District IV News Items

• Congratulations to FFGC Garden Clubs. These clubs and individuals won some very prestigious NGC awards. Top Honors: Deep South Regional Award of Honor - Mary Whistler, Flower Show Achievements (District VIII and Sarasota Garden Club) , and for the Largest Per Capita Increase in Life Membership (FFGC). NGC Members of Honor: Mary Whistler, Deep South.

• The summer issue of The National Gardener is available (click here). It contains a recap of all award winners from the National Garden Clubs Convention. See our Publications page for a complete list of District, FFGC, and NGC publications.

• Celebrate National Garden Week in Your Community! National Garden Week is June 5-11, 2022, an opportunity to encourage pride in your community, interest new members, and work with other groups to be part of those efforts. But, any week is a good week to celebrate. See the NGC web page for garden week for ideas. And send us those pictures!

• Membership Renewal is open through 6/1. Please contact your club Treasurer or Membership Chair to ensure your membership is renewed by 6/1. Your total renewal dues are a combination of FFGC dues, $1 optional dues for District IV, and your individual club/circle dues. See the FFGC membership info link.

• The summer issue of The Florida Gardener is available (click here). It contains a recap of all award winning clubs and districts from the FFGC Convention. Congratulations to our clubs that won awards. Our District Facebook page was also honored with an award. The 38th Biennial State Flower Show, "The Sound of Music," honored two of our members who won awards in the Horticultural Division: Kalia Bailene won an Elfin Award and Amy Wilson won an Arboreal Award. See our Publications page for a complete list of District, FFGC, and NGC publications.

• Friday, May 13 District IV Spring Meeting. The Bartram Garden Club of Amelia Island was our host. Photos of the event will be posted shortly.

• National Garden Clubs Convention Dates were Mon-Thurs, May 16-19. The convention was in Orlando, FL. Congratulations to the award winners!

• Blue Star Byway Marker Dedication May 21, 10AM.

• The latest edition of the District IV Membership Newsletter is here! Go to the Publications page (under the Resources menu) to read the Spring 2022 issue. The Summer 2022 issue of the Florida Gardeners and the Spring 2022 issue of the National Gardener can be accessed from the Resources page as well. There is also a link to the FFGC Membership Handbook on the same page.

• Congratulations to the Garden Club of Green Cove Springs for their successful grant proposal to Ames Tools. They won several of their requested items. Now they have NO excuse to not garden.

• FFGC Convention Dates were Tues-Thurs, April 12-14 for Worlds of Wonder, in Orlando. Read about it in the spring edition of the District IV Runner. Our District won 18 awards!!! Nice work!!

• High School and College Scholarships applications from FFGC were due May 1. Now is a good time to identify potential candidates for the next round of scholarships and help them apply for money to help offset their educational costs. Refer to the Spring 2022 edition of the District IV Runner newsletter for information on applying to NGC, Deep South, or FFGC.

• Updated version of the NGC Flower Show Handbook is available for FREE. Download the handbook, Digital Flower Show Handbook - Revised January 2022, at the NGC Flower Show School Forms and Information page.

• The latest edition of the District IV Membership Newsletter is here! Go to the Publications page (under the Resources menu) to read the January 2022 issue. There is also a link to the FFGC Membership Handbook on the same page.

• National Garden Clubs' Video Cafe No ticket required! Select a video and enjoy! One of the latest offerings is Doug Tallamy's Home Grown National Park initiative, which coincides with the National Garden Clubs Gardening with Nature project.

• Over 50 garden clubs this year won National Garden Clubs Plant America Grants. None of them were in Florida... Make it happen, District IV! Grant submission window is between June 1 and October 15 - so for those days that it's too hot to garden, do some planning and calculate a budget for your next year's expenses between January and December 2023. See the Plant America page at the NGC website.

• Welcome Back, Garden Club of Switzerland. They are glad to be back in the federated garden clubs. You'll be hearing more from then as they get organized. Thanks to our other clubs for supporting them.

• Save the Date: October 25, 2022 (a Tuesday) will be our District IV Fall Meeting. The Garden Club of St. Augustine will be the hosting. Stay tuned for details.

• National Garden Club Virtual Workshops. These workshops will also be archived:

  • Membership Mondays (second Monday of the month from 2-3PM Eastern time) discusses how to attract and retain members; attendee participation encouraged. Registration required; use the Membership Mondays link at the Member Resources page.

  • Workshop Wednesdays (third Wednesday of the month) provides help with all hat new technology you wish you knew more about such as image editing with Canva, using Zoom for virtual meetings, and using your Smartphone. More information will be posted soon.

• Enhance your photographs and art work with Canva, a free web-based application. Valerie Seinfeld, Social Media Chairman at FFGC, provided an introduction to the basic features A professional version is available for a price. See the YouTube, Introduction to the Canva Ap.

• SEEK (Save the Earth's Environment through Knowledge) applications are being accepted on January 10.

• Pack Your Knapsacks, Campers! Wekiva youth camps are open for 2022 registration starting on January 2 or 3; spots fill up fast so don't delay. Adult volunteers and staff are encouraged to apply as soon as possible to get your pick of dates and activities. See the FFGC letter from Chrisy Linke. Campers who will be sponsored by Tri-Council funds have additional paperwork to fill out after securing a space for the summer. See the letter from Tri-Council Campership Chairman, Carolyn Schaag. Funding Support Applications are due at the end of January.

• FFGC and NGC magazines have gone digital. See the Publications page (under the Resources menu) at this website to read the latest versions and, if you have not gotten your digital version, use the instructions on that page to set up your email.

• Garden Clubs and Seasonal Events. See our Facebook page for a list of upcoming events from our District Garden Clubs, and don't forget that the FFGC Convention and NGC Convention are in Florida this year in April and May.

• Our new program year is underway. See the Calendar for events and Facebook for posts and announcements.

• Read Connie Gladding's Director's Message at the About Us Section.

• Meet our new officers at the Leaders page.

• We finished the latest program year with some long-awaited get-togethers. See our Photo Gallery page for slideshows of the FFGC Convention, District IV Spring Meeting, and Leadership Orientation. Links to them are also in the right-hand column here.

• We have updated our logo to include the District IV butterfly, the painted lady

• For other items of interest, go to our News page.