The Lakewood Ranch Garden Club has grown from six founding members in 2002 to 46.

As East County development reshapes the landscape, the club's volunteers are focused on wildlife protection, community recycling and public gardening education, according to a Your Observer profile published Sept. 23.

Cathleen Strong, the club's butterfly committee chair, lives on a butterfly farm in Myakka City and joined in 2023. She said she worries about the toll construction has taken on local animals.

"I think about all of the creatures that they buried — the bunnies, the snakes, the turtles, the armadillos — they did so much damage so quickly," Strong said. "A lot of people don't know that they did that."

Strong said club members want to encourage displaced wildlife back. Seeing butterflies return, she said, is a sign that the habitat is recovering.

Name tags and neighbors build a sense of belonging

Karen Aihara, the club's executive board chair and a Riverwalk resident who joined in 2022, has made belonging a priority. She introduced name tags at meetings so members could greet one another by name. Her husband, Bruce Aihara, joined within the past year. The couple had spent years visiting large public gardens together.

The club meets at Lakewood Ranch Town Hall on the second Monday of each month from 9 a.m. to noon.

Service projects and a neighborhood yard sale

Beyond monthly meetings, members assemble care bags for mothers and children at Stillpoint Mission and create silk floral holiday arrangements for Meals on Wheels recipients. Penny Kress, a Greenbrook resident who moved to Florida in 2019, leads the Lakewood Ranch Community Yard Sale, which encourages neighbors to reuse and recycle household items. The Nov. 1, 2025, sale was open to residents of Riverwalk, Summerfield and Greenbrook.

Kress's own yard doubles as a small habitat. A pond, bird feeders and milkweed attract ducks, birds and butterflies visible from her living room.

Garden Fest and a butterfly symposium

The club's biggest public event is Garden Fest, organized by River Club resident Sylvia Abdelsalam, who joined in 2022. The second annual Garden Fest, held March 14 at Harvest United Methodist Church, drew about 25 vendors selling plants and nature-inspired crafts, along with gardening demonstrations, butterfly identification tips and children's activities. The free event raised money for community service projects and student scholarships for environmental camps.

On Feb. 7, the club hosted a free Butterfly Symposium featuring Gilbert Daigneau, a native Floridian who has studied butterflies for more than 60 years, according to the Lakewood Ranch events page.

Membership chair Nancy Carlton can be reached at 941-812-5122, and details are available at LakewoodRanchGardenClub.org. The club next meets Oct. 12.