JUNE LUNCHEON

Our club meets September through June each year and the final meeting is devoted to sharing what we have accomplished as a club during the past year, learning about state awards we have won and enjoying each other’s company before the summer break.

In the fall we enjoyed speakers on Conservation and Composting, How to Prepare Your Garden for the Winter Months and Wreathes Galore. Our October fundraiser was another great success and scholarship applications were sent to Canoga Park High School, Pierce Jr. College and West Valley Occupational Training Center students. Our Gardening Angels committee worked with 5th grade students all year in the school’s rose garden. We collected change in our Penny Pines can and collect aluminum cans every month for the Penny Pines Reforestation Project to replace trees lost in forest fires. The annual Smokey Bear Poster Contest rules and applications were distributed to local elementary schools inviting students to participate in this conservation project.

In the winter and spring we awarded Civic Beauty prizes to a local business and four garden club members, heard programs on The Trail of Trees at Conejo Botanic Garden, made tissue paper flowers for Valentine’s Day to take to a senior residence for Valentine’s Day, learned about honeybees, planted a magnolia tree at Orcutt Ranch Park to celebrate Arbor Day, learned how to conserve water from a Dept. Water and Power speaker and in May met our three scholarship winners. We also enjoyed tours to Conejo Botanic Garden, Southern California Garden Show and to Carolyn Young’s home to see how she had replaced her grass front lawn with drought resistant plants.

At the luncheon, President Madelyn Jameson reported that West Valley Garden Club earned a Blue Ribbon Certificate of Achievement, 1st Place for our newsletter, 1st Place for our yearbook, 2nd Place for programs and two members won 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for their photography exhibits. These were awarded by California State Garden Clubs, Inc. Our Smokey Bear Poster Contest entries won a 1st Place at the state, regional and national level for the 2nd grade category and an Honorable Mention at State for the 4th grade category.

Joan Campbell is preparing the décor for the luncheon tables where we will celebrate another active, fun filled, educational and community spirited garden club year. She has a collection of lovely garden hats on pedestals to set a feminine and festive the mood for our June Luncheon.

President Madelyn Jameson is conducting the last meeting before our summer break. Members hear about the California State Garden Clubs Convention in her report, learn which awards our club has won and will view the club’s achievement book for the club year which runs from September through June.

Every year club members are urged to create a garden hat for the Annual Hat Parade. Awards are given for the Most Beautiful, Most Humorous and Most Original. Our panel of Judges, Eleanor De Carteret, Evelyn Warrington and Lea Turrow are ready to view the entries and choose winners.

Members who created garden hats for the Hat Parade pose together after they walk around the room while the judges deliberate who the final winners will be.

This is the room where our hostesses for the month set up food for lunches together following our meetings. We bring brown bag lunches some months and other months members will bring a pot luck dish to share. Hostesses decorate tables in a room to the left of this room, bring a dessert for twelve and clean up. This room is in the old ranch house at Orcutt Park Ranch which has been beautifully restored. For the June luncheon we treat ourselves to a box lunch.

The pretty cake symbolizes the happy times we have enjoyed together this garden club year.