Club Highlights 1939 - 1994

1939 Four women having tea decided to start a garden club.

June 7 - twelve women met to organize a garden club and named it Greenfingers.

In December the name was changed to the Gardeners.

1941 Club did a garden in the community flower show. It was a before and after garden and won a special award. A picture of the garden was published in the New York Sun.

1942-1944 ......................WAR YEARS............................

1940 Year spent in organization and planning

1945 Club became a member of the G.C.A. and changed its name to Stony Brook.

1946 Club entered the international flower show in new York city with a bay window planted with begonias.

1947 Stony Brook and the G.C. of Princeton cooperated in a garden at the international flower show in New York City and won second prize. Flower show at McCarter Theater.

1948 Club trip to gardens in Ambler PA. One club member copied a solar heated pit garden seen on the trip - Fleming

1949 Club involved in the Princeton community flower show. Also acted as hostesses at New York flower show.

1950 Visiting house day -3 members' homes decorated for Christmas. Members made Christmas decorations and jellies. Club involved in community flower show and served as hostesses at New York show. G.C. of Princeton our guests at flower arranging program with Mitsou Arai. Club became a member of the Federated Garden Club of New Jersey.

1951 Sue Steele member of the schedule committee of the Philadelphia flower show.

1952 Club entered the New York International Flower Show with the Irvington, N.Y. G.C. and G.C. of Somerset Hills, NJ. Entry was a north european garden and won 3rd prize.

1953 Club entered the New York International Flower Show with the same two clubs as 1952. This year the entry was a spring garden with a dry stone wall which the clubs constructed. We won a 2nd prize and also served as hostesses at the show.

Club had a fall garden tour and flower show..

1955 Two members won 2nd and 3rd at the federated zone meeting - Fleming and Schluter.

Evelyn Alyea's Christmas program outstanding.

1954 Member awarded the tr-color at the Hopewell Valley show/ Schluter.

Club held a fall flower show and house tour.

Sue Steele gave a class in flower arranging at the adult school.

1956 Member won 1st prize at Rumson flower show - Steele

1957 Members served as hostesses at the New York Flower Show.

1958 Club entered the Philadelphia flower show. Entry was a garden planted to attract birds. It won 2nd prize.

Members served as hostesses at the New York Flower Show.

1959 Club invited by Philadelphia clubs to join them at a judging forum held in the Philadelphia art museum. Club went by bus.

Fund-raising committee was to hold an annual spring plant sale at a member's home.

1960 ...........MAY MARKET WAS BORN..............

Outstanding speaker, Madeline Leuthardt, on dwarf and espaliered fruit trees,

1961 Mrs. Colie lectured on flower arranging. Club entered a garden at the Philadelphia flower show.

Member received 3rd prize in arrangement class at Hopewell Valley Flower Show - Schluter.

1962 Suggested study of trees for zone, club started our tree box, which was later given to a local school, club entered a garden in the Philadelphia flower show. Members also served as hostesses at the NY show.

1963 Club program with Lois Poiner talking on how to garden without a gardener.

May market featuring unusual and hard to find plant material grown by members held at Helen Woodward’s. Sale becoming very popular by fellow serious gardeners.

1964 .*********25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CLUB**********

**********GARDEN AT ROCKINGHAM BORN**********

Herb garden designed by Helen Griffin and executed by members planted at Washington’s headquarters in Rocky Hill. This garden won the Sears Roebuck Award.

1965 Flower arranging course by Mrs. Reynolds held on four Wednesdays.

2 members entered the NY flower show and won 3rd in an arrangement class - Schluter and Campbell. Members served as hostesses at NY show.

Club had spring and fall flower show.

1966 GCA Zone IV meeting held in Princeton with Adra Fairman our chairman. Meeting was co-hosted with the G.C. of Princeton. Some meetings held in Princeton university's newly opened art museum. Keynote speaker, Ian Mcharg, spoke at Lowery House,

1967 Fall, joint flower show with the G.C. of Princeton. Members slide show as a program.

1968 First scheduled work meeting at Rockingham. Club entered a window box at Philadelphia flower show. There was a club bus trip to the show.

Joint flower show with the G.C. of Princeton.

1969 Joint meeting with the university league garden club.

Club bus trip to Rutgers greenhouses and to the Duke Gardens.

1970 Bus trip to Bryant Park flower show in New York. Members served as hostesses at the show.

1971 Bus trip and meeting at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

1972 Member appointed Zone IV chairman - Patton.

First second-generation club president. Angie Austin, daughter of Dorothy Fleming, president 1941-1943

1973 Member appointed director of G.C.A. - Patton.

1974 Trip to New Hope for a program at the Rosade Bonsai Studio.

1975 Mini G.C.A. Zone IV meeting. 1st prize and 2 second prizes in arrangements. Members served as hostesses at Bryant Park show.

