​Ripley "For Our Youth" Club invites new members, leaders to join

Do you have a child who might be interested in horticulture? Nature activities? Cooking, baking, preserving and canning? Gardening? Horticulture-themed crafts and making new friends?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, did you know there is a local club for children, aged six to 14, that hosts all these activities and more? We are the Ripley and District Horticultural Society's “For Our Youth” Club and we’ve been operating for more than 12 years!

Our club tends our own garden patch at the Bruce Botanical Food Gardens in Ripley. We grow, harvest, cook, bake and eat everything that our garden produces. We also do lots of fun horticultural activities at different locations in the community: nature walks and frog-hunting at the Pine River Watershed Initiative Network's McLarty Centre; apple-picking at Stone’s Throw Market, pumpkin patch adventures at Farrell’s Pick Your Own.

These are just a few of the places our meetings have been held. We also invite guest speakers to teach us about horticulture, environmental issues, pollinators and local conservation.

This fun group of children meets once a month for two hours on Saturdays, from February to October. Registration is now open for new and returning members. The cost is only $5 per child for the year.

To register or learn more about our club, E-mail bonnieernest3@gmail.com and leader Bonnie will respond with a registration form.

We are also looking for new adult and youth volunteer leaders, since many hands make light work. Our current senior leaders are passionate about teaching children while creating a fun, positive experience. Volunteer leaders complete a police check every year.

In addition, the club has junior leaders who help out at meetings, and can get volunteer hours for their service. If you have a teen who would like to earn some volunteer hours and thinks this is a great fit, or you’d like to join our senior leadership crew, contact leader Kimberlee at kimberlee1072@yahoo.ca.

This year, our first meeting is Saturday, Feb. 21, from 10 a.m. to Noon, at Now Playing Family Centre in Kincardine where we will do a craft to enter in the Ontario Horticultural Association contest, and then burn off some energy at the indoor playground. Our theme for 2026 is “Cultivating Food and Friendship.”

Here are what some of our past and present friends had to say about their experiences at the FOY club:
 

• Brian: “I loved frog-hunting and painting pumpkins and going through the maze in the dark at the Farrells Pumpkin Patch.“
• Brooklyn: “I like going to the club because you learn about nature and animals. It is fun and interesting to harvest food, cook and eat it with friends. Our garden grew awesome last year."
• Maria: “I love the fact that there is a group with other kids my age who share the same interests, such as plants and nature. It’s been a wonderful learning experience for me and the club has taught me a lot. My favourite activity was the DIY green houses!”
• Joslynn: “ It's an amazing experience where you can learn lots of life skills and do lots of fun activities. My favourite memories were frog-hunting. I also loved the cooking/baking activities.

Registration is now open for 2026, so E-mail bonnieernest3@gmail.com. to get your child on the list.

We can’t wait to have fun this year!



"For Our Youth" Club members at the Bruce Botanical Food Gardens in Ripley



Painting birdhouses



Frog-hunting at the McLarty Education Centre



Checking out nature with Jim (left) and Christine Roberts (right)