Civic Beautification Watch a slideshow of dozens of efforts by Montclair business owners to win a coveted Garden Club award in 2019 for their efforts to beautify the streets of our town. We hope to bring back this project in 2022.

Our Club and the Community Community Connections Avis Campbell Gardens & Grounds : Maintain at 60 S. Fullerton Ave. Montclair: Montclair Business Districts: Maintain Triangle Gardens at Church Street and conduct clean-ups of business areas. Montclair History Center : Decorate for the holidays at the Crane House and Historic YWCA . Van Vleck House & Gardens : Support "Scarecrows in the Garden," plant sale, "Roses to Rock Gardens," and "Deck the Halls." Native Plant Society of New Jersey , Essex County Chapter Rutgers Master Gardeners of Essex County : Support plant sale. Montclair Art Museum : Design/support biennial "Art in Bloom." Oasis - A Haven for Women and Children : Offer flower and therapeutic gardening activities. CUMAC : Conduct therapeutic flower arranging workshops with seniors in subsidized housing. Local Public Schools : Plant tulip bulbs in town, introduce elementary children to the joys of plants. Offer landscape and beautification advice. Montclair High School : Award annual scholarship. Deron School : Tulip planting and flower arranging workshop. Girl Scouts : Offer flower/gardening activities and tours of ACG. Grants Other Interesting and Useful Websites Francoise Weeks's unique floral creations Friends of Anderson Park New Jersey Botanical Garden at Skylands The Garden Conservancy American Horticultural Society United Way of Northern New Jersey United States Botanic Garden Essex-Hudson Greenway New York Botanical Garden Brooklyn Botanic Garden GCM Members can also check out some of the fascinating links provided by speakers in our programs. These website links are provided as a convenience. A link does not imply The Garden Club of Montclair's sponsorship. When you access one of these sites, you are leaving The Garden Club of Montclair website.

Membership Committee Reports Committees 2024-2025 — Cheryl Slutzky, Chair Membership remains steady at 130, including five Provisionals. In April, our flower designers wowed crowds at MAM’s Free First Thursday, attracting interest — and at least one very active new Member. At our May Awards Brunch, we honored three former Presidents as new Emeriti: Janet Oscar, Sarah Stransky, and Karen Whitehaus. Each of these wonderful women have made and continue to make extraordinary contributions to the Club. Dues collection for 2024–2025 followed the usual pattern — early birds and late bloomers — and I am happy to report all payments have been received. Thanks to all Committee Chairs, especially Flower Design, Horticulture, Avis Campbell, and Garden Therapy, for guiding Provisionals and making them welcome. A special plea: please pay dues by credit card and choose committees via our website. Save time and save a tree! 2024-2025 Members: Susan Brady, Tova Narrett, Brigitte Padberg, Kathy Sorkin, Sonyia Woloshyn. 2023-2024 — Cheryl Slutzky, Chair Membership in the Garden Club of Montclair is stable. Sadly, several beloved members have passed away, a few have resigned for personal reasons, and a few provisional members have had second thoughts due to work schedules. That being said, we continue to attract many interested individuals by way of recommendations from friends and through discovering our truly amazing website. Our website shows off our Club’s accomplishments and describes all we do as a vibrant organization that is constantly evolving. We began the year with 19 provisional members and it is exciting to be moving 10 of these members into active status. They have all worked hard to get there, each in their own individual way. We need every one of them to take an active role especially as we near the celebration of the Club’s 100th anniversary! The Membership Committee is a small group. It does not share the popularity of Garden Therapy, Avis Campbell Gardens, Hospitality, etc. For that reason, I will be welcoming a Vice Chair this year, Fran Ackerly. Fran, who is known for being the Chair of Flower Design and also a floral designer par excellence, will be joining the Membership Committee. She and I will be doing our best to reach every single member and to engage every member on this Committee to fully participate. If you decide to be on the Membership Committee you will advocate for new members. I am hoping to have participation at each and every monthly program as well. To my surprise, I’ve signed up for a second term. I guess I like my job. A big thank you to all the Committee Chairs, especially Flower Design, Horticulture, Avis Campbell, and Garden Therapy. Once again, you all helped to keep our provisional members current and on schedule. Your watchful eyes and encouraging words are appreciated! And once again, kudos to Communications Chair Sue Young for making the membership database available to me. Thank you to Floss O’Sullivan for diligently keeping all Committee Chairs and Officers up to date with her detailed meeting minutes. And a big Thank You to our President Sarah J. Olson for her patience and back-up. All I need now is the ability to deposit checks remotely, and I’m set. 2022-2023 — Cheryl Slutzky, Chair Without Members, we would not have our wonderful Garden Club of Montclair. We saw an influx of nineteen new Provisionals throughout this past year. Several had to withdraw for personal reasons, but we left the door open for their return. From this class, we welcome three new active Members ready to share their talents: Kathy Bachmann, Jacoba Coes, and Karen Fricke. It is vital to the Club's growth to have a rolling admissions policy. If someone is interested in becoming a Member in November or January, we want to welcome them so they can start fulfilling Provisional requirements. While Horticulture might be on hold during winter, there are plenty of workshops, events like Crane House decorating, and clerking for judges. Garden Therapy opportunities were very popular with Provisionals, building camaraderie and helping the Club to do community outreach. Thanks to Sue Young for making the Membership database available and simplifying sending out correspondence, renewing memberships, keeping the database current, and staying on track. I so appreciate all the Committee Chairs, especially Flower Design, Horticulture and Avis Campbell Gardens. You worked with me to keep our Provisionals current and on schedule. Your input and team effort helps us do our best to get to know new people while strengthening relationships with current Members, making everyone feel at home in The Garden Club of Montclair. 2021-2022 — Deborah Hirsch, Chair Despite our continued health crisis, our Membership continued to grow, with an outstanding group of new Provisionals and a wonderful new leader of Membership, Cheryl Slutzky, for the coming two years. This year we did enjoy some time together, and it was without doubt a welcome time. The kindness of our Committee Chairs provided two workshops on two weekends for Provisionals in the fall at Avis Campbell Gardens, in Flower Design and Horticulture. I learn something from every workshop and going back to basics is always informative. Our incredible team of leaders have brought us new Members, maintained a steady calendar of Programs, Workshops, Flower Design, and Horticulture shows, Garden Therapy events, opportunities to work in our gardens, and exceptional communication through our emails and first-rate website. We are working to make evenings and weekends a regular part of our offerings, as we have many Members working full-time who will stick with us if we do! I look forward to working on many committees and under the leadership of our new President, Sarah Stransky, even as we bid adieu to our dear Florence. Take a moment to review the list of new and ongoing Provisionals, as this year we will have an opportunity to get to know them in person, as they will get to know all our Active Members and Committee Chairs. 2020-2021 — Deborah Hirsch, Chair Would you like to know how it feels to be a member of the Garden Club of Montclair during the Pandemic? Remember when the Titanic was sinking and the band continue to play? Well, we are that band. Our members have been impacted in a myriad ways but the coming together for our in-person Awards meeting this May reminded us all of the importance of our relationships to one another, to our beautiful Avis Campbell and Triangle Gardens, to the educational yearning we seek, to the community we serve, and to the amazing resilience of our members, young and old. Welcome to the new Provisional class: Tracey Alampi, Betty Murphy, Virginia Woo, and Lauren Zodel. Inquiries continue to roll in and last year's Provisional class has for the most part stuck with us, lending a helping hand where they could during this shutdown in our lives. We will meet again in May of 2022 to celebrate our new members properly. Until then, thank you to the Membership committee who willingly reached out to our membership to check in throughout the year. 2019-2020 — Deborah Hirsch, Chair Our Membership has proven robust and flexible during this challenging year. Twenty-two Provisionals participated with enthusiasm from the beginning of the year. The Executive Committee unanimously agreed that they all be invited to become Active members for the coming year, since they were unable to complete their requirements because of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. The response was a rousing thank you! Please welcome our new Active members: Susan Brady, Elizabeth Burgess, Christina Cattell, Robert Chapman, Ellen Colton, Jessica Fleming, Sharon Karlson, Dorothy Meissner, Maureen Michaud, Sarah H. Olson, Jacqueline Rondeau, Barbara Schiavone, Florence Sinofsky, Wendy Stahl, and Sue Young. Thank you to their sponsors, and I hope you will continue to support them in their first year Active status. Please welcome our new Provisional class for 2020-2021 who have already taken advantage of opportunities to work outdoors in the Avis Campbell Gardens and Triangle Gardens: Joan Byrne, Nancy L. Herron, Eleni LaSenna, Laela Perkins, and Maryellen Stadtlander. Remember, we encourage Membership applications year round, so if you know of someone who would enjoy our Club, send them my way. I hope all our members will embrace the new year in its virtual form for the time being, as our Committee Chairs work hard to spin their magic in Design, Horticulture, Programs, Workshops, Education, and Garden Therapy for us to enjoy. Thank you to my Membership Committee for their support this year: Carol Callahan, Sarah Olson, Brigitte Padberg, Gretchen Prater, Denise Silverman, Kathy Sorkin, Judy Voccola. To Fran Wong, database wizard, for keeping our information up-to-date, thank you!

