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“Lids to Benches” Dedication–September 29, 2022
Chippewa Garden Club and Emerald Necklace Garden Club collaborated to sponsor a project to collect plastic lids and caps from all types of containers. The lids and caps were ultimately recycled into three benches for the new Brecksville-Broadview Heights Elementary School (BBHES).
The dedication of the three benches took place on Thursday, September 29, 2022, at the school located on Oakes Road. In attendance were Marlene Hatton, President of the Garden Club of Ohio, Colleen Toth, principal of the BBHES, Joelle Magyar, Superintendent of the BBHS, teachers and members of both garden clubs.
This was a 12-week project! Students from Chippewa, Highland and Hilton schools, along with Stepping Stone pre-school students were involved. Total lids collected weighed 1,815 pounds, approximately 150 pounds each week. A thermometer image on the school wall was used to keep track of progress. “This truly was an educational learning experience of recycling for all the students”, commented Principal Colleen Toth.
Marlene Hatton explained that her mission during her term of office, was to guide garden clubs to reduce the amount of plastics that are used, discarded, and to find ways to recycle. It was her mission that gave these two garden clubs the impetus to take on this project.
A total of 600 pounds of plastic were needed to manufacture the three high quality recycled plastic benches that are now located just outside the main entrance of the school. Each bench was separately engraved with the school names of Chippewa, Highland and Hilton, the elementary schools recently closed. The benches were manufactured by Plastics-R-Unique of Wadsworth, Ohio. The cost of manufacturing the benches was paid by sponsors, Lubrizol, Chippewa Garden Club and Brecksville residents.
Garden club members with Marlene Hatton, President of the Garden Club of Ohio.
After remarks from both Garden Club project leaders, the ceremony concluded with the reading of a bench dedication poem by one of our 3rd graders.
Chippewa Garden Club members gathered around the Chippewa Elementary School bench.
April, 2022: Another Winning Year for
Chippewa Garden Club!
April in Garden Club Land means awards! At their convention last week, Garden Club of Ohio presented over 200 awards to member clubs. Chippewa won an award (10 in total) for each application submitted. Here’s the list:
First Place: Horticulture or Environmental Education Award: Monarch Project at Home Days
Holiday Project: Botanical Garden Decorated Door
National Garden Week Award: Gardening table in local Libraries
Publicity Press Book
Newsletter
Website
Facebook Page
Second Place: Holiday Project: Lend a Hand votives
Third Place: Membership Brochure and Yearbook
Finally, the individual awards were tallied to select an outstanding Garden Club. Chippewa received first place for Medium Garden Clubs, for a grand total of 11 awards!
Garden Club of the Year, the absolute top award, has eluded us for the past several years. We’re betting “A Little Thyme for Tea”, our August 6-7 Flower Show will make that possible next year. As a footnote, the Best Educational Exhibit in a Standard Flower Show: First Place, was won by the Ohio Judges Council, for the exhibit done by JA Bartsch, a Chippewa GC Member, using a Native Plants theme. Thank you to all our members who participated in these projects and those that prepared the applications. You can’t win unless you tell GCO what you did! A special thank you to Debbie Schuckert, Awards Chairperson for making sure we did the applications correctly and got them done in time!
April, 2021: 2020 Garden Club of Ohio Awards
Chippewa Garden Club throughout its history has worked diligently to fulfill its multi-pronged mission. What is so satisfying to its members is the recognition that their projects are making a difference, are fulfilling their horticultural, design, conservation and education objectives. The Garden Club of Ohio, through its award program provides concrete examples of that recognition. For 2020, despite the COVID pandemic, Chippewa was still able to maintain several community programs – the ones that could be accomplished outside, or didn’t require close contact with others. They were able to finish two landscaping projects in Broadview Heights, a pollinator garden at Greene Acres Community Garden received certification as a Monarch WayStation, wreaths were decorated and donated to Food Bank recipients at Christmas, and a beautiful holiday tablescape was designed for the Holden GLOW Show. They were able to modify the Garden Therapy project at the Oaks of Brecksville using virtual rather than in-person communication. For all their efforts, Chippewa Garden Club received 15 awards from the Garden Club of Ohio. Eight projects garnered first place; one second place; and two third place awards. In addition, their efforts during 2020 resulted in three special COVID Pandemic Adaptation Awards. Finally, the club won the First Place Outstanding Garden Club award for a medium-sized club. It takes more than just a couple of like-minded gardeners to be able to do all this. Congratulations to the 30 or so members who rally around their love of gardening and share their talents and time with the rest of their community.
