Landscape architects Olmsted and Vaux completed their design of Riverside in the 1860s. The village celebrated its official incorporation in 1975, but by the year 1921, villagers were growing aware that the winding streets, perfect for horse-drawn carriages, needed updating (the “horseless carriages” were taking over), and the trees and plantings that had been so delightful a half-century ago were becoming overgrown and shabby. Organized and ongoing care and control was needed.

Once again, it was the women who took matters into their own hands, and in 1921, the Riverside Garden Club was founded by 13 enterprising ladies.

On Saturday, May 10, members of the Riverside Garden Club will be standing outside the train station, rain or shine, selling plants of unusually high quality, continuing the good work that began 87 years ago.

According to Allison Przybylski Vollmann, who is finishing her 4th year as president of the club, “Our club is focused on the beautification of Riverside. We maintain the grounds around the train station, Guthrie Park, the Riverside Public Library and other locations.”

Albertia McCabe, a devoted longtime member of the club, has taken it upon herself to maintain the old stone horse trough in Guthrie Park. The trough still stands near the street, waiting for a thirsty, high-stepping strawberry roan to stop for a drink of water, but the trough waits in vain for such a creature. In the meantime, the flowers bloom in place of drinking water, reminding the passerby of Riverside in the olden days. Thanks, Albertia.

Vollmann represents the ladies in the club who, over the years, have viewed the maintenance of the public areas of Riverside as a philanthropy.

“We must continue ways to give back to the community,” she said.

A devout Catholic, Vollmann spent 19 years teaching the girls at St. Mary’s school cheerleading skills, with a concentration on spirituality and ethics, service to others, teamwork and sportsmanship. She began this service work immediately after graduating from the University of Wisconsin.

In addition to her service work, she has had a full-time job, has served as chairperson on the St. Mary’s Parish Council for several terms, raised two sons and is involved in the Building Ecumenical Discipleship through Sheltering program.

“My husband Tom and I are ‘foodies.’ He and I organize and cook dinner for 40 homeless persons once a month. Dinners are served at the United Methodist Church in La Grange. We order the food and make sure it is both nourishing and satisfying.”

She and her husband have purchased a home on Gage Road with a huge garden. Watch that home for spectacular results, and keep an eye on the house at 69 S. Herbert Road. Vollmann’s mother, Lorelei Phillip, and her husband, Russ, have torn down one of those small, neglected old stucco house next door and have planted 50 Arbor Vitae trees on the north property line. They brought in several huge evergreens and corrected the drainage of the lot.

“With condo construction on the rise, a step back into ecological restoration is a step forward,” Vollmann said.

Vollmann was raised in Riverside on Herbert Road.

“My mother and father (who was known to many as “Bill the Barber” and served as a lieutenant on the Riverside Auxiliary Police Department) were believers in service to others and hard work. When I reached the age of 13, my job was to manicure the lawn. Not just cut it — we manicured it,” she said. “When my brother Billy reached that age, he took over the manicuring. I went on to other work.”

Certainly with the knowledge Russ Philllip has of gardening (yes, he is the scion of the Phillip’s Flowers family), the gardens at 69 S. Herbert Road should be interesting. Riversiders can look forward to another year of beautiful gardens, manicured lawns and those hazy, lazy days of summer.

“We members of the Garden Club were planning a fundraising event last year, but the cicadas, or 17-year locusts, made it difficult to have outdoor parties, as everyone will recall,” Vollmann said.

Those bugs won’t be back until the year 2024, but their progeny are resting comfortably under the manicured lawns and flower gardens.

In the meantime, don’t forget to be at the Burlington station between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday, May 10, rain or shine. The Riverside Garden Club ladies need your support.