This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. < Back Gadget review: release of new Airy Pods Daniel Williams Mar 21, 2023 This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own content or import it from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, and videos. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. Previous Next

Horticultural Schedule for each month that there is a competition. Horticulture Schedule See monthly schedule, below. Refer to 2025-2026 Horticulture Rules . See also the NGC Handbook for Flower Shows . Check Workshops for assistance. Watch the video (requires logging on to the page) featuring Debbie Moran, NGC Accredited Master Flower Show Judge, introducing the basics of selecting and exhibiting Horticulture specimens. See also our other instructional videos and handouts . See clerking guidelines. October 2025 Schedule October 20, 2025 Register with Susan Straten by Thursday, October 16. Class 1: Annuals: 1 cut specimen if large; 3 specimens if small. Class 2: Perennials: 1 cut specimen if large; 3 specimens if small. Class 3: Ornamental Grasses: 1 cut specimen exceeding 30" but no longer than 42" (freshly cut, not dried.) Class 4: Vegetables or Fruit: 1 specimen if large; 3 specimens if small. November 2025 Schedule November 17, 2025 Register with Susan Straten by Thursday, November 13. Class 1: Broadleaf Evergreen Branches: 1 cut specimen not to exceed 30". Must include apical tip and several nodes. Class 2: Needled Evergreen Branches: 1 cut specimen not to exceed 30". Must include apical tip and several nodes. Class 3: Combination Plantings: pot size not to exceed 12" in diameter. Class 4: Container-Grown Foliage Plant: Pot size not to exceed 8" in diameter. (Saucer for container must be provided by exhibitor.) Class 5: Container-Grown Flowering Plant : Pot size not to exceed 8" in diameter. (Saucer for container must be provided by exhibitor.) March 2026 Schedule March 23, 2026 Register with Susan Straten by Thursday, March 19. Class 1: Narcissus (Daffodils): 1 cut specimen. Class 2: Muscari (Grape Hyacinths): 3 cut specimens. Class 3: Any other Flowering Bulbs, Corms, or Tubers: 1 cut specimen if large; 3 specimens if small. Class 4: Hellebores: 1 cut specimen with blooms; may have attached leaves. Class 5: Flowering Branches : 1 cut specimen not to exceed 30". Must include apical tip and several nodes and exhibit sufficient blooms. April 2026 Schedule April 27, 2026 Canceled due to our gardeners preparing for our 100th Year Celebration.

Contact Us If you are interested in joining us, please go to our provisional member page . If you would just like to talk to someone about what we do, please fill out this form and we will get back to you as quickly as possible. Name Address Email Phone Subject Message Thanks for contacting us! We'll get back to you as soon as possible. Submit

Garden Therapy Garden Therapy is an opportunity to “give back” to the community with visits to nursing homes, senior centers, specialized schools and refuges. GC members work with institutions to design programs that will interest participants, ranging from hands on workshops such as aromatherapy, floral design, botanical arts and the planting of annuals, perennials and herbs in garden beds or windowsill planters.

This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. < Back Long-term benefits of clean energy sources Kim Jennings Mar 20, 2023 This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own content or import it from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, and videos. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. Previous Next

Calendar Garden Club of Montclair events have green dates; NGC, CAR-SGC, and GCNJ events appear as purple dates.

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Galleries Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony May 28, 2021 Provisional Flower Design Workshop September 26, 2021 OASIS - A Haven for Women and Children October 13, 2021

