I was President of the Village Garden Club of La Jolla (“VGCLJ”) from May 2003 through May 2005, when the next President, my VP-Programs, Connie Brown, would be installed. The Club year starts with its September meeting and ends with its May meeting. Prior to becoming President, from 2001-2003, I was the Club’s Recording Secretary and a member of the Executive Board, which gave me a full understanding of the Club’s activity flow. In this brief history, I will chiefly describe the innovations and new projects undertaken by the Club from May 2003 through May 2005.
In summer 2003, I asked Rudy Vaca, a friend who worked in SDSU’s Media Department, to meet at Hashinger Hall, the Club’s meeting venue, to evaluate the new microphones, cables and audio equipment that Betty Vale, Ways and Means Chair, had purchased for the Club. Rudy also evaluated the Club’s existing slide projector and carousel. After checking the Club’s equipment as well as Hashinger Hall’s sound equipment, Rudy saw the technological shortcomings the Club faced and offered to help while I was Club President. As a result of Rudy’s willingness to volunteer one day a month, the Club was able to adjust seamlessly to changing technology and pivot from slide presentations to Power Point; meet challenging interfaces with the Presenters’ different brands of laptops and software; and smooth out the vagaries of the sound system. Rudy invariably had the correct bulb to replace a projector bulb that burned out during a presentation, extra cables to accommodate last-minute requests and the experience to troubleshoot system shortcomings. The mammoth screen on stage and the intense light from Rudy’s professional-grade projector allowed our large membership to see and hear the meetings/programs no matter how far from the stage they were sitting. Thus, Rudy Vaca’s willingness to handle the technical side of the presentations was a tremendous leap forward! When my term ended in May 2005, my successor, Connie Brown, begged me to ask Rudy to continue to help VGCLJ during her administration, except with pay this time, not as an unpaid volunteer.
Adrienne Green, the Club’s founder and Advisor, initiated a new policy when she noted that about half of the Program Presenters travelled quite a distance to get to our meetings. Yet, after the meeting ended, members exited quickly and the post-meeting atmosphere was not as gracious and hospitable as Adrienne wanted it to be. So, in both 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 Club years, the Officers took the Program Presenters to lunch at some of our favorite restaurants and upped the hospitality level. We added “Speaker Hospitality” as a Standing Committee in 2004-2005, chaired by Fran Gillis and Susie Spanos to work with Connie Brown, VP-Programs in facilitating hotel/restaurant arrangements.
Ruth Barnett, Chair of the Conservation Committee for the two prior years, reinvented and revitalized her approach in 2003-2004. She filled her Conservation table with native plants in pots and handouts with planting information. Ruth handed everyone who visited her table a raffle ticket, promising one of the native plants to each raffle winner. When it was Ruth’s time to come to the podium during the business meeting, Ruth and her co-chair, Elizabeth Kingma, carried an assortment of native plants to the stage and briefly outlined their horticultural characteristics. She then drew a raffle ticket and let the winner choose one of the native plants. Ruth also instructed members about creating certified wildlife habitat using native plants, bird baths, feeders and shade. She instilled interest and excitement with her contagious enthusiasm and generous spirit. In 2003-2004, the once sleepy Conservation table became a “must see” beehive of activity. Autumn 2003 was a time of devastating wildfires in East County but Ruth, who lives in Ramona, unfailingly got up early, loaded her car with pots of native plants and drove the distance to La Jolla for the monthly VGCLJ meeting.
A less serendipitous change resulted from the Club’s rapid growth in membership. Every April-May, when membership applications were accepted, existing members became eager to sponsor their friends as new members. Sponsorship requires two active members for each new member which slows exponential growth somewhat. Concern mounted that membership growth in 2004 would surpass an unwieldy 400+ members. After much discussion with the Standing Committee Chairs, the Executive Board proposed Standing Rule 14 for members to vote on in January 2004. Rule14 states that “New member applications will be accepted from April 1 through May 31, and for Club year 2004-2005, only 35 members will be accepted.” After discussion, members voted approval and Rule 14 was added to the Standing Rules in February 2004. Despite this precaution, membership grew from 385 in 2003-2004 to 414 in 2004-2005. A year later in February 2005, Rule 14 was amended to state “New member applications will be accepted from April 1 through May 31, except in Club year 2005-2006, when membership will be frozen at the current level; this policy will be reevaluated in January 2006.” At the time, most garden clubs in the country were trying to stem the loss of members and stay afloat. VGCLJ had the opposite problem.
Super creative Ruth Barnett, in her third year as Conservation Chair, had another innovation up her sleeve. Ruth had a dream project that she had been mentally developing for a long time. She proposed that the Club start a Schoolyard Gardening Grant Project, granting funds to applicant elementary schools in San Diego County that had attested to their principal’s, teachers’ and parents’ support and readiness to immediately use the grant money to start school gardens. The objective of the program would be to promote the creation of earth-friendly gardens/wildlife habitats to become the basis for a teaching curriculum focused on healthy gardening practices, local plant and wildlife study and nature appreciation. Ruth had already created a compelling logo for the program; devised a plan of action; written sample letters introducing the project to principals and teachers; created a sample grant application form; and drawn up a preliminary timeline for the schools to submit applications with adequate time for VGCLJ to review and select the winning schools. After talking it over with officers and others, Ruth introduced her idea to the Executive Board and Standing Committee Chairs. She had thought it through so thoroughly that her proposal received a very enthusiastic reception. In early 2004, at the next Club meeting, Ruth proposed her idea to the membership, explaining that she herself would raise the money for the project’s first year and recruit a committee to review grant submissions. Enthusiastic members voted in favor of adopting the Schoolyard Gardening Grant Project.