1976 Club started project of planting Chambers Walk in Princeton. Members cared for beds.

Member entered Bryant Park show and won first in arrangement class - Delafield.

Morristown flower show - two 1st prizes in horticulture.

1977 Two members worked together on an arrangement at the Philadelphia flower show and won third place - Delafield and Deckman. One member served as an aide at the show.

Member entered the Bryant Park flower show in NYC and won second place in the decoupage class - Fairman.

1978 Club held workshops on artistic arrangements and vegetable gardens. Contribution was made to American Land Trust whose project in NJ is the Pine Barrens.

1979 Autumn in the air - a joint community flower show with the G.C. of Princeton. Club invited guests to an evening meeting with Ralph Snodsmith as our speaker.

1980 Club won a first prize at the Philadelphia flower show in the new challenge garden class. The chairmen of our entry were Austin and Flemer. GCA Autumn in the Atrium Flower Show invited Austin and Flemer to run the horticulture classes. Member appointed G.C.A. Zone IV chairman, two year term - Fleming.

1981 Two members invited to be chairmen of challenge garden class at the Philadelphia flower show for next 2 years - Austin and Fleming

1982 Club voted to incorporate.

Member appointed G.C.A. Zone IV chairman for two year term - Austin,

Two members asked to be in charge of staging for G.C.A. autumn in the atrium flower show in NYC - Austin and Haring.

1983 Tax exempt status for club approved in April.

1984 Club entered Philadelphia flower show room class Shangri-La, A Place of Your Dreams. The title of our room was a slow boat to china. Won 1st prize and the Delaware valley florists' trophy - arrangers - Bever and Rulon-Miller.

GCA Zone IV meeting in town with the G.C.. of Princeton. Our chairman - Audrey Gates.

1985 GCA zone meeting hosted by the G.C. of Trenton. 1st prize in abstract arrangement class - Austin.

1986 Joint meeting with g. Clubs of Princeton and Trenton for lecture by Betty Brown on art in bloom. Flower show staged in the Boston Art Museum.

Club bus trip to Longwood gardens at Christmastime,

1987 **********GCA ANNUAL MEETING IN ZONE IV ************

One of 3 co-chairmen of meeting - Austin, joint meeting with g. Clubs of Princeton and Trenton to hear and see Herb Plankinton in the subject of arranging flowers.

1988 Club entry in Philadelphia flower show garden class, won 1st prize and PHS Silver Bowl with our Australian garden, chairmen of entry - Austin and Henkel.

1989 **********HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY TO CLUB**********

Member invited to be vice chairman of all artistic classes at the Philadelphia flower show for 2 year term - Austin

1990 Club entry in the room class at the Philadelphia flower show - theme of class was music. Our title - Flamenco, won 2nd prize and the Delaware valley florists' trophy and the G.C.A. certificate of excellence. Entry chairmen - Dawes and Hopper. Arrangers - Delafield, Dyckman and Haring.

Member asked to be G.C.A. flower show area vice chairman - Austin, area - NJ, PA, DE, MD, VA.

Member elected chairman of NJ Committee of the G.C.A. - Austin.

1991 Joint meeting with the G.C. of Princeton.

G.C. of Trenton held a G.C.A. small flower show in state museum, 1st in arrangement - Delafield. 1sts in horticulture - Austin and Haring.

Member asked to be co-chairman of arrangement workshops for Philadelphia Flower Show - Austin. Club became involved in isles Trenton inner city improvement program.

1992 Member was one of 18 ladies from across the country to create an exhibit in class America Discovered at the Philadelphia Flower Show invitational class - Austin. Entry was on CBS Good Morning America tv show and written up in NY Times - Austin.

Two members entered defined space class in Philadelphia - title size and shape. Entry won 1st prize and the GCA certificate of excellence - Austin and Delafield.

GCA Zone IV meeting in Englewood - flower show results : arrangement 1sts Austin and Delafield. Delafield also won best arrangement in show. Horticulture 1sts - Austin and Pontius. Club won the zone award for the most points earned in the flower show. Barbara Spaulding Cramer zone flower arrangement award - Austin.

1993 Member invited to be advisor for open and defined space class at Philadelphia flower show - Delafield.

May flea and flower market fund raiser,

1994 GCA zone iv meeting in town with co-hostess G.C. of Princeton. Co-chairman - Hayes