Garden Party Sunday to Raise Funds for Duck Pond

The Ladies of the Lake Garden Club will be hosting its 26th annual garden party on Sunday. The party raises funds for the maintenance of the historic Peachtree Heights East Duck Pond Parks, considered by many to be an oasis in the middle of the city.

The parks were donated by Mrs. E. Rivers in 1930 and are owned and maintained by the Peachtree Heights East neighborhood, according to the club's website. Even though the parks are open to the public, the local community provides their maintenance.  

“We are expecting a crowd of 200 or more,” said Ladies of the Lake President Tonya Danckaert. “We usually commit $10,000 for improvements to the pond and parks, but we’ve been able to raise a larger amount the last few years and hope to do so again.”

The garden party will be held at the duck pond located on Lakeside Avenue and Parkside Drive from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and is an adults-only party. There will be live music, an open bar and a cocktail buffet. Along with a silent auction, Habersham Gardens will be providing a garden shop. Attendees are invited to wear their hats and enter the party’s May Day Hat Contest.

The party comes at an important time in the neighborhood’s history. The Peachtree Heights East Neighborhood Association  recently applied for a $29,000 community parks matching grant from Park Pride. PHENA spends about $40,000 a year on the parks’ operations, $10,000 of which comes from Ladies of the Lake.

“It’s exciting. We will be hearing back from Park Pride in a week or two,” said PHENA President Kathy Collura. “The grant would help fund a $63,000 two-part project that goes beyond the parks’ regular upkeep.”

According to Collura, the large area near the duck pond that is heavily trafficked is in need of improvement. Because of heavy use, the area has been left with almost bare dirt, and rain washes the dirt  into the duck pond. The hope is to use part of the funds to sod and irrigate the lawn area and prevent this from happening.

The other project that PHENA would like to undertake is hiring a civil engineering firm to study the park structures, some of which are 50 years old, and give a professional assessment of which ones need immediate attention.

The Duck Pond Parks, which are only 7 miles from downtown, are open to the public and can be rented for parties, weddings and photography.

Women in the neighborhood founded the Ladies of the Lake Garden Club in 1940, and their main goal was the upkeep of the duck pond. The organization went through some changes through the years and was formally reorganized in 1974.

Today’s Club, Ladies of the Lake (LOL), has close to 70 members of all ages and i from all walks of life.

“We have attorneys, stay-at-home moms, doctors, authors,” said Danckaert. “We all come together to help make the neighborhood a better place and in the process we’ve formed strong bonds and friendships.”

The ladies meet the third Thursday of every month from September through May. All neighborhood women can become members, but a neighborhood friend can be sponsored by a member in order to join the group.

“We don’t always talk about gardening. We have speakers come to our meetings, so there’s an educational component, as well,” she said.

The group hosts several events every year and just held their Easter Egg Hunt at the duck pond. They also have a Halloween pumpkin float at the pond. 

“We would love to encourage people to support our parks either through joining and volunteering for LOL, by supporting the Garden Party as a corporate sponsor or by purchasing tickets to the event,” Danckaert said.