April, 2020: 2019 Garden Club of Ohio Awards: Chippewa Wins 16!!!
On July 13 and 14, 2019, Chippewa Garden Club presented a Horticulture Specialty Flower Show at the Brecksville Community Center. The title of the show was “A Million Garden Memories…Going Platinum in 2019” and celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Club. Sixty-one classes of horticulture were included in the show. All the horticulture exhibits were fresh and grown by our club members. The show also included a Botanical Arts Division (photography and horticulture). The Botanical Arts Horticulture Sections included 10 classes of creative horticulture, something the club tried for the first time. There were manipulated plants like topiaries, dried flowers, pressed flowers and miniature gardens. There was also a photography section where members submitted their photographs of public and private gardens and close-ups of plants and/or animals.
Two other Divisions were included: an Educational Division focused on our club history and the physiology of the white-tailed deer and a Youth Division where winners of the Central School Tree City poster contest were displayed.
Why do we do Flower Shows? The reasons include educating the public as well as our members in horticulture and flower design, but we also like to demonstrate our growing skills and creativity. It’s a formal presentation by artists using plant materials! Check out our award winners below.
Award winners for the 2019 “A Million Garden Memories…Going Platinum in 2019” Flower Show:
For Horticulture:
Award of Horticultural Excellence: Jo Ann Bartsch
Arboreal Award – Branches of Trees/Shrubs: Mila Kallibjian
Collector’s Showcase:
Collections – Foliage: Debbie Schuckert
Grower’s Choice Awards:
Foliage Container Grown Plants: Margaret DeWolf
Flowering Container Grown Plants: Jim Armstrong
Container Grown Succulents/Cacti: Kathy Habib
Combination Containers- Foliage: Jo Ann Bartsch
Combination Containers, Mixed Flower/Foliage: Margaret DeWolf
Plants Grown Without Soil: Kathy Habib
Awards of Merit:
Cut Herbs: Sandy Spann
Cut Specimen Flowering Perennial: Noreen Butano
Cut Specimen Foliage Perennial: Noreen Butano
Cut Specimen Foliage Annual: Kathy Habib
For Education:
The Educational Award: Jeff Ardo
Botanical Arts:
Container Manipulated Plants: Lenore Siegman
Dried/Preserved Specimens: Lenore Siegman
Container-Grown Miniature Gardens: Kathy Habib
Photography: Debbie Schuckert
Sweepstakes Award:
For Horticulture: Kathy Habib
June 5, 2019: Chippewa Garden Club receives 2018 Garden Club of Ohio (GCO) Awards.
At the GCO convention in June in Canton, we received 7 awards for our work in 2018. A significant achievement in a year without a Flower Show! Congratulations to everyone who participated in the application process and doing the project work. The awards included:
- First Place: CBG Tree, Newsletter
- Second Place: Publicity Press Book, Yearbook, Outstanding Garden Club (Medium)
- Third Place: Membership Brochure, Website
- The newsletter went on to get a National Award of Appreciation.
News Flash: Chippewa Garden Club Named Garden Club of the Year!! June 7, 2018.
Yes, it’s happened before….seven times before to be exact. But the pride and sense of accomplishment never wear off.
