Modesto Garden Club serves up holiday table splendor

The Modesto Garden Club sets the tables for the holidays on Monday – 32 tables, to be precise.

The club’s annual Elegant Holiday Table Viewing returns with an array of festive settings on display for the public to behold. Decorated each year by members and friends of the garden club, this is the 23rd year for the fundraiser.

“Every year we say they can’t get any better, and every year they are,” organizer Linda Pedego said of the elaborate tablescapes, which vary from whimsical to festive to elegant.

Most of the tables are decorated for Christmas and always are different each year, she said. Each table is set up with place settings, silverware, tablecloths and a variety of decor, florals and greenery brought in by the members, who use their own items.

“They’re just beautifully decorated,” said Pedego, who’s been organizing the event for about 6 years and co-chairs this year with Joyce Smith. “Until you see it, you can’t believe it.”

Among the many themes planned for the holiday viewing are a “Garden of Santas,” “Seaside Holiday,” “A ’50s Christmas,” “It’s a Mickey Mouse Christmas,” “O Tannenbaum,” “Penguins” and “Old Man Winter.” One table, themed “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth,” promises a “photographic and toy history of life at the ‘Kid’s Table,’ ” according to the program for the event.

The tables will be on display from 1 to 7 p.m. at Del Rio Country Club; sweets and beverages will be served during the viewing. A luncheon held in conjunction with the viewing is sold out.

The garden club holds similar fundraisers in spring and fall. The nonprofit group oversees many public projects throughout the community, including planting and care of the giant floral clock in downtown, the roses at the Virginia corridor, and more. The club also awards annual scholarships and maintains garden programs at elementary schools and senior communities.

This story was originally published December 2, 2016 at 12:01 PM with the headline "Modesto Garden Club serves up holiday table splendor."