The first meeting of VGCLJ that I attended and then joined was in 1992 at the absolute insistence of Adrienne Green. There is not a doubt in my mind that this club was not only founded by Adrienne but kept alive and made to thrive under her persistent guidance. No club can survive and grow without fresh ideas and enthusiastic members and Adrienne used her community connections to invite every woman she thought would help her fulfill her legacy. What I had first observed was a small group of lovely seasoned ladies quietly meeting in the hall at La Jolla Methodist Church and by the time I became President we were a thriving group of 425 members strong with yearly waiting lists meeting in the hall at Torrey Pines Christian Church.
With the help of many women working together our VGCLJ garnered praise for our great speakers and new programs were added constantly. I personally had held a variety of positions before taking the gavel. I had always exhibited floral designs, had taught classes in interpreting art and flowers with Alice Harmon, had chaired the first two Meet the Masters programs, been first VP in charge of speakers, and my biggest challenge was taking all the pictures for the yearbook. This had been a goal but one that never had happened due to the cost, but I considered it a challenge and was glad I had done it because by the time I became President I could put a name and face together for nearly all 400+ members. Computerizing and getting names and pictures correct was another feat since the SD cards and lists of names were mixed up but this made me really spend time getting each picture correctly labeled. Another benefit was that with pictures and a first-class job of compiling and editing all the information by Diane Bell, we won first place among California Garden Clubs with our 2013-2014 yearbook.
The challenges of being President start in the spring after the election because it is then that one must find people willing to take on all the positions on the board and committees. Some of the spots take arm twisting and lots of willing friends…like set up/take down. And I was truly lucky to have a wonderfully talented, capable, and knowledgable friend, Gleneva Belice, who was the 1st VP. She had arranged for marvelous speakers for the two years and then in the early fall of 2013 the Treasurer suddenly decided she couldn’t do the job and who stepped up to take over but Gleneva. I could not have done the job without her constant support!
Friends stepped up to take on a variety of jobs…thank goodness for friends! Member Garden Tours was aptly taken care of and enjoyed by all thanks to Burry Vincent. And one of my favorite events, Expressions in Art and Flowers, was chaired by Leah Higgins and Margie Smith Haas. This was a challenge because I had long wanted this wonderful time to be enjoyed by more people and especially to have a time when our husbands and family could better appreciate what we had been going on about. Also, having been a floral designer I knew how much effort, time, and expense went into creating these interpretations and it seemed so unjust to have them only displayed for a few hours. It was a fantastic evening event complete with food, drink, music, silent auction, and many guests. It was again chaired by the same friends my second year and was again a roaring success but a bit more complicated having to use a caterer due to health codes. I loved this event and am so sorry that after a third year it was dropped supposedly due to no one wanting to chair it….need those friends!
Because our members are great supporters of so many programs and also love to shop it seemed natural to be able to take credit cards for our purchases and on-line business…so, I arranged for us to have a “Square Account” which simplified so many things. We were truly getting up to date! Hearing women groan about being asked to support our many projects Tammy Schwab did an extensive study of our finances and I decided to ask for a vote to raise the dues. I thought I was being creative to show that for the same cost as a bottle of sparkling water and a loaf of bread added to the dues per month the need for constantly being “nickeled and dimed” for programs would be alleviated. It was a very close vote but didn’t happen until a year later.
The idea of trying to get more people truly more actively involved and serving on committees had always vexed me and I tried to set up a more centralized way of being sure all were getting the benefit of serving in one way or another. With the help of Annette Ritchie-Buis and tracking the committee lists from several years it became evident who was doing what. It was our hope especially to get the new members onto committees and meeting new people. You hate to upset something that is working, but also you need for the chairs of these committees to be willing to let new people join their committee’s effort and not become cliquish. Even though we had Annette as a central figure to keep everyone happy and busy, the saying “old dogs, new tricks” prevailed and we couldn’t get this effort off the ground.
On March 6, 2014 we had another wonderful Meet the Masters program with Eddie Zaratsian giving the demonstration and lecture. All of this was done thanks to Susie Spanos, who had chaired the first two such events with me. Due to the museum being unavailable Susie found The Scripps Research Institute Auditorium to fill the need. And as they had always been, this event was a great success for both our members and the community at large.
We started the new the Avant Garde Member Award recognizing a member who had gone above and beyond to make something possible for VGCLJ. It was celebrated with a picture of said member in the yearbook and a special announcement at a meeting. I believe this only lasted for two years which is a shame as there are many positions held in the club that wouldn’t happen without much added time and attention.
The Jacaranda Project got special coverage and recognition in the SD Union and this gave a real boost to our finances from many people not connected directly to the club. We planted trees at the Port of SD, the new cemetery at Miramar as well as many in La Jolla on Pearl Ave and other SD locations. And we received a National Garden Clubs of America and California State Award for Civic Beautification.
Being President was a wonderful experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it. How incredible that we celebrated our 40th Anniversary in 2014. I hope I was able to direct the club in positive ways and perhaps my lasting effort was suggesting to Devonna Hall that this position and others should be co-chaired by two members who could support one another during trying times and also divide the demand for constant attention of many matters such as monthly newsletters ( Alice Harmon was my proofreader), keeping everybody happy, and furthering the legacy that was passed on to us and this was enacted by 2017. This club will survive many changes and hard times because of the multitude of members that are happy to be part of a group that all mutually love nature and constantly want to know more about how we can keep enjoying it together.