Re: OT - Wonderful web tribute to the Armed forces

Auralie,
The whole is made up of its parts. I bet any club you're a part of would
be worthwhile. I think we all just have to find a group we're
comfortable with and enjoy ourselves.

Kitty

-------------- Original message -------------- 

> Ceres, thanks for speaking up for garden clubs. I'm afraid they suffer from 
> an image problem, but they are not generally tea-drinking societies. Of 
> course, they 
> vary from place to place, and from club to club. I know the 30-odd clubs in 
> this 
> District pretty well, and very few of them would fit in that category. I 
> don't know of any that don't have some sort of community service - from street 
> plantings to special gardens, educational programs, or programs for childern. On 
> the other 
> hand, the Master Gardeners in the area are pretty snooty, and I don't really 
> know of any project they support. They look down their noses at garden club 
> members - say they aren't really serious. One very fine gardener was turned 
> down because they said her involvement with garden clubs would demand too 
> much of her time. They have refused to give us speakers for the New York State 
> Federation's Horticulture School. I know Master Gardeners other places are 
> not 
> like this - I have talked to many across the state and they all agree that 
> this is not 
> common. My point is that all garden clubs should not be stereotyped, nor 
> should 
> all Master Gardeners. There are fine people and programs in both, and this 
> group's discussion has pointed out many differences in MG programs from place 
> to place. 
> Auralie 
> 
> In a message dated 11/16/2004 2:10:51 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
> Cersgarden@aol.com writes: 
> << didn't want it to be a tea sipping garden club that didn't dig. >> 
> 
> Tricia, I must start by telling you all garden clubs are not tea sipping 
> clubs and, in fact, I don't know of any in our area. There are clubs that 
> operate 
> a bit more formally than others and may use their silver for refreshments but 
> still have the projects that enlists the true gardeners skills. We also have 
> a garden club in our area that has limited membership and each candidate must 
> be voted on to become a member. They use the black ball method. 
> The major difference btwn a garden club & MGs is their objectives. MG is 
> an org designed for volunteers to assist extension in their service to our 
> communities and in exchange provide the nec training. Many hold the idea 
> that 
> MGs was designed to train the volunteer to be a better gardener and to 
> provide 
> skills to better develop his/hers own garden. Unfortunately, many enter the 
> program with that idea or agenda. We have also had a number who are employed 
> in 
> the gardening world and enter the program to promote their employment 
> opportunities. On the other side, I have friends that would truly like to be 
> a MG 
> but just do not have the time to volunteer as would be expected. 
> Garden clubs are to designed to educate their members and to be involved 
> in a community project. There are no pay back or mbship rqmts other than a 
> membership fee. Both are great experiences. I do both. 
> Ceres 
> 
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