Posing next to the refurbished Welcome to Hopkinton sign on West Main Street are (from left) Hopkinton Garden Club representative Kris MacPherson, Hopkinton Garden Club president Ann Hussey Hogaboom, 26.2 Foundation Executive Director Tim Kilduff, Scott Richardson of Gorman Richardson Lewis Architects, former Hopkinton Women’s Club President Nancy Tarsi and current Hopkinton Women’s Club President Doris Early.

A beautiful new Welcome to Hopkinton sign, extending a warm welcome to all who visit and live in Hopkinton, has been placed on West Main Street across from Golden Pond assisted living facility in a collaborative effort led by Hopkinton Garden Club, just as the organization had done with the original sign in 1996. The original wooden sign rotted at the supports and fell over last December. A race against time, with a goal to have the new sign in place in time for the Boston Marathon, was successfully met.

Project donors included Hopkinton Garden Club’s members and supporters of the club’s plant and greens sales, the Hopkinton Women’s Club, Tim Kilduff and the 26.2 Foundation, Scott Richardson of Gorman Richardson Lewis Architects, and former Hopkinton resident and lifetime Hopkinton Garden Club member Diane Bullock.

“We also extend thanks to Sign Right of Marlborough for constructing the sign so quickly, Peter Mezitt of Weston Nurseries for two beautiful mountain laurel shrubs, and Scott Dryden of Scott’s Landscaping for time and materials to replace the soil in the planting area,” added Ann Hussey Hogaboom, President of the Hopkinton Garden Club. “Thanks, too, to Hopkinton Garden Club member Kris MacPherson, who seamlessly coordinated the efforts to ensure the sign was up in time for the Marathon.”

The site, one of numerous sites and planters across Hopkinton, is maintained by the Hopkinton Garden Club, whose members share their time and talent to plant and care for seasonal plantings as part of their beautification efforts, with the assistance of generous site sponsors.

The Hopkinton Garden Club (hopkintongardenclub.org) is a nonprofit organization whose mission in the local community is education, beautification and conservation. The club was organized in 1924 and is an affiliate of the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts.