About Arasapha Garden Club
Founded in 1934, Arasapha Garden Club is known for four signature projects. Click here to learn how to get involved. Contact us with your questions and ideas--we'd love to hear from you!
The Gardens of the Historic Amstel and Dutch Houses
The Amstel House garden was designed in the 1930s by renowned landscape architect Charles Gillette and is an outstanding example of Colonial Revival garden design. A major rehabilitation in 2018 returned the garden closer to Gillette’s historic design. The Dutch House garden, another example of Colonial Revival garden design, was designed in the 1950s by Delaware architects Victorine and Samuel Homsey. A kitchen garden was added in 2011. Both gardens are open daily, sunrise to sunset, and admission is free. Click here for more information including self-guided tours.
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May Market: Arasapha's Annual Fundraiser
Every year, on the first Friday and Saturday of May, visitors to New Castle find unexpected plants, treasures, treats and bargains at May Market, Arasapha’s major fundraiser since the 1940s. Click here for more information.
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Holiday Greening of Historic New Castle
Every year dozens of Arasapha members and other volunteers participate in a beloved decades-old New Castle tradition: decorating over 100 all-natural wreaths that adorn the historic district’s public buildings and businesses during the holiday season. Click here for more information.
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Supporting "A Day in Old New Castle"
Each year Arasapha identifies and organizes the private homes and gardens that are open to the public during A Day in Old New Castle, the oldest house and garden tour in the United States, held on the third Saturday of May.
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What Does "Arasapha" Mean?
View of the Delaware River at sunset from the Delaware Street pier in historic New Castle
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"Arasapha" was one of the names of the Delaware River in the 1600s and 1700s. Its origin and meaning are unclear. According to local legend, Arasapha is thought to have been a Native American name for "the bend in the river” where the Delaware River meets the Delaware Bay. But a Public Ledger Almanac from the 1870s says Arasapha comes from the word "arasaphe" or "it goes fine," meaning a river at all times navigable and useful. An 1877 book by John Clement, Sketches of the First Immigrant Settlers, Newton Township, Old Gloucester County, West New Jersey, mentions a tribal "king" named Arasapha. And a 1924 book by Alfred Miller Heston, South Jersey: A History, refers to the Arasapha Tribe.
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Arasapha Garden Club Leadership
2019-2020 Board
Anita Scovanner, Chair, term ending 2020
Vacant, Vice Chair, term ending 2021
Jim Whisman, Treasurer, term ending 2021
Linda Suskie, Secretary, term ending 2021
Sharon Hornstein, At Large, term ending 2020
Alice Jarvis, At Large, term ending 2021
Renee Lamoreaux, At Large, term ending 2020
Anita Scovanner, Chair, term ending 2020
Vacant, Vice Chair, term ending 2021
Jim Whisman, Treasurer, term ending 2021
Linda Suskie, Secretary, term ending 2021
Sharon Hornstein, At Large, term ending 2020
Alice Jarvis, At Large, term ending 2021
Renee Lamoreaux, At Large, term ending 2020
Contact any board member at ArasaphaGarden@gmail.com or by writing to Arasapha Garden Club, P.O. Box 126, New Castle DE 19720.
Arasapha Garden Club members can use their membership directories, distributed annually by e-mail, to contact board members directly.
Arasapha Garden Club members can use their membership directories, distributed annually by e-mail, to contact board members directly.