Bay View Garden And Yard Society

The Bay View Garden And Yard Society is a nonprofit 501(c)(7) organization based in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood. Its members are predominantly local residents who volunteer their time and gardening skills to maintain public gardens, improve neighborhood landscapes, exchange horticultural knowledge, and encourage residents to care for their own yards and homes. The organization is sometimes known by the acronym BVGAYS. The Society combines social activities with practical neighborhood improvement. Its stated purposes include having fun while promoting Bay View through garden and yard beautification, sharing gardening information and plants, encouraging well-maintained homes and landscapes, and contributing volunteer labor to public gardens. Member activities have included annual plant exchanges, visits to members' gardens, monthly group meals, greenhouse and botanical-garden tours, gardening demonstrations, seminars, and participation in neighborhood events such as Winter Blast and Chill-on-the-Hill. Over time, the Society expanded beyond private gardens and social gatherings into a visible community-service organization. Members have participated in neighborhood cleanups, helped local schools develop rain gardens, contributed to temporary art installations, and installed or maintained landscaping at civic sites. Projects have included a garden at Milwaukee Fire Department Engine 11, plantings at the Beulah Brinton Community Center, a Liberty Garden at the World War II Memorial near Kinnickinnic and Russell Avenues, improvements and planter maintenance at the Pryor Avenue Iron Well, and a landscaped median at the intersection of Kinnickinnic, Howell, and Lincoln Avenues. The Society's principal long-term project is Village Roots Garden at 1115 East Otjen Street. Beginning in 2001, members helped transform a vacant lot into what became Bay View's first community garden. Milwaukee Urban Gardens, a nonprofit land trust, received the property in 2002, and Society volunteers supplied much of the labor, maintenance, and planting work. The site includes eight raised plots rented annually to community gardeners, trial beds maintained by the Society, fruit trees and shrubs, perennial flowerbeds, pollinator-oriented plantings, a crushed-stone compass feature, a grapevine-covered pergola, mulched pathways, and low-maintenance lawn areas. Garden users have access to shared tools and a nearby water source. Village Roots Garden was formally dedicated on June 26, 2005, in a ceremony attended by local dignitaries. It remains the centerpiece of the Society's activities and a venue for meetings, celebrations, tours, and environmental education. The garden has also been included in Milwaukee Urban Gardens' annual community-garden tour. The organization funds its work through annual membership dues, event revenue, sponsorship support, and its annual Bay View Plant Sale. Introduced in 2005, the sale takes place at South Shore Park on the first Saturday after Memorial Day, with commercial plant vendors offering annuals and perennials and local businesses helping sponsor the event. Proceeds support public gardening, neighborhood improvement, and outreach. The Society's activities have earned recognition for both their contribution to Bay View and their connection to Milwaukee's gay community.

The Bay View Garden And Yard Society developed as a resident-oriented gardening organization in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood. Although its activities include social events, its central idea is that visible care for one's property can encourage others to improve their own yards, homes, and shared surroundings. The Society's membership is made up mainly of Bay View residents who contribute volunteer labor, plants, horticultural knowledge, and organizational support. During its early years, the group combined garden-related socializing with practical civic projects. Members organized plant exchanges, garden visits, greenhouse and botanical-garden tours, and group meals while also helping maintain public plantings. One early project was the garden at Milwaukee Fire Department Engine 11 on South Kinnickinnic Avenue. The Society later worked at the Beulah Brinton Community Center and created a Liberty Garden at the World War II Memorial at Kinnickinnic and Russell Avenues. In 2001, the organization began work on the project that would become its principal legacy: Village Roots Garden at 1115 East Otjen Street. The site was originally a vacant lot. On February 20, 2002, the South Community Organization donated it to Milwaukee Urban Gardens, a nonprofit land trust, making it that organization's first owned property. Society members then supplied much of the labor, ongoing care, and plant material needed to turn the lot into a community garden. The completed garden was designed both for food production and neighborhood ecology. Its core features eight raised beds that are rented annually to community gardeners and four trial beds maintained by the Society. Fruit trees, shrubs, perennial flowers, and pollinator-friendly plantings provide habitat and seasonal interest. The site also includes asparagus, strawberries, raspberries, spring bulbs, woodland plants, a stone compass planted with thyme, and a cedar pergola covered by grapevines. Mulched paths, no-mow grass, a tool shed, and access to water support practical, low-maintenance use. A formal dedication took place on June 26, 2005. The ceremony marked completion of Village Roots Garden and celebrated the Society's tenth anniversary. The garden subsequently became a location for Society gatherings, tours, celebrations, and environmental-awareness activities, as well as a stop on Milwaukee Urban Gardens' fall community-garden tour. The Society's neighborhood work continued during the 2000s. In 2004, it added benches and took responsibility for flower planters at the Pryor Avenue Iron Well. In 2008, it collaborated with the Bay View Neighborhood Association and the City of Milwaukee to remove a concrete island and create a garden in the median where Kinnickinnic, Howell, and Lincoln Avenues meet. It also participated in cleanups, helped schools develop rain gardens, supported temporary art installations, and presented gardening demonstrations at the South Shore Farmers' Market and other local events. To support this work, the Society introduced the Bay View Plant Sale in 2005. Held annually at South Shore Park after Memorial Day, the event brings together commercial plant vendors, local sponsors, and neighborhood shoppers. Membership dues, sale proceeds, and community support help cover operating expenses and fund the group's public-service projects. The Society has continued to combine local horticultural activity with social connection and neighborhood improvement, and it has received recognition for contributions to Bay View and Milwaukee's gay community.

