CAMANO ISLAND – Genevieve Holtum planted her first garden 64 years ago.
She planted it with her husband.
The newlyweds grew peas in the alley behind their new home in Seattle.
Three decades and a successful nursery business later, Holtum began growing for a cause: the Mabana volunteer fire department.
In 1974, she and her husband, John Holtum, donated a truckload of plants, flowers and herbs to the Mabana Flames second annual plant sale.
Thirty-three years later, she’s still donating.
Last week, just two weeks after her husband’s death, Holtum, 85, was out in her garden, readying plants for the April 28 sale.
“It’s very healing,” she said, as she examined pots full of thyme, wallflowers and candytuft. “You keep occupied – and growing is so rewarding, seeing things blooming.”
Many of Holtum’s plants sell for spare change: between 50 cents and a dollar. Over the years, it adds up.
By hosting a plant sale each spring and a wreath sale each winter, the Mabana Flames auxiliary has raised thousands of dollars for the fire department, which serves southern Camano Island.
They’ve bought “Jaws of Life” equipment to free people trapped in crashed cars, helmets for volunteer firefighters and even land for the department to expand.
“They’re a good group of gals and they’ve been there for us,” said Mike Waite, south battalion chief for Camano Fire and Rescue. “It’s a big, good thing.”
Like Holtum, the Flames membership has aged over the years. The middle-aged founders have grayed and many have died. President Celia Hartley said most current Flames are between 65 and 75, with the oldest around 90.
The auxiliary meets monthly for lunch meetings that members take turns hosting. Each pays $3 a year in dues. Many of the 50 members join and remain in the group for friendship as much as community service.
But the social side of the auxiliary doesn’t keep its members from taking care of business.
During the recent winter storms, they helped turn the fire station into an emergency shelter that housed at least one family with two kids, two dogs and a parakeet, Hartley said.
They also sponsor yearly scholarships for high school graduates and helped an injured fireman pay medical bills.
In 1974, they contributed more than half of the $3,200 price tag to buy the department a fully equipped emergency rescue vehicle. More recently, they donated $2,500 to help the department buy a thermal imaging device that allows firefighters to see through smoke.
“I think its pretty awesome,” said Flames member Evelyn Parcells, 76, as she reflected on the auxiliary’s accomplishments.
The upcoming sale is planned for 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 28 – exactly 34 years since the group’s first plant sale.
In preparation, Genevieve Holtum has potted hundreds of plants and readied them for the trip to the Mabana Fire Station.
Last week, she reached through a mass of chrysanthemum roots and separated a small winding piece. She put the root in a plastic pot and surrounded it with soil and homemade compost.
“We moved up here 34 years ago and we can’t stop gardening,” she said, her blue gardening gloves brown with earth. “It’s a way of life. So we just keep on plugging along, potting up.”
After potting a dozen or so chrysanthemums, Holtum put them aside, away from the plants heading to the upcoming sale. The chrysanthemums need time to settle into the soil, she said.
She’s saving them for next year’s sale.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
