Erika Reale

A Life of Adventure

Member since 1972

Erika Reale.mp3

Interview with Erika Reale and Caitlen Cameron above, also available on Cleveland Voices.

Erika Reale [00:00:39] I was born in Cleveland, Ohio. And my parents were always interested in gardening. So I used to sit and watch them and then go walk through the little rows and pick things and... I think it was all mostly vegetables. It was, it was probably... I heard them talk about a Victory Garden. That was during the war. I was too young to understand a lot of it, but maybe they were just... Maybe the grocery stores didn't have much produce because I remember my parents and the people up the street, they had Victory Gardens.

[00:02:06] They were always gardening and they canned things. And it was a big deal. And when we would go to visit different relatives' homes, we would just go down to the fruit cellar and see how many jars of green beans they had.

Caitlen Cameron [00:02:55] So where did you go to school?

Erika Reale [00:02:58] Lakewood High. Lakewood High, and before that it was a Catholic school called St. James that's now closed. It was supposed to be a copy of a basilica in Italy, which I'd always love to know more about. Then I went to Bowling Green. And then I talked my parents into a semester in Hawaii.

Caitlen Cameron [00:03:33] So what did you do there? What did you study?

Erika Reale [00:03:36] It was just business.

Caitlen Cameron [00:10:58] So once you came back, what did you do after?

Erika Reale [00:11:02] I took some more courses and I got a business job. I was a secretary at a public relations firm, and then I met my husband right away and I told him that my friends back there that they all want to meet up in, where was it, Australia. And I'm so glad my husband did this. He says that's fine, but I don't write. [laughs] But after he proposed, I said, I think I have to marry you, you're the smartest man—he was the top of his law class—smartest man I ever met. And because I have two really smart kids. [laughs] They got his brains.

Joining VGC

Caitlen Cameron [00:18:44] So how did you get involved with the Village Garden Club?

Erika Reale [00:18:57] There was a lady who lives sort of near us and she didn't have any children and she more or less adopted me and would drive me around, show me the gardens or parks. And then she got me involved in this program, that for the longest time I thought we were just doing it on our own. And then later on, Barb Shockey said it was a program through Village Garden Club. But we had this job. From the Botanic[al] Garden, I got a list of affiliate clubs. Fifty-five. And I would call them and most of them were pretty cooperative, but some certain times of year, and they would arrange flowers down at the VA Hospital. And people were real nice. They'd give me their discarded faces and everything. And I did that for about four years. And then somebody committed suicide and I decided I didn't need to go to the VA Hospital for a while.

Caitlen Cameron [00:20:10] Who was the woman that got you involved?

Erika Reale [00:20:16] Kay Gehring. She must be in here. Wait, but... I've looked. I don't think she was the president. But she, you know, befriended me and I felt like she was my mother and we did these things, and I like I said, I did that for years. And then afterwards I branched out to hortotherapy.

Caitlen Cameron [00:20:47] Ooh, what is that?

Erika Reale [00:20:49] Oh, you just take plant cuttings and try to grow them. And they gave me, the Botanic[al] Garden gave me a light cart. And I did that for a long time, too. And then, again, but all that time I thought it was just a program between Kay Gehring and me. And then Barb Shockey gave this history and mentioned it, and it was the first time I knew that. And of course it was the old... The old VA Hospital was about half the size. And, oh, that got me some recognition then. The Botanic[al] Garden had just opened, and they kind of didn't know what kind of path to take. So they got me involved and wanted to know what young people wanted. And I said, oh, flower arranging and... And I wound up on the board. I was the youngest person on the board, which was really nice. And then I also got, because of that, I was on the board for a short time at the Nature Center.

Caitlen Cameron [00:22:06] What year did you join the Garden Club?

Erika Reale [00:22:09] I think it's '72. And before the Nature Center came to be, we were in Shaker then and I knew nothing about volunteer work, you know. And I remember reading to my husband, I said, there's several ladies and they think they're going to stop a highway. Can volunteers do that? And sure enough, they did.

Gift of a Painting

Caitlen Cameron [00:14:20] And you showed me this picture, this painting. So who made that painting?

Erika Reale [00:14:35] Stephen Seward. I don't know much about him anymore. Oh, that has a story to it was to be a fortieth anniversary surprise, so I found... Discovered this manuscript with the Art Institute, Steven Seward. And then it was to be the 40th anniversary. And I wanted to surprise him. Until... I never... I never, never did tell him. And then the picture appeared in the newspaper. He said it was his favorite picture. And so I called my husband's secretary and I said, if you see anybody dashing down the hall with this paper clipping and take it away from him [laughs] and try to help me keep this secret. So I think, I'm pretty sure I did, and then the night of our anniversary, we went, whatever time we went to bed, his job [was to] turn off all the lights, and he came upstairs. He says, I'm seeing something unusual in the living room. Yes. And I said, yes, happy anniversary. And then I wanted to do my son. And he said he couldn't sit still that long.

Plant Exchange and Programs

Caitlen Cameron [00:23:52] What did you enjoy about the Village Garden Club? What are some memories that you loved?

Erika Reale [00:24:08] Well, everybody was really friendly and, you know, there was no being shy or anything and, you know, meeting every month and... People were very friendly. And then I started some programs that they enjoyed. I started the plant exchange. The idea was you were supposed to bring some, bring something and take something and you were supposed to label it. Not many people did. People were happy just to get something.

Caitlen Cameron [00:24:51] What did you used to bring for the exchange?

Erika Reale [00:24:57] Well, there was... There was something called gooseneck, and then there was something called El Camela, which is a small yellow... No, I can't even explain it. And daisies. Nothing too exciting. And then I learned something exciting from them. Irish rose and so I started programs. I saved the cost of two meetings because one January... Oh, I did the programs for a long time, from... One year there was a blizzard and the Garden Club wound up paying about three hundred dollars for a canceled meeting, so I said, well, that's just not good anyway. So I canceled that. And I can't remember what my budget... I had a certain budget to work within. And then I thought they should save money, or I was copying with another garden club did to have an annual meeting, each committee report out at their June meeting. So I did that.

Oh, and I started the horticulture program and then they had something that I don't think it is any longer. It's called Save the Eagle program. The eagle was an endangered species. And people were supposed to bring... They didn't want common stamps, and they even liked hunting stamps. And then they would send them in to the Florida Audubon Society. And then I got the guy from the Audubon Society to come and talk to us once. I don't think I've mentioned this. When I first joined, Carol Mock, I don't know if you... Oh, she's deceased now. She gave me prunings. People were pruning all over it. But she took... She took only me over to the Cleveland Heights side. And then they gave that up after a while. So I did... So I did programs for about twenty years. I got really good at it.

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