Leadership and Awards Workshop - The Garden Club of Georgia, Inc.

A group of women standing next to each other.

In Johns Creek for Dogwood and Redbud

A map of the us with two different routes.

L&AWorkshopMap

Leadership and Awards Workshops

These biennial workshops are held during the month of July to bring train newly elected club officers for the upcoming term

Leadership and Awards Workshop Resources

Handouts and other useful materials from the 2025 workshop

Leadership Workshop PowerPoint presentation (as a PDF)

Awards Workshop PowerPoint presentation (as a PDF)

Communications Policy - Diane Hunter

The 2023-2025 Leadership and Awards Workshops

Written by Gale D. Thomas

The 2023-2025 Biennial Leadership and Awards Workshops were held during the month of July.

Led by Garden Club of Georgia, Inc. (GCG) President, Lisa Hall, the workshops were presented by a team that included First Vice President Diane Hunter, Second Vice President Bess Hartley, Third Vice President Marilyn McDonnell and Fourth Vice President Nilsa Summey. They were joined by Corresponding Secretary and Education Chairman Gale D. Thomas, Awards Chairman Diana Malone and Awards Co-Chairman Martha Cobb.

With 4 districts coupling up for their respective workshops, there were five separate Leadership and Awards Workshop sessions. Using the tag-team approach, these eight leaders presented important information briefly summarized in this article. Participants at all five workshops were engaged and asked many questions throughout the morning and afternoon sessions The presenters also engaged the participants with questions and gave token gifts for the correct answers.

The team’s first session was held in Central Georgia on July 13. Starting their road trip from their respective homes the team members traveled to Cordele for the first workshop for the 67 members representing 30 clubs of Magnolia and Camellia Districts. The following week the team traveled to Johns Creek to present to the 40 members of 15 Dogwood District clubs and 39 members from 19 Redbud District clubs on Tuesday. Wednesday found the group in Athens presenting to 55 Azalea District members representing 22 clubs. Joining the team in Athens was the GCG Office Manager Arianna Knowlton who introduced a bit of fun technology into the presentation. Back to the Metro area for the last session of the second week, the team met in Marietta Wednesday with 42 club members representing 25 clubs of Laurel District.

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After a few days of rest (and time to catch up on their non-GCG lives), the team hit the road one more time, traveling for a Thursday, July 26 (and their final) presentation in Savannah for the 76 members of 28 clubs in the Oleander District.

The workshops were organized with each presenter covering an assigned topic. Each Leadership and Awards workshop started with a warm welcome from the District Director(s) and the introduction of GCG President Lisa Hall. After introducing the other presenters, Lisa presented information about the 2023-2025 National Garden Club, Inc. (NGC) and the Deep South Garden Club, Inc. (DSGC) new presidents and their themes. She reminded the attendees of her theme, “Plant America: Promoting Beautification, Conservation, and Education”. Lisa also presented and reviewed the newly revised 2023 - 2025 GCG President’s Report, highlighting important changes and emphasizing the need for clubs to mark activities and projects relevant not only to their clubs but also items that are specific to the activities of individual members.

Membership was Nilsa Summey’s topic. Nilsa’s presentation was complete with witty mnemonics “Membership is Key to GCG” and “Recruit, Retain! Revitalize!” to highlight the vital role of members in the success of GCG and its garden clubs. She also gave important information and tips for membership development. Bess Hartley emphasized the importance of an organized president to a successful club meeting and she highlighted things to include in a President’s toolbox. She also gave important guidelines on parliamentary procedures. Diane Hunter gave an engaging look at the newly revised GCG website, highlighting where the information from the previous website could be found on the new site. She also emphasized the use of the District pages for important information needed for club business and for member general knowledge. Diane presented the new GCG Communications Protocol and gave examples of how clubs can share appropriately across all GCG media platforms.

Money was the next thing on the agenda. NGC and other national and state, as well as GCG, grants were highlighted by Marilyn McDonnell. This information on the myriad of available grants allowed those in attendance to see the diverse and possible grant options for funding club projects. Marilyn also gave relevant financial information regarding banking and treasurers’ reporting. Rounding out the morning session, Gale D. Thomas informed the attendees of GCG President’s commitment to making sure that GCG offers a multitude of educational opportunities for its members. These opportunities, including the NGC Environmental, Gardening and Landscape Schools, locally produced informational and training YouTube and Facebook videos, and other learning opportunities are in the works, Announcing that the first set of courses for Gardening and Landscape Schools will be starting in September, she informed the participants that more information could be found on the GCG website. Members were also reminded to check out the NGC Membership Mondays and the NGC YouTube channel.

After a full morning of information, the participants were ready to eat and fellowship. During the lunch break, there was lively conversation as club members engaged in fellowship with their club friends and with GCG members from other clubs.

Lunch was followed by the Awards presentation by Chairman Diana Malone and Co-Chairman Martha Cobb. Diana gave a review of the revised Awards Manual, copies of which were given to each attendee. By focusing on important updates, including the NGC Photo Release Form and the required e-submissions for all awards except Yearbooks, Diana emphasized the importance of understanding the awards process and correctly completing the Awards application. Using a lively alter-ego, “Flossie Mae”, Martha engaged the workshop participants in a question and answer session, complete with gifts for the correct answers. (see photo)

All of the information presented during these sessions will be available on this page below this article. Additionally, thanks to Camille Greeley, GCG Social Media Chairman, a video of one of the workshop sessions will be posted on the near future to the GCG YouTube channel.