Donna Baribeau Receives the Gretta Prince Memorial Cachepot

ESSEX, N.Y. — The Adirondack Garden Club honored member Donna Baribeau with the Gretta Prince Memorial GCA Cachepot at its Annual Meeting, held September 8 at the Saranac Lake home of member Barbara Plumadore. The annual award recognizes a member who has made significant contributions to the Club.

Established in 1993, the award honors Margaretta “Gretta” Tuttle Prince, a longtime Adirondack Garden Club member who served as Club historian and Membership Chair. Prince wrote the Club’s 50-year history in 1978 and completed an updated 60-year history shortly before her death in 1988.

In 1993, on the occasion of the Club’s 65th anniversary, Prince’s daughter, Happy Marsh, donated a cachepot that had belonged to her mother. Since then, it has been presented annually in recognition of exceptional service to the Club, with each recipient keeping the cachepot for one year.

Baribeau, who joined the Adirondack Garden Club in 2019, was recognized for her years of generous service, hospitality and commitment to fellow members. Her involvement began with the Hospitality Committee and has grown to include significant contributions to the Club’s Visiting Gardens and Membership committees.

During the pandemic, Baribeau opened her home and gardens overlooking Lake Champlain for socially distanced Club meetings, allowing members to safely maintain the fellowship and camaraderie that are central to the organization.

Through her work with Visiting Gardens, she has helped make numerous garden excursions memorable for members. More recently, as co-chair of Membership with Barb Rehm, Baribeau has helped formalize the process for proposing new members and strengthened the Club’s efforts to welcome them into the organization.

Baribeau was recognized as someone who consistently steps forward to serve, whether hosting members, organizing activities, welcoming newcomers or supporting the work of her fellow members.

Her service exemplifies the Adirondack Garden Club’s enduring motto: “Not for myself alone have I labored.”