Representatives from Carroll Garden Club attended the FGCMD meeting at Turf Valley in March: Brenda, Gayle, Marjorie and Sue.
Nice one of Gayle and Brenda
They joined members of other clubs from all five Maryland districts under the leadership of President Diana Bonner, with special guest, National Garden Club President, Nancy Hargroves, who was very approachable and down-to-earth.
Two Presidents: Diana with Nancy
The session began with an early business meeting where the executive board which includes all the Directors gave their reports, followed by a couple of committee reports, a memorial service for our departed members and approval of the nominating committee.
Executive Board seated
Our DIstrict V Director, Jennifer Evans
View of the improved (i.e. larger) meeting room
The rest of the morning was given over to varied categories of awards given to achieving clubs. You know those gorgeous shining silver cups and bowls? They are for picture purposes to record an award and don’t leave with the club representative who gets a picture taken and a certificate.
Shiny, shiny silver…..
Next followed a break for luncheon. This is when there are typically vendors up and down the halls for attendees to check out. This year there were very few because of the special event: FGCMD Flower Show-Planting from the Oceans to the Mountains. Horticultural exhibits lined the hallways from the entry and around the corner. The judges were still busily doing their thing when we adjourned so the area was roped off.. There was a design section in the dining room also.
I did take a couple pictures of the arrangements outside the dining room, one of which was dedicated to our special NGC guest and one for FGCMD and of the submerged orchid table arrangements.
I am sorry to say that my camera battery was not as charged as I had thought so my illustrative pictures end here. Thankfully Marjorie took a few photos of the horticulture that caught here eye. Marjorie submitted a goodly number of items and won ribbons in horticulture and also contributed to design. Here are a few succulents, cacti and one of her daffodils.
The second half of the meeting was an address from President Hargroves and additional award presentations. The conclusion was a program called “Travels With Gina and Tina”, an amusing account by two sisters out of Florida. One does avant garde arrangements using found non-plant structural pieces with additions of live or dead plant materials that are constructed in remembrance of amusing trips with funny or odd occurences. One sister recounted the unusual travel event and the other spoke in botanical Latin detail about the horticulture used.