Civic/Environment Committee Reports Committees This webpage includes the last reports of the Civic Beautification committee and the first report of the newly activated Environment committee. Due to the overlap in functions of these two committees, the Board of Trustees felt that it made sense to combine the two as one, to be known as the Civic/Environment committee. 2024-2025 — Deborah Hirsch, Chair This year marked a turning point for our newly combined Committee — defined by renewed energy, creative collaboration, and visible progress. We began with our third Upper Montclair clean-up, assessing tree conditions and documenting findings with photographs. Building on that momentum, we met with the Township Planning Commission to revisit the Valley Road and Church Street Circle—once home to a Garden Club fountain installed in 1976. In December, we launched efforts to revitalize the site, culminating in June with the installation of a native garden designed by Committee member Celia Radek. Throughout the year, we explored additional partnerships with the Office of Sustainability, including potential plantings in tree wells slated for replacement. The committee started working with the township to plan for the native garden to be installed at the long-abandoned circle at Valley Road and Church Street. We proudly represented the Club at Montclair’s second EarthFest and Glen Ridge’s Environmental Day, engaging with the public and sharing our mission. Committee member Jacoba Coes kept us informed regarding the development of the Greenway Project which is now beginning to welcome volunteers into this exciting new public space on the old rail track between Montclair and the Hudson River. In alignment with our sustainability goals, we phased out the use of Oasis in floral arrangements and prioritized biodegradable, compostable, and reusable materials at our social gatherings. In collaboration with the Triangle team, we also supported the replanting of raised beds with native species, reinforcing our commitment to climate-resilient, pollinator-friendly landscapes. These accomplishments reflect the dedication and enthusiasm of a remarkable team: Kathy Bachmann, Andie Bertsche, Jacoba Coes, Marie Donnelly, Susan Dumont, Karen Kadus, Ann Lee, Sydney Milliken, Sarah Olson, Imke Oster, Brigitte Padberg, Helene Peck, Sheila Oakes, MaryEllen Stadtlander, Wendy Stahl, Susan Straten, Sonyia Woloshyn, Allyn Young, Sue Young. 2023-2024 — Deborah Hirsch, Chair Our Environment Committee was restored to active duty during this year. We started with an engaged group of members who reviewed lots of ideas about how we should approach this important aspect of Club work, beginning with educating ourselves about best garden practices. Some members wrote articles for the website under the new Environment tab, others submitted reference opportunities on the subject. We all agreed that collaboration with other like-minded organizations should be encouraged. Our first public effort was a clean-up of Upper Montclair Business District in early March. On a rainy Saturday we met at member Amy South’s Moss & More shop and set out to collect trash and photograph tree conditions. Later in the year we fashioned a new Civic Beautification and Environmental Responsibility Committee, with the following mission: "The mission of this Committee is to encourage environmentally responsible beautification of our town’s outdoor green spaces. This Committee’s goal is to act as a resource for individual and organizational stewardship for planning and plant selection and to provide physical help where appropriate. We will offer advice on ways to beautify town businesses and create floral displays when requested. We will search for existing gardens that exemplify sustainable practices and businesses whose plantings or containers show significant effort in the use of pollinator friendly and native plants. We will highlight these examples on social media and website platforms. We will interface with other committees of our Club to learn, educate, and share ideas". 2023-2024 — Marie Donnelly, Civic Beautification Chair; Susan Benner, Vice Chair The Civic Beautification Committee continued improving the outdoor spaces of Montclair businesses and residences by planting urns in front of Church Street stores and providing landscape designs for open spaces on Seymour Street. In keeping with our new cooperation and upcoming merger with the Environmental Committee, we encourage the use of native and pollinator plants. A generous grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation helped enormously in our efforts. Plans for beautifying open spaces at Montclair High School and Bradford School are in the works. Once again, this year more than 25 of our members participated in Art in Bloom at the Montclair Art Museum. Their interpretations of and meaningful insights into works of art displayed at the Museum are more examples of the many ways the Club interacts with the community. We photographed local gardens that promote the use of native plants and pollinator species. By promoting these on social media and in the local press we encouraged other gardeners to follow these examples. . In the future, we look forward to our presence as an integral part of the new Civic/Environmental Committee. 2022-2023 — Marie Donnelly, Chair; Susan Benner Vice Chair The Civic Beautification Committee meets several times a year to brainstorm and implement ideas to help beautify the community. We are continuing with plans to install a pop-up flower/plant design in Montclair next year and hoping this will become an annual event that will draw people from neighboring towns. Addressing the needs of businesses asking for help is another way we serve the community. In 2023 the Montclair Ambulance Unit at 95 Walnut Street requested help with improving the look of their building. We rose to the challenge and installed two new planters in front of their building in time for the Walnut Street Fair on May 7, 2023. 2021-2022 — Marie Donnelly, Chair; Susan Benner Vice Chair More than 25 of our Members participated in Art in Bloom at the Montclair Art Museum. Their interpretations of works of art on display offered meaningful insights to one of the many ways the Garden Club of Montclair impacts the community and supports the Museum. The committee is very enthusiastic about developing a long-range project to install "pop-up" flower design displays in Montclair 's business districts. Members are consulting with local crafters and creating a proposal to submit to the Township for a yearly event. Conversations continue enthusiastically with the Montclair Public Library Foundation to beautify the library plazas, host a farm stand, provide space for native plants, and promote sustainability initiatives. 2020-2021 — Marie Donnelly, Chair Due to the COVID pandemic and resulting restrictions in 2020–21, the Civic Beautification Committee was unable to complete its planned community projects. The Committee will renew efforts to engage the community in the upcoming year. 2020-2021 — Cheryl Slutzky, Chair It was a rather quiet year for Civic Beautification. While we looked forward to planning for Art in Bloom at the Montclair Art Museum and a "May in Montclair" coordinated experience in the township, COVID-19 had other plans! In 2019, the merchants in Upper Montclair and the South End business districts produced some lovely outdoor floral displays. There were no such displays in 2020 and no little Garden Club of Montclair cards of congratulation appeared. Here's hoping we see those little cards inserted into happy, creative displays — and that we all fare better in 2021.

