The Des Fleurs Garden Club, a member of the Ohio Association of Garden Clubs, will celebrate 50 years of Oxford beautification with events at the Oxford Community Arts Center on Aug. 30.

The public is invited to attend a flower show to be held from 1 to 3 p.m. and a Commemorative Ceremony will take place from 3 to 3:30 p.m.

A Garden Party will be held from 1 to 3 in the center’s Children’s Garden.

There is much cause to celebrate the decision made by five Oxford ladies in July 1959 that it was time to put their gardening talents to work for the community. Seven more ladies were invited to join in their efforts. A bouquet of mixed flowers was selected to represent their goal to create beautiful spaces in the Oxford community.

The business of creating beautiful spaces with flowers began that first year with a variety of projects:

• Furnishing flowers for the McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital and Stull Home for the aged.

• Decorating every floor, hall and the tables in the cafeteria at McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital at Christmas.

• Starting plans for the West Park Place planting and beautification in Oxford.

• Working with the Girl Scouts in community plantings.

• Presenting a book on gardening to the Oxford Lane Public Library.

In 1966, continuing with their goal to create beautiful gardens in Oxford, the club developed a garden design for the area of the U.S. Post Office in Uptown Oxford. While the project was honored with third place in the Ohio Association of Garden Club Sears Civic Beautification Contest, their work brought an even greater recognition when the space was picked as one of 16 cited by then-First Lady, Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson, as one of the outstanding U.S. Postal Office beautification projects.

Receiving a certificate from the First Lady at the White House were the Oxford Postmaster and the President of the Des Fleurs Garden Club.

An Oxford beautification project was requested of the City Manager by the club in 1979. A small space, known for Carl Inloe, a dedicated gardener who last owned the property, became a Des Fleurs project. Trees and shrubs with two small flower plots kept the space a club project for many years. The garden space has evolved into a place of beauty for those who live in or visit Oxford. During the summer, one can drive by on Thursday mornings to see members of the club nurturing an Oxford space filled with colorful perennials and annuals.

Making sure the future of Uptown Oxford has hanging baskets each summer created the need to provide for a Beautification Fund with the Oxford Community Foundation. Each year, the club financially supports the hanging baskets with funds received from the Foundation.

In partnership with the Oxford Community Arts Center, located in the historical Oxford College, the club began a landscaping project which redesigned the front or East side of the building. Included in the design are two antique planters and four concrete planters.

Caring for the planters and the new plantings at that site is an on-going project of the club.

In 2007, a plan for a few raised beds for a children’s garden camp on the ground surrounding the Community Arts Center grew as a fence became necessary. Today, the Children’s Garden is a place where the sounds of children learning about gardening can be heard and a beautiful space for one to sit while enjoying the surroundings.

The funds to keep all of these projects at their best come from projects such as the design and selling of wreaths during the holiday season. In May, the club holds a plant sale and auction at the Community Arts Center. The club plans a tour of gardens in the Oxford Area next summer.

The public is encouraged to come by the Community Arts Center on the corner of College Avenue and High Street in Oxford Aug. 30 to share in the club’s celebration.