For Immediate Release
November 6, 2006

A Special Holiday Fundraiser: MGC’s Wreath Raffle
at the Annual Greens Sale

Millis, Mass. Millis Garden Club’s Wreath Raffle will be held on Saturday, December 2, 2006, from 10 am – 4 pm at Veterans Memorial Building, 900 Main Street (Route 109), Millis, MA. This one-day only event is held concurrently with MGC’s Annual Greens Sale Fundraiser. Take a chance to win one of thirteen uniquely decorated wreaths, created especially for our event and donated by some very talented people. This Annual Greens Sale and Wreath Raffle is the club’s biggest fundraiser of the year. All proceeds benefit civic beautification projects in the Town of Millis. Free admission and open to the public.

Each wreath is uniquely designed and decorated and especially made for this event. Wreaths are made from fresh greens, assorted dried materials or painted on wood. Most are holiday related and some can be displayed all year round. Each wreath has a theme and will have an appeal to young girls and boys; sports enthusiasts and adults of all ages.

The Millis Garden Club has invited some very talented and creative people to participate in this year’s Wreath Raffle, like Millis Artist Janet Yered who has created an Americana Santa Wreath which she has hand-painted directly onto a wooden sled. Millis Artist Jeanne Maier uses dried botanicals from her extensive garden and has embellished a wooden star for her wreath. Patty Breen has chosen White Christmas for her theme and is embellishing a fresh green balsam wreath with white accents from the forest, and topping it off with a wide white bow. For her wreath, Chris Gavin has actively been collecting acorns, pinecones and beech pods and will encrust these dried materials with sparkly diamond dust. Jen McPhee is working with pheasant feathers, faux birds and nests and her wreath is entitled Christmas on the Farm. Sports enthusiasts will be rooting to win the Go Sports Teams! Wreath donated by Diane Hubbard. Floral designer Nancy Gustafsons’ wreath Christmas on the Cape is embellished with sea shells. Debbie Lane Lesbirel is using dried sea lavender and hydrangea in beautiful tones of greens and blues for her wreath, which may be displayed all year round. A group known as The A-Team, lead by Millis resident Anne Strickland and her friends Ann-Marie Wallace, Ann Bourque, Alice Brown and Anna Osyf, have created a wreath called Tea with Friends, embellished with china cups, which can be displayed all year round. Millis Artist Sue Gilkey looks to her formal flower garden and landscape for inspiration and will create a wreath using these natural materials. Kathleen Pueschel is in mid-creation and her wreath will debut shortly our website. The generous Millis Seventh Grade Girl Scout Troop 4944 and Leaders Carol Baker and Mauer Ryder have created two wreaths for our raffle. Little girls will wish to win Decked Out for the Holidays, a wreath festooned with pink and purple purses, bubble bath bottles, "to do" lists, nail polish bottles, a tiara and a "princess" sign – all finished off with a pink polka dotted bow. Little boys will wish to win On the Move for the Holidays, a wreath embellished with helicopters, cars and trucks (real and ornamental), and finished with a plaid bow.

We invite you to visit www.millisgardenclub.org throughout the month of November to view recently completed Wreaths for the raffle. The Wreaths will be on display throughout the day at the MGC Annual Greens Sale. Tickets to win one of the wreaths can only be purchased on Saturday, December 2 from 10 am – 4 pm, . Buy 2 raffle tickets for $5; 5 tickets for $10; or 10 tickets for $15. Winners will be announced at VMB on Saturday, December 2 at 4:15 pm. The winning names will also be posted on www.millisgardenclub.org. Winners need not be present to win. Wreaths can be delivered within 10 miles of Millis or other arrangements can be made.

While you are at the Wreath Raffle, please shop for holiday decorations and gifts at the Annual Greens Sale, all handmade by Members of the Millis Garden Club. Special holiday treats will be sold throughout the day, made by some of Millis’ talented bakers,
Additional details about the Wreath Raffle and Annual Greens Sale Fundraiser can be found on www.millisgardenclub.org. For more information please call Debbie Lane Lesbirel, Greens Sale Event Chair at 508 376-4265.
The Millis Garden Club is a member of the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, Inc (www.gcfm.org), and member of the National Garden Clubs, Inc www.gardenclub.org/.

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