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Chester County Press

Spade and Trowel Club's Holiday Tea takes on a 'Downton Abbey' look

12/11/2014 02:05PM ● By J. Chambless

Friends enjoy their tea in one of the beautifully decorated rooms at Oberod Estate.



By Carla Lucas

Correspondent

"Seems such a pity to waste a good pudding," says Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess Violet Grantham in an episode of "Downton Abbey," the popular PBS series about life at an English country estate in the early 1900s.

The same thing could have been said by those attending the Spade and Trowel Garden Club's Holiday Tea held at Oberod Estate in Delaware on Dec. 3, as tables were filled with platters of sweet and savory treats prepared by members of Spade and Trowel Garden Club.

With the popularity of "Downton Abbey," organizers for this year's event encouraged guests to embrace the Edwardian English-style tea, as they spent time with special friends in this beautiful location. Along with tea and treats, there was a gift shop filled with items made by garden club members, as well as outside vendors.

Proceeds from this event, held every other year, will benefit many of the Spade and Trowel Club's programs, including the club's entries at the Philadelphia International Flower Show; the Barns Brinton House kitchen garden; the street barrel planting project in Kennett Square Borough; the club's annual holiday greens workshop for Heartland Hospice Services; the club's annual projects with the YMCA Montessori School and Head Start; continued maintenance of the club's entrance to Kennett Square garden off Route 1 near Waywood Beverage Company; and donations to Community Gardens of Chester County for the raised bed gardens at Anson B. Nixon Park.

The Spade and Trowel Garden Club of Kennett Square was founded in 1939. It is a chapter of the Garden Club Federation of Pennsylvania, which is a division of the National Garden Clubs, Inc. Members are active in the community year-round.