I joined The Club in 1994 with some 50 plus members meeting at the La Jolla Methodist Church. When I became President in 2001, we had moved to a larger venue at the Torrey Pines Christian Church with 323 members. At the end of my tenure we had 352 members. Earlier I had served as Treasurer and continue to serve as Parliamentarian Chairman. I was so excited to be a part of such a vibrant and talented group. Our theme was “How Does Your Garden Grow?”
Our first meeting in 2001 was following the horrific events of 9/11 and we had the most emotional beginning with a multimedia - program by National Park Ranger John Long entitled “Nature’s Garden- The Sierra Nevada in All Seasons.” You could have heard a pin drop! Ranger Long returned the following year with an equally beautiful program of “Sky Gardens, Wildflowers and Ice Caves. Our programs featured Bruce and Sharon Asakawa speaking about “San Diego Micro Climates.” Life in the Flower Fields” with Paul Ecke, “A Vision of San Dieguito River Valley Park,” “Camellias” with Tom Nuccio (followed by a field trip to his nursery), “European Flower Design” by our favorite Rene van Rems (followed by a workshop), “Comparison between Japanese and Chinese Gardens.”
Our club sponsored Garden Tours to The Chelsea Flower Show, Charleston and Savannah, Seattle, San Francisco, Hearst Castle and Santa Barbara, home and garden tours and many trips to area nurseries. Quite a few of my favorite plants in my garden were brought back from those visits. We also held several club flower shows during the year. These served as a forerunner of our Expressions in Art and Flowers. One of my favorite memories is the day we held a workshop on floral design led by our dear Adrienne Green in my garage. We were active in The Schoolyard Gardening Program, Penny Pines, The Jacaranda Tree Civic Beautification Project and the Torrey Pines State Reserve Native Plant Restoration Project (which ended when we eradicated all the nonnative plants!) It is wonderful to see the addition of many new projects through the years. The Theme of my second term was “Take Time to Smell the Roses” to honor The Year of the Rose. I still have the sign that Betty Vale painted sitting at the entrance to my rose garden. In 2002-2003 We had more amazing speakers and added the annual December Luncheon at the Marine Room. Our member, Dianne Van de Noord was a gourmet cook and a friend of Chef Bernard Guillas. We approached him and asked if he would be willing to prepare a luncheon following our meetings in December. He was most enthusiastic and the luncheon at the Marine Room became an annual event. We had to miss the 2020 celebration because of the Covid Pandemic, but we are on the books for December 2021!
Some more 2003-4 meetings included Robert Smaus, the Garden Editor of the Los Angeles Times. Sisso Doyle and Beverly Ireland spoke about landscape and trends in floral designs. Ron Morgan, another favorite, spoke on floral design and his newest book. We had Rayford Redell, the author of The Rose Bible (My favorite!) and Scott Morrison of the Nature Conservancy gave an excellent talk about the “Conservation of San Diego County’s Biodiversity. We were always active and took part in The Palomar District programs. We attended the California State Garden Convention and returned with many awards for The Club. I look forward to the years ahead and I know that our club will continue to be an important part of my life. Now I am off to plant my sweet peas hoping that by the time they bloom we may be able to meet together again and create new memories.