Millbrook honors garden club with National Garden Week proclamation

Millbrook’s public spaces are already showing the work of the city’s garden club, from the landscaped area around the Cultural Arts Center and fountain to the flower boxes at the Millbrook Senior Center. The city used a June 9 council meeting to recognize that visible labor and to spotlight how much of the town’s curb appeal rests on volunteers rather than paid staff.

Mayor Al Kelley formally proclaimed June 7-13, 2026, as National Garden Week and Millbrook Garden Club Week during the morning meeting at the Al Kelley Building on 3160 Main Street. The proclamation tied gardening to beautification, education, recreation, environmental stewardship and healthy living, and it framed public gardens as part of the quality of life residents experience every day.

Council President Michael Gay pointed to the club’s improvements around the Cultural Arts Center and fountain, giving residents a concrete answer to where the work can be seen. Kelsey Trump, the club’s president, said the recognition meant a great deal because the group’s projects are carried by volunteers who care about the city. After the proclamation, club members presented Kelley and the council with a decorative plant as a thank-you.

The recognition fit into a larger national observance. National Garden Clubs says National Garden Week runs June 7-13 and is meant to encourage pride in the community, attract new members and build partnerships with other groups. The organization says it has more than 130,000 members and promotes gardening, floral design and civic and environmental responsibility.

Millbrook’s club has deep roots of its own. The Millbrook Garden Club says it was founded in 1914 and has long promoted gardening, conservation and community through events, garden tours and civic efforts. Its mission includes helping members and the public learn about gardening, protecting native plants and birds, and encouraging appreciation of garden beauty and design.

That history matters in a city that sits in both Elmore and Autauga counties, about 10 miles north of Montgomery, and uses its parks and public spaces as part of its civic identity. Millbrook’s Cultural Arts and Special Events Department says it is meant to strengthen community connections and support economic growth, while the Parks and Recreation Department says the city owns and maintains four community parks. Mill Creek runs through the center of Village Green, the downtown park, making landscaping and upkeep part of how Millbrook presents itself.

The club’s recent public work has also been visible beyond City Hall. It held a spring plant sale on April 13, 2024, and a 2024 report noted its help installing and maintaining flower boxes at the senior center. Together, those projects show a model that is mostly volunteer-driven, publicly recognized by the city, and already shaping the places Millbrook residents pass every day.