How It Started
The Whitefish Bay (WFB) Garden Club was founded in 1958 by Winnie Davis, a local resident and avid gardener. She was inspired by her dear friend Jesslyn Boughton Small. When Jesslyn was prohibited from joining a garden club because she did not have a sponsor (often required in those days), Winnie suggested that they form their own club, right here in Whitefish Bay. Jesslyn responded that she did not know how to do that, and Winnie proclaimed: “I don’t know either, but we will figure it out together!”
And so they did. The intrepid friends established a club to inspire interest in and knowledge of horticulture and gardening, protect natural spaces, and beautify civic grounds.
Creating the Riveredge Nature Center
In 1965, with 25 active members and Isabel Lillie serving as president, the WFB Garden Club had the foresight, courage, and vision to imagine, research, advocate for, and organize a nature sanctuary for the greater area of Milwaukee. The goal was to create a place where nature could be enjoyed by all, but especially children, and that would also provide environmental education.
The Club raised $15,000 to purchase 72 acres of Kettle Moraine land along the Milwaukee River. In 1968, Riveredge Nature Center was founded on this parcel as one of the first nature centers in Southeastern Wisconsin.
In subsequent years, the Club continued to raise money to hire staff and expand programs at Riveredge, including interviewing and hiring its first naturalist, who would go on to serve as the executive director for more than 30 years.
Today, Riveredge comprises 485 acres, and its mission remains consistent with the vision of our early members: “To support conservation through education that awakens curiosity, engages the body, and explores connections to nature for all people.”
Isabel Lillie became the founder and first president of Riveredge and, in honor of our long term relationship with the nature center, our Club makes ongoing philanthropic donations to Riveredge.
The WFB Garden Club Today
As of 2026, the WFB Garden Club has 60 active members and 32 “Green Thumb” members (members with an honored lifetime emeritus status based on their commitment and service within the club). We remain a group devoted to collaboration and openness, embracing stimulating ideas and visions and taking action. Our motto is: “Growing a Greener Village, One Garden at a Time.”
Some examples of our recent projects include:
- Restoring, rescuing, creating and maintaining several community gardens as havens for pollinators and humans, including Silver Spring Park, the Cahill Butterfly Garden, the Cahill Prairie, and the Klode Pollinator Garden.
- Approaching the village and, with its support, co-sponsoring the processes for Whitefish Bay to become designated as a Tree City, Bird City, and Monarch City. The Club works with the village to maintain these designations.
- Providing programming, co-sponsored with the WFB Library, that is open to the public to educate ourselves and the community about gardening and the environment.
- Organizing and hosting the first-ever WFB Garden Walk in 2017, and again in 2024. We are committed to making this a regular event.
- Creating award-winning entries at the Milwaukee Art Museum’s annual Art in Bloom floral design competition. (Check out our first-place People’s Choice Award winner in 2026!)
- Participating in the WFB Civic Foundation’s annual Green Day in the Bay.
- Sending Forget-Me-Not Bouquets to community members going through difficult times.
- Organizing and hosting a quarterly environmental awareness book club co-sponsored by the WFB library.
- Including philanthropy in our budget and choosing organizations and projects that are consistent with our values and mission to donate to each year.
- Offering member-only field trips, special projects, and annual celebratory dinners.
We welcome new members!
We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All funds and labor for our projects, from speakers to garden creation and maintenance, are provided by the WFB Garden Club and through grants procured by club members. If you would like to help our efforts by providing financial support, we would be most grateful.