Communications Committee Reports Committees Email reports are included by year, below. See also Potpourri editions and committee reports . 2024-2025 — Sue Young, Chair Over the past few years, the Communications team has focused on strengthening our website as both a digital archive of our Club’s history and the primary way we share current news with members. This year, to improve email delivery and avoid spam filters used by major providers, we successfully transitioned to a commercial email platform as our main method of sharing news while maintaining the website as a permanent record. We’ve also expanded into social media—thanks to the outstanding efforts of Amy South and Tracy Reilly —allowing us to connect with the broader community and attract new members. This was also the first year we offered an online printable PDF Yearbook, replacing the printed version we’ve used since 1950. Looking ahead, we’re developing systems to support Club Committees with their communications as they plan projects for our 100th Anniversary. 2024-2025 Committee : Janice Benton, Terri Breen, Karen DeLuca, Deborah Hirsch, Christine James, Floss O'Sullivan, Tracy Reilly, Ragna Sloane, Maryellen Stadtlander, Amy South, Karen Whitehaus, Fran Wong, Allyn Young. 2023-2024 — Sue Young, Chair We went a long way this year to achieving our goal of documenting all our activities on the website in words and photos. This would not have been possible without the amazing talents of the whole Communications committee, and of course our amazing photographers: Susan Yu, Barbara Baletti, Nancy Stroud and all the members who brought the activities of their committees to the whole membership. We have many plans for the new year, the most momentous of which is the transfer of the Yearbook to an online version with a shortened, printable PDF of the most popular sections. We are proud of our members who voted overwhelmingly to take advantage of the digital world and save the significant cost of printing the Yearbook. We will also be using “In the News” rather than traditional emails to notify members of upcoming events. And we plan to reach out more to the community through social media, attracting more visitors to our programs, and more members to our Club. Finally, our website address will change from https://gardenclubofmontclair.COM to https://gardenclubofmontclair.ORG (more appropriate for our non-profit status) and our email address will change to info@gardenclubofmontclair.org . After several years of a multi-pronged communication approach the board made the decision to consolidate communications to one source of communication which will be the website "In the News" emails. Potpourri and all announcements will come from our website address. Many, many thanks to Fran Wong who has managed the emails coming into and out of the Club for so long and who we are sure will continue to contribute her technical expertise to the committee and our members for many years to come. 2022-2023 — Sue Young, Chair This year we made a good start on our plan to record all our activities on the website. Seventy-five people have signed up to have these stories delivered to their inboxes the moment they are published. So far no one has asked to cancel! We are also using the website to collect dues and fees online, which is a big help to the Finance Chair. Over 100 Club Members have now signed up to use these options! None of this would have been possible without the photos and event accounts contributed by our members. Please everyone, keep them coming! In particular, many thanks to Susan Yu for her glorious pictures. I would also like to thank Floss O'Sullivan for her meticulous documenting of the competition entries, her videos that add so much to our workshops, and her quiet maintenance of the ever-changing calendar. Next year our committee will look at how to publicize our activities, so Montclair gets to know us better — and learn where the Avis Campbell Gardens are located! Email — Fran Wong Weekly email updates to Club Members, known as "e-blasts" are an important part of our Communications strategy. More than 50 email updates a year are delivered to the entire Membership on Wednesday mornings ranging from notifications of upcoming events, calls for volunteers, or Members who have passed. These year-round emails help drive attendance at Programs, Workshops, and Garden Therapy events, and help Members stay connected over the summer. With the website's "In the News" alerts, these weekly e-blasts, and the Potpourri newsletter published eight times a year, this three-tiered strategy helps keep members reminded, engaged, and up to date. If you want something sent to the Membership please submit it as you would like it to appear in a .doc file attachment to fewong@comcast.net. Photos should be sent as a separate JPG file. While PDF files can be sent, they will almost always be delivered as an attachment. The deadline for a given week is Monday at 11:59 pm, but emergencies can be accommodated as appropriate. 2021-2022 — Sue Young, Chair Thanks to the dedication of our previous creative Communications Chair, Amy South, and our technologically gifted President, Florence Leyssène, we can report that the Club flourished during COVID-19, thanks to the electronic tools of Zoom, email, the new website, and the extraordinary skills of our photographers: Barbara Baletti, Victoria Herrera, Wendy Stahl, Claire Stepleton, Michele Tomasik, Susan Yu, and many others. Early this year, like Punxsutawney Phil, we emerged cautiously from our lockdown to meet again for multiple events and to record these get-togethers on our new website. This website, which won the GCNJ's Hanover Garden Club Trophy (presented to a member club "for a successful, innovative project of merit that does not apply for an award under any other category") marks a new addition to our communication arsenal. As well as our informative weekly email (thank you Fran Wong!), and our rich and illuminating Potpourri (thank you Terri Breen, Claire Stepleton and Karen Whitehaus!), we have added many new features to our website, including last year's entire Yearbook. Our goal has been to make it easy for all our Members with varying levels of social media experience to: view the site on a phone or a laptop; access a constantly updated calendar; use a searchable directory of all Members, from Active to Provisionals to Emeriti; receive immediate posts about anything and everything in their email inboxes as events happen; browse through two years of committee reports; keep up with changing information about workshops and programs; watch sophisticated how-to videos (thank you Debbie Moran, Florence Leyssène, and Floss O'Sullivan!); enjoy slideshows and galleries of shared events; check out all award winners back to 1987 (soon to stretch to our founding in 1926); and feel comfortable that security has been upgraded to the highest level. Use of the site has been growing throughout the year, and we want all our Members to feel that our electronic forms of communication add to our central tenets of Education, Beautification, and Fellowship. Email — Fran Wong Even through the COVID-19 pandemic, The Garden Club of Montclair has worked hard to maintain an active calendar and keep its Members engaged. This necessitates adequate communication in order to be successful. Given the need to be flexible during the ever-changing challenges of maintaining the activities of the Club during the pandemic, weekly emails have become essential to keep the membership informed and up to date. Whenever possible, articles and notices are congregated to avoid encouraging a common habit of ignoring email due to high volume. Attractive stationery is used to bring attention to the content. When we send information, we want Members to read it! Every effort is made to make sure current email addresses are maintained and undelivered email is investigated and resent. Membership cooperation in notifying the Club of changes is always appreciated and is critical to the mission. Unfortunately, some Members have recently experienced delivery failures for unknown reasons. Some have found Club emails in their spam folders, but others have been unable to determine the problem. Members should expect a weekly update email between September 1 and June 1 and check their spam folder if necessary. Problems should be reported to the Club email address: gardenclubofmontclair@yahoo.com. Emails are sent on an as-requested basis during the summer months. Finally, incoming emails to the Club email address were distributed to the appropriate individuals for their action. 2020-2021 — Amy South, Chair Traditionally, Communications reports on current and future Club activities but because of COVID, we were re-directed to design a process to share individual photos for competitions anonymously. We also worked closely with Workshops to help share communications regarding workshops and fabulous videos produced by Floss O’Sullivan, Florence Leyssène, and others. Floss O’Sullivan also created an invaluable step-by-step video tutorial on completing an entry form. I am so impressed by the energy and dedication of those who continued to create magic in Avis Campbell Gardens, the Triangle Gardens, Garden Therapy, Workshops, Programs, Youth, Open Gardens and more! Additionally, thanks to Deborah Hirsch, we were able to grow our Membership during a year of lockdown. Special thanks to the photographers who jumped in and shared photos: Barbara Baletti, Claire Stepleton, Susan Yu, Marilyn Zaret, Michele Tomasik, and others. My successor, Sue Young, helped us work around the frustrating challenge of an “absent webmaster” to post on our website a new dues renewal form with a Paypal link. She is very experienced with website design and her determination and wit will surely benefit the Club. It has been my pleasure to transition Sue and I look forward to staying on the Committee to help with the website rebuild. Recently, at the request of the Ways and Means Committee, we added a 'DONATE' button that will hopefully catch the attention of website visitors — more to come! Thanks to Celia Radek for supplying Yearbook content for the annual website update. Thank you to our President, Florence Leyssène, for her knowledge and leadership during this challenging period. Her knowledge and experience, coupled with a kind heart, have helped make all we do possible. I am thankful for this amazing organization and feel inspired by the talents, energy, and dedication of our members. My heart is exceptionally heavy when I reflect on the many losses and hardships this past year but my mind is bright with the future of our extraordinary Club. Thank you to all — it is my honor to have served as your Communications Chair and I confidently pass the baton to Sue Young. Email — Fran Wong The Club is fortunate to have a robust calendar and Active membership and this necessitates adequate communication in order to be successful. Given the need to be flexible during the ever changing challenges of maintaining the activities of the Club during the pandemic, weekly e-mails were instituted to keep the membership informed and up-to-date. Whenever possible, articles and notices were congregated to avoid encouraging a common habit of ignoring email due to high volume. Appealing stationary is used to attract attention to the content. When we send it we want members to read it! Email notices and reminders have become essential to keeping the membership informed and engaged. Every attempt is made to make sure current addresses are maintained and undelivered email is investigated and resent. Membership cooperation in notifying the Club of changes is always appreciated and is critical to the mission. Finally, incoming messages to the Club email address were distributed to the appropriate individuals for their action. 2019-2020 — Amy South, Chair Communications has continued to report to local papers, publications and social media regarding both our future activities and our accomplishments. lnstagram continues to be a very useful tool to spread word about events and highlight our accomplishments. We continue to use Smugmug for photo storage. I would like to thank Susan Yu, Marilyn Zaret, Susan Straten, Michele Tomasik, Barbara Baletti, and Victoria Herrera for helping cover photographing events. Claire Stepleton continues to provide wonderful, consistent support with photography and tech related questions. The temporary transition to Van Vleck for some of our events this year went smoothly in the communications arena. Attendance was strong for the fabulous Programs which might suggest that the publicity with the Montclair Local , Montclair Times , Baristanet , and Facebook was helpful. We supported some of our partners with advertisements in publications (Montclair Art Museum, Van Vleck, and 'May in Montclair'). Unfortunately, the pandemic brought a halt to all events (March -June) but we did submit a 1/8 page ad to the ·"We Care" section of the Montclair Local in support of the community and "May in Montclair". The website requires a considerable amount of time to be updated and I appreciate all the assistance provided by Claire Stepleton. We will continue to share interactive forms (dues and Annual Luncheon responses) and to take payment on line via credit cards (with a nominal fee) through the website. Some future goals are to increase Membership engagement with the website and to work with Claire Stepleton to update the History and Award information. Thanks to Celia Radek for supplying Yearbook content for the annual website update. This year was exceptionally complicated by Covid-19 and our temporary move to Van Vleck. I am thankful to Florence Leyssène for her knowledge and leadership as President during these challenges and I look forward to another year as Communications/Publicity VP. I am thankful for my Membership and feel inspired by the talents, energy, and dedication of Garden Club members. Email — Fran Wong The Club is fortunate to have a robust calendar and active Membership and this necessitates adequate communication in order to be successful. At least two blast emails were sent each month during the year. Whenever possible, articles and notices were congregated to avoid encouraging a common habit of ignoring email due to high volume. Attractive stationery is used to attract attention to the content. When we send it we want members to read it! Special invitations such as that to the Holiday Tea were also sent. Email notices and reminders have become essential to keeping the Membership informed and engaged. Every attempt is made to make sure current addresses are maintained and undelivered email investigated and re-sent. Membership cooperation in notifying the Club of changes is always appreciated and is critical to the mission. Finally, incoming emails to the Club were distributed to the appropriate individuals and Committee Chairs for their action.

