To say that the Apple Blossom Garden Club takes great pride in civic beautification would be an understatement.

Co-presidents Barbara Flanagan and Bel McGowan and the many dedicated volunteers who make up the non-profit enjoy honoring well-deserving people and agencies with special awards as well as making donations to area organizations.

Take the Apple Blossom Garden Club’s recent ceremony, during which Flanagan and McGowan – with many members looking on – presented the annual Civic Beautification Award to Rev. John Lapointe, the popular pastor at St. Robert Bellarmine Church that’s located at 1804 Atwood Ave. in Johnston.

“Not only is Father John [Lapointe] very well liked in the community,” Anthony Ursillo, a member of the Johnston Historical Society’s Board of Directors, said, “he’s apparently quite skilled when it comes to things like the gorgeous garden he has at the rectory.”

That’s also the reason Flanagan and McGowan and other club officials showed up at St. Robert Bellarmine to present Father Lapointe with the group’s prestigious Civic Beautification Award.

Likewise, the Apple Blossom Garden Club not only paid special appreciation to Father Lapointe, the group also recognized Fran Zanni, who is well known for her classic creations of handmade quilts and a member of the Johnston Senior Quilt Club, during the recent ceremony.

“Fran has tirelessly worked to created and maintain an array of wonderful gardens of assorted colors and foliage and designs on the grounds that beautifies and enhances the community,” Flanagan said. “Many thanks to Fran for her displays of color and design for all to enjoy and for the beauty you have brought to the Johnston community.”

Members of the Apple Blossom Garden Club also turned out at the Johnston Historical Society’s Elijah Angell House at 101 Putman Pike and made an impressive donation that included the special planting of a Kousa dogwood tree during a ceremony presided over by Flanagan and JHS President Lou McGowan.

“We are planting this tree through the generosity of Central Nurseries of Johnston,” Flanagan told McGowan, Vice President Dan Brown and other JHS officials and members. “The planting of this beautiful tree is part of our annual Arbor Day Celebration; a special thank you to Bel [McGowan], Pat Izbicki and Patty D’Ambro for their roles in the actual planting.”