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Montana Gardens Summer 2011
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Montana Gardens Summer 2010
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Montana Gardens Winter 2009

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News from Around the State

Doris Richard , Garden Club Member of the Year
Dillon Garden Club Member

The name of our nominee for Garden Club Member of the Year is synonymous with our club, no one can mention or think of us without thinking of our nominee. She was a founding member of this club and was responsible for the club both being formed and for its federation with the state organization. She has contributed and continues to contribute her time, money and efforts for our local club, the district and the state.

We were without a garden club in our locale for over 20 years and for those 20 years our nominee sought out people with like interests in gardening and what was more amazing, design, to keep competition at our local fair alive. When she learned that a series of flower show schools was being offered in our neighboring district, she recruited several of us who were informally meeting as a garden club and encouraged us to attend the schools and to become judges, knowing that it would be necessary for us to become members of clubs. Her efforts to produce judges and a club for us to belong lead to the creation of our garden club in the early 1980's, with our nominee being one of the charter members.

As a long time member of other state-wide organizations, our nominee was not ever reluctant for our club to assume its place in the district and state federations. Our nominee recognized that our infant club needed the protection and nurture of other longer established clubs and saw to it that those who were not as eager to join with other gardeners learned why it was important. Our nominee proposed and promoted our club's joining the federation in 1984.

Since that time, our nominee has been the only treasurer of the club. She has served as district treasurer for more than half of the last 25 years. She has served as chairman of numerous district wide projects and promotions, including the only district flower show, district organizational studies and at least four district meetings.

She has served as Chairman of all of our club flower shows. She has been the treasurer for all of our fund raising projects for the past 26 years, including our plant sales, craft fairs, creche festivals, holiday awards and Christmas shows.

She has been the superintendent of the floriculture department at the local fair for over 50 years; she always admired the judges trained by the federation while she was superintendent and so she decided after cajoling and sponsoring others to become judges to become a flower show judge herself in 1998. She remains a judge, attaining her life judge status last year and judges at local fairs and flower shows.

Our nominee has served the Montana Federation of Garden Clubs as Indoor Horticulture Chairman, as registrar and treasurer of the six flower show schools hosted by our club and for the current school, the seventh being sponsored by our local club, as registrar and treasurer of the "Hang em High" State Flower Show, as a member of the nominating committee during the 1990's and as delegate to both state conventions and fall board meetings.

Our nominee is deeply interested in floral design. She is especially adept at corsage and boutonniere construction and delights in miniature and small designs. She has won all of the National Council Top Design Awards. She encourages entrants to flower shows and the county fairs to try the new designs approved by National and is especially skilled in tapestry and exhibition tables. We can count on our nominee to fill classes for every design event we enter and sponsor. She enjoys teaching design principles to young people, especially Girl Scouts.

She is the sponsor of several design and floriculture awards at the county fair, including an award for sweet peas (in honor of Esther Hamel), one of her major influences.

In addition to Garden Club service, our nominee has served on the boards of many local and state organizations. She is one of the primary movers for the construction of the local YMCA, a 40 year multi-millon dollar project completed two years ago. She is active in her church, in many other community organizations, especially the Order of Eastern Star, in the professional organizations of her profession and continues to serve as a board member of several.

Dillon Garden Club is delighted to nominate Doris Richard as Garden Club Member of the Year.

PAST WINNERS OF THE MONTANA
GARDEN CLUB MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD

2009 - Shirley Spildie, Thumb-R-Green Garden Club, Billings
2008 - Luana Maxwell, Great Falls Flower Growers
2007 - Loretta Day, Rainbow Garden Club, Great Falls
2005 - Marie Jones, Lewistown
2004 - Sherry Corneliusen, Glendive
2003 - Margaret Yaw, Gallatin Empire Garden Club, Bozeman
2002 - Elizabeth Kehmeier, Hamilton
2001 - Carol Neil, Missoula
2000 - Cobi Leo, Gallatin Empire Garden Club, Bozeman
1999 - Jim Sadler, Missoula
1998 - Vivian Deck, Great Falls Flower Growers
1997 - Harriet Watkins, Dillon Garden Club
1996 - Madelyn Anderson, Malta Dirt Daubers Garden Club
1995 - Ruth Schwartz, Glendive Garden Club
1994 - Lillian Weston, Chinook Garden Club