• 2008

  Kinnickinnic–Howell–Lincoln median garden created

  [1]Bay View Garden And Yard Societyen.wikipedia.org

  Working with the Bay View Neighborhood Association and the City of Milwaukee, the Society replaced a concrete island with a landscaped garden median.

• 2005

  Village Roots Garden dedicated

  [1]Bay View Garden And Yard Societyen.wikipedia.org

  A formal dedication ceremony marked completion of Village Roots Garden and the organization's tenth anniversary.

• 2005

  Bay View Plant Sale launched

  [1]Bay View Garden And Yard Societyen.wikipedia.org

  The Society began its annual plant sale at South Shore Park to raise money for gardening, outreach, and public-service activities.

• 2004

  Pryor Avenue Iron Well improvements

  [1]Bay View Garden And Yard Societyen.wikipedia.org

  The Society added park benches and assumed maintenance of flower planters at the Pryor Avenue Iron Well.

• 2002

  Village Roots property enters Milwaukee Urban Gardens stewardship

  [1]Bay View Garden And Yard Societyen.wikipedia.org

  The South Community Organization donated the vacant lot to Milwaukee Urban Gardens, which then supported the Society's community-garden development work.

• 2002

  Beulah Brinton and Liberty Garden projects

  [1]Bay View Garden And Yard Societyen.wikipedia.org

  The Society planted and maintained gardens at the Beulah Brinton Community Center and installed a Liberty Garden at the World War II Memorial near Kinnickinnic and Russell Avenues.

• 2001

  Village Roots Garden project begins

  [1]Bay View Garden And Yard Societyen.wikipedia.org

  The Society began transforming a vacant lot on East Otjen Street into a community garden, establishing the project that became its main long-term focus.

• 1995

  Society established

  [1]Bay View Garden And Yard Societyen.wikipedia.org

  The Bay View Garden And Yard Society dates its beginnings to 1995, forming as a resident-oriented gardening and neighborhood beautification organization.

A volunteer-led neighborhood gardening and beautification nonprofit focused on community participation, public-space improvement, horticultural education, and local environmental stewardship.

• Community garden · 2001

  Village Roots Garden

  The Society's central community-gardening project at 1115 East Otjen Street. The site contains eight raised beds rented to local gardeners, four Society-managed trial beds, fruit trees, shrubs, perennial and pollinator plantings, food crops, a thyme-planted compass feature, a grapevine pergola, mulched paths, no-mow grass, shared tools, and water access. It functions as a gardening, education, and neighborhood gathering site.

• Fundraising event · 2005

  Bay View Plant Sale

  An annual public plant sale held at South Shore Park on the first Saturday after Memorial Day. Commercial vendors offer annual and perennial plants, while local businesses provide sponsorship support. The event raises funds for the Society's public gardens, community projects, and outreach activities.

• Neighborhood beautification service

  Public garden and landscaping projects

  Volunteer-led planting and maintenance work at civic and neighborhood locations, including a firehouse garden, the Beulah Brinton Community Center, the Liberty Garden memorial, the Pryor Avenue Iron Well, and the Kinnickinnic–Howell–Lincoln median. The Society has also supported school rain gardens, cleanups, and temporary public art installations.

• 2005Bay View Plant Sale

  Bay View, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

  The Society established an annual plant sale in cooperation with the South Shore Farmers' Market and Milwaukee County Park System. The event combines neighborhood fundraising with access to annual and perennial plants from local commercial vendors.

  Outcome. The sale became a recurring source of support for the Society's public-garden and outreach work.

  Source
• Village Roots Garden community participation program

  Bay View, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

  Through tours, meetings, celebrations, and garden plots, the Society uses Village Roots Garden to encourage local participation, environmental awareness, food growing, and pollinator-friendly planting.

  Outcome. The garden became the Society's primary community project and a stop on Milwaukee Urban Gardens' annual fall garden tour.

  Source

1. 1Bay View Garden And Yard Societyen.wikipedia.org