Botanical Arts Schedule Open to all levels. All tables are 30" high and covered with ivory linen. See monthly schedule, below. As dates pass, they move to the bottom of this page. Check all rules for Botanical Arts - Horticulture, Design, Artistic Crafts, Photography. See also NGC Handbook for Flower Shows . Need a refresher prior to GCM's monthly competitions? We have online videos to help, featuring Florence Leyssène and Debbie Moran, NGC accredited Master Flower Show Judges. October 20, 2025 Register with Florence Leyssène by Thursday, October 16 . ARTISTIC CRAFTS: Breast 'In Plants' 4 entries October is Breast Cancer awareness month. A Decorated Bra or Sports Bra. Hung on a hanger provided by exhibitor, staged on metallic grid; frame of reference: 20” L x 10” H. Viewed from front. Bra or sports bra may not need to be all covered with plant material. Designer’s choice of plant material and components. Plant material must be identified with binomial names on a 3” x 5” index card. November 17, 2025 Register with Florence Leyssène by Wednesday, November 13. ARTISTIC CRAFTS: Sharing With Guests 4 entries A Decorated Bottle of Wine to bring to your friends for the holidays. Label may be visible, bottle no bigger than 750 ml and must be unopened. Non plant material may be used for construction, but must not show. Designer’s Choice of plant material and components. Plant material must be identified with binomial names on a 3” x 5” index card. Staged on table 30”high covered off-white; frame of reference: 18” x 18” . Underlay optional. February 2, 2026 (rescheduled from January 26.) Register with Florence Leyssène by Thursday, January 29 ARTISTIC CRAFTS: Getting Ready for Valentine's Day 4 entries A Decorated Purse provided by exhibitor, no larger than 10”. Purse should be standing in an upright position, staged on table 30” high covered with off-white. Purse should be completely covered with plant material and optional components. Designer’s choice of plant material and other components. Plant material must be identified with binomial names on a 3” x 5” index card. Staged on table 30”high covered off-white; frame of reference: 18” x 18” PHOTOGRAPHY: Winter Weekend 4 entries A black and white photograph of a winter scenery. Must be 8” x !0”, matted in white, with a maximum size of 11” x 14” including the mat provided by exhibitor. Staged on a table using an easel provided by exhibitor. February 23, 2026 Canceled, due to snowstorm. March 23, 2026 Register with Florence Leyssène by Thursday, March 19. DESIGN: Ides of March 4 entries A Collage, an abstract design, See Handbook for Flower Shows , p.93, created on a background panel no larger than 8” x 10” provided by exhibitor, with a dominance of components attached in a non-realistic manner. Components include plant material and other found objects. Staged in upright position on easel provided by committee. Designer’s Choice of plant material and components. Plant material must be identified with binomial names on a 3” x 5” index card. Staged on a shelf at approximate eye level. Exhibitor must provide easel for display. PHOTOGRAPHY: Through the Magnifier 4 entries Macro photograph of flower or foliage. Must be 8” x 10”, matted in white, with a maximum size of 11” x 14” including the mat provided by exhibitor. Staged on a table using an easel provided by exhibitor. April 27, 2026 Canceled, due to our entrants participation in our anniversary party.

