Potomac Almanac

A tradition established in 1978 by the women comprising Potomac’s Little Farms Garden Club continued on Dec. 1 when over two dozen of its members enhanced the historic Great Falls Tavern with a bounty of verdant foliage. The lush and fragrant collection of shrubbery and botanicals included boughs of magnolia and white pine, Fraser Fir, holly, and nandina with berries. The spirit of the season filled the air as the women wired, tied, and draped greenery while they enjoyed the great outdoors on the unseasonably warm 72-degree day.

Club members worked for nearly three hours to create the holiday décor for the tavern’s façade and interior rooms. Pinecones collected over the past 20 years and stored at the Tavern were unpacked to revisit the festive displays. Handcrafted red velvet bows with gilded edges were tucked into swags, window sprays, lampposts, mantle arrangements, and twin jardinières flanking the front door to complement the red berries.

Little Farms Garden Club formed the partnership with the rangers at the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park to meld their talents and resources to beautify the national landmark for the community during the holiday season. The tavern, built in 1828 as a lockhouse, had north and south wings added in 1831 as suggested by its first locktender, W.W. Fenlon. He aspired to establish an inn that would accommodate the growing numbers of travelers visiting the area to escape the city’s heat and hustle and bustle.

The centerpiece of the overall design features a 40-foot long garland above the main portal hung by Park Ranger Mark Myers. “I’ve been helping them as long as I can remember. The garland was plenty heavy. It’s definitely an armful,” Myers said.

“Mark has been helping us for many years and his enthusiasm for the garden club’s annual Christmas decorating is wonderful,” said Debbie Beatley, club president. Beatley added that Traci Hoffman, committee chair for the project, collects the greens and coordinates their delivery to the tavern.

Once the transformation of the tavern was complete, club members visually enjoyed the fruits of their labor then proceeded indoors to continue the tavern’s long established tradition of hospitality as they dined upon a lunch of Sloppy Joes, coleslaw, and cookies prepared by six club members.

“This year was especially fun in that many of us ate our Sloppy Joes on the balcony because of the fabulous weather and breathtaking views of the Potomac River. There have been years when we decorated that is was so bitter cold, we could hardly move our fingers … but the job got done,” said Beatley.

Club member Betty Lee said, “My favorite part of the experience was working together with everyone and watching them decorating the tavern. I feel like I’m part of ‘This Old House’… the decorating portion, ha! My second favorite part was the lunch the food committee provided. All that decorating made me very hungry …. I had two portions.”

Beatley said, “I think I can speak for the members in that we all love transforming the beautiful tavern into a special holiday venue for visitors and events that are held there each year.”

For more information visit: http://www.nps.gov/choh/index.htm

Great Falls Tavern, 11710 MacArthur Blvd., Potomac, 301-767-3714.