The Garden Club of America
Conservation and National Affairs and Legislation Committee
Mary Palmer Dargan, Zone VIII Representative
October, 2014
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Recycling
Park/Re-Greening/Civic Improvement Projects
Club Conservation Speakers & Programs
National and Local Affairs Conservation Advocacy
Flower Show Conservation Exhibits
A new Fellowship related to Conservation established in 2014
Electronic Recycling & Programs : 6 of our 15 clubs raise the banner to embrace ecycling!
Cherokee Garden Club (Atlanta)
Peachtree Garden Club (Atlanta)
Red Mountain Garden Club (Birmingham)
Little Garden Club of Birmingham (Birmingham)
The Grass River Garden Club: Recycling
Sand Hills Garden Club (Augusta)
Park /Re-Greening/Civic Improvement Projects: 11 of our 15 clubs have civic or
greening projects. Several clubs have a multiple projects.
Peachtree Garden Club (ATL): Hartrampf Cabin in Swan Woods
Cherokee Garden Club (ATL) : Louise Howard Park
Late Bloomers Garden Club (JAX): Serenity Park
Junior Ladies’ Garden Club (Athens) : Memorial Park and new Athens Clark City
Library
Red Mountain GC: Birmingham M o A Memorial Garden
Carolina Foothills GC( Greenville): Falls Park - Pedrick’s and The Club’s Gardens
Little Garden Club of Birmingham: Harvest for Health Breast Cancer Survivors’
Garden
Founders Garden Club of Sarasota, Inc : Planted 300 wildflowers at Philips State
Park
The Grass River Garden Club: Plantings at Delray Beach
Trustees’ Garden Club (Savannah) : new Trustees’ Garden
The Palmetto Garden Club (Columbia) : Congaree National-Park Partners in Plants
Club Conservation Speakers and Programs: 13 of the 15 clubs had speakers on
topics as varied as bees, climate reality, demonstration projects on storm water and
wildlife lectures.
Grass River Garden Club (Delray Beach) : Beach Erosion & Climate Resiliency
Red Mountain Garden Club (Birmingham) : Alabama Freshwater Trust & Treasure
Forests
The Garden Club of Halifax County (Daytona Beach) : Bees. Aquatic Deaths in Estuaries
The Palmetto Garden Club of South Carolina (Columbia) SC Watersheds & Frontiers in
Conservation
Garden Club of Palm Beach (Palm Beach):”Conservation Conversations”wildlife lecture
& land use impact on oceans
Founders Garden Club of Sarasota, Inc (Sarasota): Demonstration project storm water &
urban garden
Sand Hills Garden Club (Augusta): Southeastern Natural Sciences Academy river
research, Farm to table , inner city programs, Kendleton Green Park
Jupiter Island Garden Club (Jupiter Island): Hobe Sound Nature Center liaison
The Grass River Garden Club ( Delray Beach): Vanishing of the Bees
Late Bloomers Garden Club ( Jax): Urban Spaces Beautiful Places “Root Ball” fundraiser
Cherokee Garden Club : Peter Byck speaker (Lovett School Sustainability Scholar in
residence)
Carolina Foothills GC (Greenville): Hoe Down for Haiti with vegetable scholarship
The Palmetto Garden Club (Columbia) : Dana Beach- New frontiers in Agriculture,
Watersheds
National and Local Affairs Conservation Advocacy: Zone VIII NAL had 28
delegates from 4 states and 12 clubs converge on DC for 3 days of lectures and
advocacy.
At NAL, Zone VIII members had leadership roles as GCA Executive Committee,
Program Speakers and Lindsay Marshall, member of Cherokee GC is chair of NAL, and
presided at many venues! On the advocacy home front, Founders Garden Club of
Sarasota had a signature drive
Flower Show Conservation Exhibits: Our zone VIII really blossomed with 5 shows
that featured conservation exhibits and won The Marion Fuller Brown award, The
Anne Lyon Crammond Conservation Award, Commendations and Club Medals.
Late Bloomers Garden Club (Jacksonville) “A River Runs Through It”
Little Garden Club of Birmingham (Birmingham) “Ribbons of Green” Zone VIII Show
Founders Garden Club of Sarasota, Inc (Sarasota) “Rooftops to Radishes”
Trustees’ Garden Club (Savannah) Gloriosa“Farm to Table”
The Garden Club of Halifax Country : “Hollywood and Vine”
Future:
The Grass River Garden Club (Delray Beach) show planned for 2016
Garden Club of Palm Beach( Palm Beach) show planned for April 2015
Late Bloomers Garden Club ( Jax): host zone meeting 2016
The Palmetto Garden Club (Columbia): hosting ZoneVIII 2015,
The Palmetto Garden Club: Columbia River Roses Show
A new Fellowship related to Conservation was established in 2014
Little Garden Club of Birmingham: Louise Wrinkle fellowship for 10 week native plant
internship at the Birmingham Botanical Garden
2014 recommended projects and studies to the Zone NAL/CON Chairs:
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GCA Pollinator Challenge Project coming soon! Stay tuned for details… Watch for the fall
issue of GCA Bulletin for “Pollinators in Peril”. What can your club do to help??
If you know of a worthy candidate for the GCA Centennial Pollinator Fellowship, please
encourage them: https://pollinator.org/GCAfellowship.htm
Nominate a composter of the year for http://compostingcouncil.org/annual-awards/
All clubs are expected to participate in the NAL meeting in Washington, D.C. : February 2326, 2015, so choose your delegates soon...
Giving a flower show? Clubs are expected to have a conservation exhibit…if you need
inspiration, please watch : Planning and staging GCA conservation exhibits
https://vimeo.com/78917339
Want to learn more about e-cycling as a club project? Please watch e-cycle
https://vimeo.com/87783731 and if you need the handout:
http://dargan.com/dargan/wp-content/uploads/E-Cycling-NAL-2014-lecture-Handout.pdf
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Palmer Dargan, rla 404-354-1715 mpdargan@dargan.com