Awards Committee Reports Committees See also the full list of GCM awardees and other awards since 1980. Earlier awards are listed in Yearbooks dating back to 1951. 2024-2025 — Sarah Stransky, Chair Many thanks to our dedicated Awards Committee—Fran Ackerly, Deb Hirsch, Floss O’Sullivan, Suzy Straten, and President Sarah Olson—who handled unexpected changes with grace. After much thought, the Committee retired the tradition of hand engraving the Silver Awards, as our longtime engraver passed away and the craft faded. At the May 22, Awards Meeting and Luncheon, 2024–25 Silver Award winners received certificates, and their Silver Awards were loaned to them, as usual. Also at the Luncheon, engraved glass trophies for special recognition were presented to Jacquelin McMullen (55 years) and Brenda Bingham (50 years), along with community partners The Montclair Foundation and the Placek Foundation. Our new crowd favorite, the just-for-fun “Bloomies,” was a festive closer. Although we didn’t win an award this year, we proudly submitted applications to the GCNJ and NGC, often honoring us in the past. 2024-2025 Committee : Fran Ackerly, Deborah Hirsch, Floss O'Sullivan, Susan Straten, Kate Khachaturian 2023-2024 — Deborah Hirsch, Chair Thank you to the Awards team of Floss O’Sullivan, Kate Khachaturian, Celia Radek, Maureen Sprong and Florence Leyssène. Your collective knowledge, wit, compassion and attention to detail were so important to the process. And thanks, too, to Sarah Olson for attending our meetings. As of this writing we are waiting on the State, CAR, and National Clubs for responses to our five applications. We are delighted to announce the following GCNJ award: Certificate of Merit with Gold Seal for our Yearbook 2023-2024. Award Application: Floss O’Sullivan, editor in chief of the Yearbook.. The Garden Club of Montclair Awards were distributed at the Glen Ridge Country Club on May 30, 2024. We introduced a new category, The Bloomies , to recognize many unsung heroes who stepped in to make a difference during the year. Emeritus Awards 2024: Susan Straten, Gretchen Prater, and Barbara Meyer The Till Beatty Allis Award 2024: Deborah Moran The Bauer Horticulture Award 2024: Karen Whitehaus The Louise D. Mann Award 2024: Sue Young 2022-2023 — Celia Radek, Chair Ribbons, rosettes, and silver. This was a very full awards year that included a Flower Show and competitions in Horticulture, Flower Design, and Botanical Arts at monthly meetings. The Club inaugurated a new award in the Botanical Arts Division, joining top point-scored honors in other categories. Thanks to Susan Straten for her gift of the silver bowl for this new award. Silver bowl perpetual trophies earned at the Arts & Flowers : A Design Specialty Flower Show were among the Club awards and special tributes presented at the Annual Meeting in May. The President's Award for Horticulture —Sarah J. Olson The Amy Hatrak Herb Award —Denise Silverman The Barbara Meyer Rose Award —Denise Silverman The Estelle Leibrecht Horticulture Award —Debbie Moran The Bauer Horticulture Award —Maureen Sprong The President's Trophy for Flower Design, lntermed .—Sarah J. Olson The Garden Club Award for Flower Design, Adv .—Barbara Baletti The Kay Maclane Van Deusen Rose Award —Fran Ackerly The Betty B. Merriam Silver Bowl —Debbie Moran The Barbara Slockbower Schaeberle Award —Tova Narrett The Botanical Arts Award —Floss O'Sullivan The Till Beatty Allis Award —Fran Ackerly The Louise D. Mann Award —Deborah Hirsch Special Tributes —Susan Benner, Marilyn & Peter Zaret 2023 President's Special Recognition Award —Sue Young Congratulations to the Yearbook Committee and Editor Floss O'Sullivan for the Garden Club of New Jersey Certificate of Merit for Yearbook 2022-23. Many more GCNJ and NGC Awards are detailed in the report on Arts & Flowers : A Design Specialty Flower Show . With appreciation to the 2022-23 Awards Committee members: Cynthia Corhan-Aitken, Florence Leyssène, Sarah J. Olson, Maureen Sprong, and Sarah Stransky, ex officio. 2021-2022 — Sarah Stransky, Chair The Awards Committee is to be applauded for their work on GCM Awards and active participation in National and State Award/Grant applications writing. Many thanks to Cynthia Corhan-Aitken, Sarah Olson, Celia Radek, and Fran Wong. We also appreciated the guidance of the GCNJ Awards Chair, Peggy Morrissey, who helped facilitate our application process. We are delighted to announce the following GCNJ Awards: Certificate of Merit with Gold Seal 1st Place YB-1 Yearbook 2021-22 (100-299 members). Award application by Editor, Claire Stepleton. Score 100%. Hanover Garden Club Trophy for outstanding innovative project: Website 2021-22. Award application by Sue Young, 1st Vice President and Website Webmaster, and Sarah Stransky. GCNJ Special Award/Large Club for Triangle Gardens (a Civic Beautification project since 1952). Award application by Susan Yu, Triangle Gardens Chair, and Sarah Olson. The Garden Club of Montclair Awards were given at the Annual Meeting held at Avis Campbell Gardens on May 25, 2022, with the help of the Properties Chair, Nancy Stroud, Membership Chairs, Deborah Hirsch and Cheryl Slutzky, the Awards Committee, and Marilyn and Peter Zaret, who set up and dismantled chairs and tables for the event. The venue location was revised to be outdoors because of a recent outbreak of COVID-19. Emeritus Award 2022 - Brenda Bingham. Dedication to GCM, GCNJ, and NGC through focus on flower design since 1975. Tribute 2022 - Sue Young . Webmaster/renovator of current website. The Till Beatty Allis Award 2022 – Floss O’Sullivan . Flower Design Education through the creation of virtual workshops and exhibitions. The Louise D. Mann Award 2022 - Sarah Olson . Garden Therapy development and expansion of programs involving many more Members and reaching out to more people facing personal challenges in our communities. 2020-2021 — Sarah Stransky, Chair Many thanks to the 2020-21 Awards Committee including Cynthia Corhan-Aitken, Karen Kadus, Kate Khachaturian, Michele Tomasik, and Fran Wong for their Zoom input, and collection and cleaning of the silver awards. Special thanks to Michele Tomasik for her assistance writing and editing several of the Emeritus and Tribute Awards. We also appreciate the support of GCNJ Awards Chair, Peggy Morrissey, whose guidance facilitated our state and national award application processes. We are thrilled to announce these GCNJ and NGC Awards received in June 2021 for outstanding achievements in 2020 during the pandemic: Yearbook 2020-21 — Award application by Celia Radek, Editor. Score 100%. Certificate of Commendation First Place YB-1 Yearbooks (100-299 members) awarded by National Garden Clubs, Inc. Certificate of Merit with Gold Seal YB-1 Yearbooks (100-299 members) awarded by Garden Club of New Jersey. Virtual Flower Design Education 2021 — Award application by Workshop Chair, Floss O'Sullivan, Florence Leyssène, and Sarah Stransky. Certificate of Merit First Place and Overall Winner Award FD-2 (Aiv) Floral Design Program/Single Club awarded by National Garden Clubs, Inc. Garden Therapy 2021 — Award application by Garden Therapy Chair, Sarah Olson, and Sarah Stransky. Myra Brooks Garden Therapy Trophy #15a Renovated Garden Therapy Program awarded by the Garden Club of New Jersey. The Garden Club of Montclair Awards were given at the 2020-21 Annual Meeting held in Avis Campbell Gardens on May 26 with the help of the Hospitality, Properties, Membership, and Avis Campbell Gardens Committees. A celebration for Connie Young’s 100 birthday was an important part of the agenda! The Bauer Horticulture Award 2021 — Debbie Moran The Louise D. Mann Award 2021 — Floss O’Sullivan The Till Beatty Allis Award 2021 — Florence Leyssène Tributes — Cynthia Corhan-Aitken, Sandy Sorkin, Karen Whitehaus, Fran Wong Emeritus Award Members 2021 — Bonni Babson, Betty Ann Cannell, Chris Cowles, Firth Fabend, Joan Larkin, Mary McGeown, Fritzi Mills, C.Y. Treene. 2019-2020 — Sarah Stransky, Chair T he 2019-2020 Awards Program, held annually in May, was postponed until fall of 2020. Because we have chosen to honor the recipients in a timely fashion, it is with great pleasure that we announce the following 2019-2020 awards: The President's Award for Horticulture — Denise Silverman The Amy Hatrak Herb Award — Denise Silverman The Bauer Horticulture Award — Maureen Sprong The Elsie Bristol Novice Award — Ginny Demoreuille The Garden Club Award for Flower Design, Advanced — Fran Ackerly The Kay Maclane Van Deusen Rose Award — Sarah J. Olson The Louise D. Mann Award — Claire Stepleton Special Tributes — Sarah J. Olson and Floss O'Sullivan All Awards will be presented at the Awards Program in the fall of 2020. The Awards Committee congratulates the above listed, and all our members, as you further our purposes of Education, Beautification, and Fellowship! And a big Thank You to the 2019-2020 members of the Awards Committee: Fran Ackerly, Karen Kadus, Kate Khachaturian, and Michele Tomasik.

