Re: GWA Membership

**"* A* N* <i*@gmail.com>**

THANK YOU AND AMEN LOIS!  I was sitting here trying to compose my response when I saw your comments
come through the ether.

I am a member of GWA. I think $85 per year is a pittance to pay for the camaraderie of 1800 garden
writers.  I find the annual meeting to be the most valuable part of my membership.  I have been
attending for four years.  Each year I meet several people who give me fresh ideas, who provide me
with inspiration, story ideas and endless encouragement.  

I will NEVER forget my first symposium and the kindness of my mentor, Bob Tanem, at the First
Timers' reception. I was struggling to explain how I got into a group of published authors/radio
personalities/tv hosts when in fact I did not have a big background or lifetime of experience in any
of those individual fields, yet had been doing some of all of that for over 20 years.  He gave me a
big hug and said, "you are a garden communicator." In fact, I am. I adore you, Bob.

The kindness and support of other members sustains me throughout the year.  

The chance to see 15-20 or more gardens in a single trip is just divine.  

I wept at the key note address given by Bill McDonough. (I know Mary Kate Mackey did too).  

Our hosts are always fantastic, but Brian Minter's dinner bash in Vancouver was unbelievable.....and
so was the roaming dinner party at Chanticleer and the conservatory dinner followed by  fireworks at
Longwood.  Oh, and the swanky hayride and 5 food stations PLUS dinner and live music in
Oklahoma........I would never get to events like this if it weren't for GWA.  (Please note that I
love all the events......for the sake of brevity I just mentioned a few).

Every week I am in contact with other members THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, Canada and often
England.  The listserv is a fantastic tool.  Ask a question and 30 people are there to help with
answers and their experience.  

I take the information about new plants and tools and run with it.  I am able to share this
information with hundreds of gardeners/horticulture folks in my part of the country.  I pass along a
lot of "swag" to my beloved Botanical Garden here in Boise.  Just last week, a GWA member/grower
sent the garden a box of 6 new hydrangeas to trial. 

I learn something from every seminar I attend.

I have been able to bring Scott Calhoun, Susan Appleget-Hurst, Debra Prinzing, James Baggett, Suzie
McCoy and Jeff Lowenfels to Boise to speak to gardening/green industry audiences.  And the list of
folks I want to bring is L-O-N-G.

I think $85 and whatever I pay to attend the annual symposium is the best value I get for my money
all year long.  Count me in.

Mary Ann Newcomer
www.idahogardener.com