2007 L.G.C.F. SUMMER BOARD OVERVIEW

By Kathy Tell, District VII Director

EMBASSY SUITES HOTEL, BATON ROUGE, LA

AUGUST 7, 2007

Summer board was well attended with a registration of about 128.

Members were warmly welcomed to Summer Board’s 20^th year in Baton Rouge by Laura Broussard, LGCF Summer Board Chairman and Sue Walner welcomed members to District VI. She also welcomed Mary Summerville, Deep South Regional Director. State President, Sybil Colicchio conducted the business meetings.

HIGHLIGHTS & REPORTS:

• Giving a very entertaining report, on the 2007 NGC CONVENTION held in Boston, was Margo RACCA. Plans should be made now to attend the 2008 convention in Memphis or in 2009 in Houston. It will probably be a long time before the National Convention is held this close to us again.
• CLEANEST CITY CONTEST will celebrate its 50th anniversary and every community was encouraged to participate
• Sarah LEBLANC gave a summary of the 2007 LGCF CONVENTION held in Lake Charles. She reported that the state will keep around $3700 from profits off of the convention.
• Georgie PETIJEAN, (LGCF AWARDS Chairman) reported that in the future, non-competitive awards will be given at the LGCF Convention’s Club President’s Luncheon and clubs that win the prestigious competitive awards will be honored at the Banquet.:
• Barbara COATES enlightened members on the Deep South Unified Regional Project, Dollars for Scholars; a youth division & garden club division project. The state president will have a "scholarship Jug” that will be used to collect monies at meetings for scholarship.
• The DSR CONVENTION in 2008 will showcase a flower design from each state and votes in the form of dollar bills will be used. The money from the designs will also go into the DSR Scholarship fund. {Make plans to attend the DSR Convention to be held March 30 and 31, 2008 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Pensacola. This convention is close enough for us to drive}
• LGCF NEWSLETTER editor, Sue DEVILLE, will retire in 2009 when a new administration takes over. Volunteers are being sought for that new term to assemble, edit, and publish the Newsletter. {Please encourage all garden club members to subscribe to the newsletter. This publication is FOR LGCF Garden Club members and keeps members informed of the activities in our state. It also has helpful horticultural information, the Circle of Roses honorees, as well as Flower Show updates just to name a few.}
• Martha MCBURNEY, FSS SERIES chairman announced The Flower Show Judges School Series II will be held in Alexandria on September l8 – 20^th.
• Betty Bagert reported the SMOKEY BEAR / WOODSY OWL Contest was won by a Lake Charles Garden Club’s student applicant.
• Mary HAZEN, BUTTERFLY GARDENING Chairman stated that Gretna Academy of LA School’s 5^th graders received a grant for $750.00 for their butterfly garden. Their next project will be a vegetable garden.
• Margo RACCA reported that there is a need for an ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY SCHOOL. It would help the general public become aware of, and concerned about, the total environment and its associated problems. Margo and Linda Finley will attend the school at Camp Tyler and report on how we can get a school started here for LGCF club members.
• Betty FORET, LANDSCAPE DESIGN Study Courses chairman noted that the next series XVI will be held on January 10^th, 2008 in Baton Rouge.
• NGC's “LET’S GO NATIVE” is a grant program funded by Principal Financial Group Foundation, Inc. It will feature civic development projects using local native plantings. Grants will be awarded up to $1,000 each and will require matching funds. {Our NGC President also has a project (separate form the Principal Financial Group’s Grant) called the “President’s School Garden Project; “Nurture the Earth- Plant Natives-Plant Organically”. This project focuses our attention on area schools. More information on this project is on the National Gardener and on the NGC Website.}
• “FLOWER HOUR PROGRAM” A Deep South Ways & Means project. Monetary Benefits; the Deep South Region will issue tickets to be sold - $10.00 each - to the Flower Hour Programs equaling 10% of the states’ garden club membership. The Deep South will split 50% with each state. So, of each $10.00 ticket sold, the state keeps $5.00 and sends $5.00 to the Deep South. LGCF Executive Committee will decide how our portion of this money will be used.
• MONEY FOR YOUR CLUB PROJECT The Bay Head Garden Club of New Jersey gave LGCF $667.20 from monies raised at their flower show. If your club has a great Hurricane Project (Rita or Katrina), jot down the particulars and send it to Annamary MIESTER, 3614 Audubon Trace, Jefferson, LA 70121. No forms to fill out, just a page outlining your clubs “Rita” project.
• The 300 CLUB accepts donations at any time to help with the Newsletter expenses. This also helps keep subscription rates low. Contact Willie ALLEN, Newsletter Business Mgr., about levels of contributions.

HEADQUARTERS LEASE AGREEMENT was voted on and approved

We are all now looking forward to the LGCF State Convention which will be held by District IV in Shreveport on April 15 &16 at the Clarion Hotel. The theme will be Peace and Roses.