Flower Design Committee Reports Committees 2024-2025 — Barbara Baletti, Chair; Floss O’Sullivan, Vice Chair We experienced an innovative and diverse Flower Design year which was quite successful. We eliminated the use of green floral foam and challenged our designers to utilize alternative techniques in their creations. We maintained a focus on the basic design types for Provisionals and Novices as they continue to learn the importance of the Principles and Elements of Design. We introduced new challenges for our Intermediates to test their skills with Petite, Multi-rhythmic and Creative designs. Our Advanced and Advanced Plus designers did amazing work with Abstract, Transparency, Tapestry, and Armature designs, just to name a few. The move into more difficult and challenging designs would not have been possible without the technical advice and assistance of our resident accredited judges, Florence Leyssène, Debbie Moran, and Brenda Bingham. We exhibited 87 floral designs in our competitions this year, 16 for our Holiday Tea and 15 for our Awards Luncheon. This speaks to a vibrant group of designers who love what they do, and a Club membership that appreciates and enjoys it all. Special thanks to Floss O’Sullivan, my Vice Chair, for her invaluable assistance and expertise. 2024-2025 Committee : Susan Brady, Carol Callahan, Cynthia Corhan-Aitken, Karen Fricke, Florence Leyssène, Tova Narrett, Debbie Moran, Amy Poster, Michele Quinn, Cheryl Slutzky, Sarah Stransky. 2023-2024 — Fran Ackerly, Chair; Barbara Baletti, Vice Chair In keeping with one purpose of the Garden Club of Montclair, education, the Flower Design committee chose to go “back to basics” this year. In September, a two-part workshop was given exploring the principles and elements of design and how to apply them in creating a flower design. Later in the year, a point-scoring workshop was held to show how flower designs are judged in a competition or flower show. Trial Run was brought back which gave designers an opportunity to do a design new to them to be critiqued only. Thanks to our member NGC judges, the Invitational showcased more advanced designs as examples of what was ahead on the design schedule. Thank you to each member of the committee for her valuable contributions in planning this year, to Barbara Baletti who was there every step of the way, and to the 28 designers who participated by exhibiting 64 designs this year. 2022-2023 — Fran Ackerly, Chair; Barbara Baletti, Vice Chair It was an exciting year for Flower Design. Inspired by the success of our award-winning flower show, Arts & Flowers : A Design Specialty Flower Show, the committee made some changes to the design schedule for monthly competitions. The format was altered to follow the schedule of an actual flower show, allowing Members more freedom in choosing a design class and type. New workshops were offered, interesting challenges in Flower Design were introduced, and Botanical Arts made its debut. Members enjoyed the new opportunities, and Club competitions were replete with decorated hats and boxes, dazzling masks, and necklaces. These new additions were enthusiastically embraced by designers. We exhibited fifty-two Flower Designs and twenty-five Botanical Arts designs in five competitions this year. To educate new Members and increase participation in Flower Design, we are going "back to basics," returning to our original flower design format. Botanical Arts will become a separate division and have its own committee. 2021-2022 — Fran Ackerly, Chair; Barbara Baletti, Vice Chair Concerns about COVID-19 had an impact on Flower Design events again this year. Virtual Design Exhibitions were held in October, November, January, and February. Designers took a photo of their flower design, attached the photo to the online entry form, and sent their entry to The Garden Club of Montclair 's website. The judges were able to view the design photos and add their comments. I want to thank our own judges, Florence Leyssène and Debbie Moran, for the countless hours they spent critiquing the designs each month, and Sue Young for putting each Exhibition on the website for Members to enjoy viewing. To everyone's delight, in March and April there was a return to inperson Design Competitions. March brought us lovely Petite Designs ranging in size from 3 inches to 12 inches. In April, designers rose to the challenge of a Multi-Rhythmic Design. I want to thank all designers for participating and for sharing their creativity and talent. This year, 28 designers entered a total of 72 flower designs. A thank you also must go to Barbara Baletti, Vice Chair of Flower Design, whose ideas, suggestions, and support were invaluable. Working together this year was great and Flower Design survived and thrived. 2020-2021 — Fran Ackerly, Chair; Barbara Baletti, Vice Chair Many things were different this year due to the pandemic and Flower Design was no exception. The monthly Flower Design Competitions became Virtual Design Exhibitions. Each month, designers took photos of their designs and submitted them electronically to the Club’s website. Once submitted, they were critiqued by our own member Judges and each designer was awarded one point for participation. No Flower Design awards were given this year. The aim was to keep members connected and involved during the difficult time of COVID-19. In all, 23 designers submitted a total of 95 designs. This success would not have been possible without the support of Vice-Chair Barbara Baletti, Flower Design Committee members, Workshops Chair Floss O'Sullivan, and the Communications Chair Amy South. Thank you to all. 2019-2020 — Cynthia Corhan-Aitken, Fran Ackerly, Vice Chair This will serve as my last report as Chair of Flower Design as I pass the baton to Fran Ackerly and her Vice Chair Barbara Baletti. I have loved every minute of serving as Chair of this committee mainly due to the fact that I have always had an enthusiastic group of volunteers with whom to work. My sincerest thanks go to Fran Ackerly who served as my Vice Chair during my second term and took a huge weight off my shoulders by always being willing to help and advise. Much gratitude and many thanks go to Florence Leyssène and Debbie Moran for always being there to support me, answer my many questions and, in general, encourage me every step of the way. To my Flower Design Committee members: Barbara Baletti, Brenda Bingham. Joan Crowther, Firth Fabend, Sharla Blanz, Carol Callahan, Tova Narrett, Floss O'Sullivan, Michele Quinn, Sarah Stransky, and Marylin Zaret; you have all always been willing to help and have taken on the many tasks that go along with this Committee with willingness and grace. Most importantly, thank you to all the designers who have participated in our monthly Flower Design Competitions. Your creativity has never failed to impress and amaze me. Without you all there would be a lot less beauty in the world! This has been a difficult spring for everyone. Who could have predicted that the world would go into lockdown in March and that life as we know it would change so extremely? Sadly, we missed two competitions for Design and Botanical Arts in March and April and, of course, there was the cancellation of our Design Specialty Flower Show scheduled for September. I look forward to the day, hopefully in the not too distant future, when we will all be back together again doing the things we love and sharing it with all of our Garden Club friends.

