Acton Garden Club, in cooperation with the Town of Acton, has renovated the Oval Garden in front of Acton Town Hall to honor the Acton Garden Club’s organization in 1934 and to celebrate its 90 years of service to the community. A Civic Development grant was sought by the Club and awarded by The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts to supplement funding and volunteer labor. The Historic District Commission issued a Certificate of Appropriateness for the Victorian era fountain that was installed in the Garden.
The Victorian era fountain, with elegant egrets surrounding the pedestal, was donated by the O’Neil family after it was gifted to them by Mabel Jenks, a longtime Actonian known for her leadership in scouting and the community, and respected member of the Acton Garden Club. Planted flowers appear to flow out of the fountain, where water would have once flowed.
The fountain, while not a Fiske, is designed in the style of J.W. Fiske, a prominent 19th century American manufacturer of decorative cast iron and cast zinc, Civil War memorials in northern states, and hammered copper weather vanes.
The egrets that grace the pedestal are a naturalistic style representative of the Victorian era of design. The fountain was installed by Dick O’Neil and the O’Neil Construction Company, with landscaping and plantings by the Acton Garden Club and O’Neil Construction Company.
On May 1 at 10 am, the Oval Garden will be dedicated in a public ceremony with John Mangiaratti, Town Manager, Dean Charter and other Select Board members, State Senator Jamie Eldridge, and State Representative Simon Cataldo. There will be a proclamation recognizing the work of the Acton Garden Club. A celebration with refreshments in Room 204 at Acton Town Hall will follow.
Ann Marie Testarmata is the Correspondent from the Acton Garden Club to the Acton Exchange.
