The Fairfield Glade Garden Club was organized by Helena Schmidt and held its first meeting in August 1989 with 13 charter members.  By the end of that year the membership had grown to 133.  Helena’s experience with Garden Clubs in her former residence in Illinois contributed to the success of establishing this new organization.

In 1992, the membership voted to start a Scholarship Program in the founder’s honor.  This program assists local college and technical students interested in agriculture and horticulture related degrees, especially those interested in working to solve the world’s food chain problems.

In addition to the Scholarship Program, the Club works with the Cumberland County High School Greenhouse Maintenance Program by holding annual plant sales for Ferns & Geraniums in the Spring and Poinsettias in December.  The plants are grown by the students with the proceeds from the sales benefiting both the CCHS Horticulture Program and the Helena Schmidt Scholarship Fund.s