Workshop Committee Reports Committees 2024-2025 — Karen Fricke, Chair; Tova Narrett, Vice Chair Workshops & Instructors Technology: Navigating the New Online Yearbook , Sue Young Basics of Horticulture for Provisionals and Novices , Heidi Muschick Basics of Flower Design for Provisionals and Novices , Debbie Moran and Florence Leyssène Daffodils , Heidi Muschick American Traditional Mass Design: Step-by-Step , Debbie Moran and Florence Leyssène Tips and Tricks from Our Top Tier Designers, Cynthia Corhan-Aitken, Fran Ackerly, Barbara Baletti, Karen Fricke, Floss O’Sullivan, Tova Narrett Petite Flower Design, Debbie Moran Rose Revival at Avis Campbell Gardens , Barbara Meyer Botanical Arts : Prom Corsage, Florence Leyssène We found that the workshops held specifically for Provisionals were not well attended. We will reconsider the format and scheduling of those workshops for the upcoming year. The Board determined that Crane House decorating will exist as a sub-committee of the Workshops Committee. Karen Whitehaus has agreed to take over as lead. We will meet with the museum staff this summer to review plans to adhere more rigorously to historically accurate decorations. We spent $595.26 of our $700 budget. Thank you to our Committee members: Fran Ackerly, Barbara Baletti, Floss O’Sullivan, Celia Radek, Debbie Moran, Florence Leyssène. 2023-2024 — Celia Radek, Chair; Susan Benner, Vice Chair Beginning with the essentials of exhibiting Horticulture, then on to a deep dive into Elements and Principles of design, with stops along the way to create winter gardens and decorate for the holiday, and finally returning to the garden; the Workshop year was filled with opportunities to learn new skills and refresh best practices. For Provisional members, Horticulture 101 and the Basics of Traditional Flower Design provided a foundation for taking part in flower shows and monthly competitions. A series of workshops reviewing design basics, defining characteristics of traditional and creative design, and understanding point scoring rubrics was offered to develop the more seasoned flower designer skill set. Members created beautiful and bountiful winter container gardens to grace our front entries and we decked the halls, designing festive, period-appropriate decorations throughout the Montclair History Center’s Crane House. In spring, sessions on rose culture and pruning, composting, and the edible garden opened the growing season and closed out the year’s Workshops. With many thanks to all the presenters who generously shared their expertise and a warm welcome to incoming Chair Karen Fricke and Vice Chair Tova Narrett. 2022-2023 — Celia Radek, Chair; Susan Benner, Vice Chair Nine workshops averaging over 30 attendees were held during the program year, from June through April, complementing Club activities and projects. Design sessions included a pop-up Boutique and two were recorded for later viewing. Many included information handouts, which can be found on the website. Expenses totaled $366.05. The Committee called upon Club Members to share their expertise and the name of presenter(s) follows the workshop title. "Getting Ready for the Flower Show: Staging and Botanical Arts Design" (Florence Leyssène) "Horticulture 101: Introduction to Exhibiting Horticulture in a Standard Flower Show" (Heidi Muschick) "Flower Design 101 for Provisional and Novice" (Fran Ackerly and Barbara Baletti) "Hypertufa Garden Troughs" (Debbie Moran) "Greens Workshop and Decorating the Crane House & Historic YWCA.' "Botanical Arts Artistic Crafts: Masks, Hats, and Jewelry" (Florence Leyssène) "Flower Design, American Traditional Line: Crescent & Hogarth Curve" (Debbie Moran) "Creative: Underwater Design" (Debbie Moran and Florence Leyssène) "Rose Revival" (Barbara Meyer) "Growing Annuals and Perennials from Seed and Introducing the Estelle Leibrecht Horticulture Project: Growing Zinnias from Seed (Michele Trevenen, Karen Whitehaus, and Celia Radek) 2021-2022 — Floss O'Sullivan, Chair We offered eleven workshops to 205 Members on topics from gardening to flower design to botanical arts taught by our talented judges and expert Members. We happily resumed meeting in person following safety protocols and using Avis Campbell Gardens to meet outdoors for some of our workshops. Our Provisionals learned horticulture exhibition and flower design from Debbie Moran, Fran Ackerly, and Barbara Baletti. Maureen Sprong educated us on Dahlias and led the bed captains at Avis Campbell Gardens with annual and perennial planting advice. The Crane House and Historic YWCA looked wonderful after our 27th year of decorating. We so enjoy partnering with Montclair History Center and helped them secure sixth place in USA Today's 10 Best Historic Home Tours. Exploring Botanical Arts, Florence Leyssène led a 'Galentine's Day' workshop on designing gift boxes using flowers. Debbie Moran's Terrarium workshop taught us how to create and care for miniature glassed-in gardens. Amy South, owner of Moss & More, led a workshop on Japanese moss balls called 'Kokedama' — a new concept for us. A snowy Sunday rose-pruning session led by Barbara Meyer helped produce the glorious roses now in Avis Campbell Gardens. Finally, Brenda Bingham challenged us with multi-rhythmic design by explaining her own dynamic arrangements. Thanks to items donated by Brenda and bequeathed by Joan Crowther, attendees selected interesting containers and design materials, raising a lovely donation benefiting the Garden Club of Montclair. We used technology to capture photos and videos as reference material for future generations. We employed: Zoom, Live iPhone Camera Feeds, iPhone Video, Narration, iMovie, Photography Editing with iPhone, Snapseed and Retouch applications, Microsoft Photo Editor, Google Slides, PowerPoint, and Sign-up Genius. We also added animated commercials and website news posts to increase participation. It has been a delight to expand our workshops and find new methods to educate. Thank you to Sarah Olson, my Vice Chair, Sue Young for her website help, Florence Leyssène for her leadership, and our Members' enthusiastic attendance. Celia Radek, incoming Chair, will lead Workshops with her tremendous knowledge, collaborative approach, and proven dedication, making Workshops an ongoing success for the Club. 2020-2021 — Floss O'Sullivan, Chair In a challenging year, it was inspiring to see how our Garden Club flourished. Workshops went “virtual,” combining experts, slides, photos, videos, audio, and Zoom to make education accessible for members. Heartfelt thanks to NGC Accredited Master Flower Show Judges: Florence Leyssène, Debbie Moran, Brenda Bingham, and Arabella Dane who generously shared their expertise to create informative, beautiful workshops. Sincere thanks to all members who attended workshops - your enthusiasm and engagement resulted in priceless learning experiences for all. Grateful thanks to Fran Wong for e-blast announcements, and Amy South and Sue Young who posted workshops online. Our rosarian, Barbara Meyer, deserves thanks because she offered the only in-person workshop outside this Spring. Thank you all! In September, Florence Leyssène’s narrated video workshop: American Traditional Mass Design and Debbie Moran’s slideshow video: Horticulture–Preparing to Exhibit launched. Intended for new Provisionals, these will serve future Provisionals and established members. To prepare for virtual exhibitions, in October we met the delightful Arabella Dane, who provided guidelines, technology tips, and a judge’s perspective on Smart Phone Photography. November’s American Traditional Line Design featured Florence Leyssène’s superb horizontal and vertical line flower designs, photos, time-elapsed video, and live video demonstration. Our 26th year decorating the Crane House and Historic YWCA was a challenge for a socially distanced world. Thanks to the combined efforts of our members and Montclair History Center’s Jane Eliasof, they won 4th place in USA Today’s 10 Best Historic Home Tours. Congratulations all! In January, Brenda Bingham shared a judge’s perspective on Hogarth Curve Design and her inspiring flower design evolution. During February, Debbie Moran’s amazing precision for Petite Design illustrated scale and proportion. Barbara Meyer’s excellent Roses Workshop provided an education and hands-on practice preparing the roses in Avis Campbell Gardens in March. During April, Florence Leyssène and Debbie Moran conducted Stepping Up to Creative Design including live video demonstrations and creative techniques. Altogether, we had 176 participants in seven workshops taught by five instructors. We depend on one another to grow and appreciate everyone’s contribution. What a lovely community we have built together. It is an honor to be part of this remarkable organization. 2019-2020 — Barbara Baletti, Chair Providing opportunities to learn about gardening, horticulture, flower design, and community give-back are the hallmarks of a dynamic garden club and our Workshops are the conduit that allows this to happen. Despite the fact that our calendar was abbreviated by the global pandemic, we managed to present rich and varied offerings. In addition to our annual Flower Design and Horticulture Workshops for Active and Provisional members, we added new things to the mix to prepare for the Design Specialty Flower Show, now scheduled for the fall of 2021. These included workshops in both Photography and Botanical Arts. I offer special thanks to Florence Leyssène and Debbie Moran for their work in preparing and presenting new workshops to educate our Membership this year. Their instruction and enthusiasm are nonpareil. In early September, we offered a Bed Captains' Tour of our Avis Campbell Gardens where members learned first hand and "hands-on" about the creation, care, and variety of our planting beds from our devoted, hard working bed captains. October brought us Maureen Sprong's annual Dahlia slide show and specimen review which always lures a large group of dahlia addicts who return every year to learn more. Michael Downey, a professional photographer and instructor from Unique Photo Academy, presented to a rapt group of shutterbugs in November. The group learned both photography basics and tips to capture images of gardens and close-ups of flowers and plants. Our Annual Israel Crane House decorating project in early December had overwhelming Club participation both in the preparation of the greens and in creating the festive holiday dressing of the house. Thanks to the Membership and to Jane Elias of of the Montclair History Center. Another addition to our Workshop calendar this year was an "Interior Plantscapes" event at member Amy South's botanical boutique in Montclair, Moss & More, where she took us on a journey through the world of indoor tropical plants. Amy showed us how to grow and maintain them and shared insider secrets about what is trending now. As Workshops Chair, I had the opportunity to explore new areas and get to know Garden Club members so much better. I had the opportunity to work with Mara Harkins, a lovely woman who will be missed. The past year was challenging and fun. I know that Floss O'Sullivan, as she takes the reins next year, will bring her incredible enthusiasm and energy and bring this Committee to even greater heights.

Photo: Claire Stepleton Sometimes known as Montclair’s “secret garden,” the beds of the Avis Campbell Gardens are lovingly tended every Tuesday morning (and other days, too) by Members of our Club. The gardens, recognized as a historic property by the township of Montclair, were planted behind 60 South Fullerton Avenue (next to the library) in 1953, using a plan created by noted landscape architect Avis Campbell. Her Wheel of Life design from 70 years ago has been maintained until the current day with brick paths radiating out from a central fountain, lining the rich beds of flowers blooming from early spring through the cold days of late November. The beds themselves are a tribute to the glories of gardening, with more and more native plants increasing a profusion of bees, butterflies, birds, and other happy pollinators. Come and visit this gentle, hidden jewel of Montclair! Visitors are always welcome, and the cost is free. Scroll down to see the gardens in full bloom as well as some historical photos from the Smithsonian. Members should click here for committee roles and responsibilities. And see, below, three photos from the Smithsonian Institution 's Maida Babson Adams American garden collection. Molly (Maida Babson) Adams (1918 - 2003) had a 40+ year career as a nationally recognized free-lance garden and wildlife photographer and conservationist. She took thousands of photos of gardens up and down the east coast of America from the 1950s to the 1990s. Although these particular photos are not dated, the cars suggest they were taken in the late 50s to early 60s, while the beds were still being populated.. Avis Campbell Gardens Anchor 1