Milo Garden Club Summer Fair and Plant Sale continues 40-year tradition

By Victoria Eastman, Milo Garden Club president

During a May meeting more than 40 years ago, Milo Garden Club member Arlene Westervelt suggested the club hold a summer festival. This moment was the birth of Milo Garden Club’s Annual Summer Fair and Plant Sale.

This year it will be held on Thursday, Aug. 6 at the Milo Kiwanis campus from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Early fairs included plants for sale, food and refreshments. But, as its popularity grew, more creative ideas and selections were added to its repertoire. Decades old Milo Garden Club minutes mention the sale of flower arrangements, a junior nature display, door prizes and raffles. The latter two have now become long standing traditions at the Annual Summer Fair. Look to find these, in addition to perennials and houseplants, produce, hand crafted items, baked goods, puzzles, books, small gifts, a silent auction and a lovely luncheon at this year’s summer fair.

Over the years, the annual fair has found itself in a variety of locations. The American Legion Hall in Milo, the Park Street Methodist Church, Penquis Valley High School and Milo Elementary School, all played host to Milo Garden Club’s fair at one time or another.

One memorable year, Dorothy Trask hosted a home and garden tour at the Trask Family farm. Dating back to 1897, the farm was located on Sargent Hill Road in Milo. Visitors admired the impressive beauty of the rock gardens, the vegetable and perennial gardens and the newest addition of an everlasting garden. All these gardens were created from seedlings grown in the Trask Greenhouse.

Trask was a long-time member of Milo Garden Club. In addition to gardening, she was also a very talented doll maker. She personally created molds and costumes for all her dolls. She could be found selling her dolls at the annual SeDoMoCha craft fair. Trask also donated dolls to the Sebec Fire Department’s auction, held yearly on the Fourth of July.  At the 2025 Milo Garden Club Fair, Ethelyn Treworgy, a long time friend of Dorothy Trask, donated two of her dolls for the silent auction and raffle.

This year, Milo Garden Club is honored to offer two more of Trask’s dolls at their silent auction. These dolls were generously donated by the owner of 

Win-Win located at 16 Summer St. in Dover Foxcroft, Maine. One of her patrons explained that these dolls were a prince and princess made by Dorothy Trask especially for a celebration in Sebec. 

The Milo Garden Club Summer Fair and Plant Sale is Thursday, Aug. 6 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Kiwanis Building at 15 Harris Pond Road. This is located behind NAPA on outer Park Street. For more information, please contact 207-943-6197.