ENDOWMENT FUND

MFGC members have established an Endowment Fund. Similar to our other long-standing endowment fund, Life Members, only the interest from money in the fund will be earmarked for education and communication. When $500 interest income has accumulated, a competitive grant program will be designed with local clubs and MFGC-sponsored groups as eligible recipients. Grants to fund speakers, seminars, workshops or new technology to present educational programs are some of the ways these awards will be used.

Money may be contributed in any amount now, with checks sent to Glenna Waltee, state treasurer, marked for the Endowment Fund. This is an especially good fund for memorials, as well as a way to honor someone. Because of our IRS 501(C)(3) status, contributions are tax deductible. We will keep a permanent record of contributions, as well as list them in Montana Gardens.

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State Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl 2011 Poster Contest Winners
Sponsored by the Montana Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc.
Congratulations!
Grace Carman, 1st Grade, Malta, sponsored by the Malta Dirt Daubers
Annabelle Giblette, 2nd Grade, Malta, sponsored by the Malta Dirt Daubers, Winner of the Rocky Mtn. Regional Competition
Grace Madill, 3rd Grade, Malta, sponsored by the Malta Dirt Daubers
Megan Fehres, 4th Grade, Great Falls
Kade Lunday, 5th Grade, Missoula

Murphy Memorial Scholarship Winners

The Murphy Memorial Scholarship is named for long-time Dearborn Garden Club member, Mabel E. Murphy and her husband Arthur J. Murphy by their daughter, Joyce-Jackson Hawkes, a member of the Gallatin Empire Garden Club in Bozeman.

2011 Murphy Memorial Scholarship recipient Dominique David, MSU
2010 Murphy Memorial Scholarship recipient Kristen O'Brien
2009 Murphy Memorial Scholarship recipient Valerie Ritter
2008 Murphy Memorial Scholarship recipient Michael O'Brien and Megan Hildreth
2006 Murphy Memorial Scholarship recipient Catherine Coleman.

National and Montana Life Members Scholarship Winners Named

2011 Montana Life Members Scholarship Winner - Dominique David, Montana State University
2010 National Garden Club Scholarship winner - Anne Runkel, Univ. of Vermont
2008 and 2009 National Garden Club Scholarship winner - Michael O'Brien, University of Montana School of Forestry, of Moore, MT [pictured below with NGC President, Renee Blaschke]

2009 Montana Life Members Scholarship winner - Rhiannon Wilson, MSU Horticulture, of Bozeman
2008 Montana Life Members Scholarship winner - Michael O'Brien, Univ of Montana
2006 National Garden Club Scholarship winner - Aaron Henegar, Univ of Arizona Landscape Architecture, of Missoula
2006 Montana Life Members Scholarship winner - Corri Pfeiffenberger, MSU Horticulture, of Bozeman
2005 National Garden Club Scholarship winner - Eric Berg, MSU Landscape Design, of Great Falls
2004 National Garden Club Scholarship winner - Dustin VanDyke, MSU Landscape Design, of Manhattan, MT
2004 Montana Life Members Scholarship winner - Dustin VanDyke
2002 National Garden Club Scholarship winner - Leah Jarrett, MSU Horticulture, of Springdale, MT
2002 Montana Life Members Scholarship winner - Cody Porter of Bozeman

Gallatin Empire Garden Club Announces Sale of Envelope Seals

Members of the Gallatin Empire Garden Club are offering items for sale to other club members and the public to raise money to fund their new projects. The mailing seals shown to the right were sold for many years by the Bozeman garden club. They've recently been re-issued and would make a great holiday card sticker for anyone living in Montana as they feature the state flower, the bitterroot (also the logo of this state Federation). The cost is $2.50 for a packet of 25 seals (plus 42 cents for mailing). The background of the seal is silver.

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