not only a haven for green thumbs and nature enthusiasts to enjoy the flower and vegetable garden beds, butterfly garden and apiary, but also benefits other community efforts with non-profit organizations and local groups. For example, the garden has hosted several projects with the following groups like the Boy Scouts of America working on Eagle Scout projects; Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois working on Bronze, Silver or Gold Award projects; and, the O’Fallon Township High School 66 Club.

Moreover, local residents may rent a raised bed for the season, too.

“The Community Garden has offered an opportunity for the homes and the people living nearby,” Sitzes said. “We’ve seen many renovations and updating of their homes — a sense of pride has developed, I think, in this area, this neighborhood, and we are happy to be apart of that.”

Next up, Sitzes said, is all-season pavilion to be used as a classroom for educating the community further on gardening, native plants, the Monarch butterfly and the the apiary.

This story was originally published April 24, 2017 at 9:08 AM with the headline "O’Fallon Garden Club co-founder honored with national award."