At their convention in Cincinnati on June 7, 2018, the Garden Club of Ohio presented its awards for projects and accomplishments during 2017. Chippewa Garden Club won a total of 18 awards—13 of them were for first place! Here are the first place projects:
- Arbor Day distribution of seedlings to third graders,
- Decoration of the Glow tree at the Cleveland Botanical Garden)
- Planting of a Monarch Way Station at the Brecksville Community Garden,
- Garden Therapy at Pleasantview Care Center,
- Youth program at the Library for Mother’s Day,
- Youth award and youth leader award for the Recess Gardening program at Central School,
- Best Standard Flower Show in a public building and best Schedule for our Flower Show “This Land is Our Land”, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Cleveland Metroparks,
- Outstanding Garden Club for our size (39 members).
We also received first place awards for our membership flyer (best publication), best newsletter, and best website. Our landscaping of the historical marker for the establishment of Brecksville Township and the Flower Show educational exhibit received second place awards; our 2017 publicity book and yearbook received honorable mention.
The top award, Garden Club of the Year, is based on a point system, scoring each project or award topic as judged by the Garden Club of Ohio. Chippewa scored the highest among the other medium-sized clubs and then won overall among all clubs of all sizes. There are approximately 140 other garden clubs in Ohio that belong to the Garden Club of Ohio organization. We are honored to be considered the best for 2017!
“Woodland Inspired Holiday Trends”, 11/14/2017:
Chippewa Garden Club presented its annual Holiday fundraiser program “Woodland Inspired Holiday Trends”, the evening of November 14, 2017, at the Brecksville Community Center. The program featured Hudson, Ohio florists Molly Taylor and Bailey Wilson of Molly Taylor and Company. The speakers highlighted current designs styles of the 2017 Holiday Season and created floral swags, wreaths and tablescapes illustrating the natural woodland theme popular this Holiday Season.
Guests enjoyed not only the speakers’ presentation but refreshments and raffle items donated by the Chippewa Club members and community entrepreneurs. Funds from the event will be used for Chippewa Garden Club’s many community projects planned for the year of 2018. The Chippewa Garden Club has been committed to serving the community since the Club’s inception in 1949, by cultivating beauty through gardening, promoting the fine art of floral design, aiding in the protection of native plants and wildlife, encouraging civic beautification and providing horticultural educational opportunities to the community.
Thanks to all who participated in making this event a great success!
This Land is Our Land: A Standard Flower Show, July 22-23, 2017:
On July 22 and 23, 2017, Chippewa Garden Club presented a Standard Flower Show at the Brecksville Community Center. The title of the show was This Land is Our Land and celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Cleveland Metroparks. The show included 28 designs whose inspirations were one of the Metroparks reservations. Fifty-three classes of horticulture were included in the show. All the horticulture exhibits were fresh and grown by our club members. The show also included an Education Division and Botanical Arts Division (photography and artistic crafts).
The reasons we do biennial Flower Shows are to educate the public as well as our members in horticulture and flower design and to provide an outlet for creative expression. We certainly met those objectives. Check out our award winners below.
Award winners for the 2017 This Land is Our Land Flower Show:
For Designs:
Award of Design Excellence: Lenore Siegman
Designers Choice Award/Seibel Award: Lenore Siegman
Petite Award/Zuzan Silver Bowl: Jo Ann Bartsch
For Horticulture:
Award of Horticulture Excellence: JoAnn Sherman
Arboreal Award – Branches of Trees/Shrubs: Debbie Schuckert
Collectors Showcase:
Collections – Foliage: JoAnn Sherman
Growers Choice:
Foliage Container Grown Plants: Judy Guinn
Flowering Container Grown Plants: Judy Guinn
Container Grown Succulents: Charlene Schuh
Combination Containers: Margaret DeWolf
Awards of Merit:
Cut Specimen Flowering Perennial: Debbie Schuckert
Cut Specimen Foliage Perennial: Kathy Habib
Cut Specimen Flowering Annual: Debbie Schuckert
Cut Specimen Foliage Annual: Lynne Evans
Vegetables: Jo Ann Bartsch
For Education:
The Educational Award: Kathy Ziemba
Botanical Arts:
Photography: Jo Ann Bartsch
Sweepstakes Awards:
For Design: Lenore Siegman and Judy Guinn (tie!)
For Horticulture: Kathy Habib
AWARD UPDATES: NATIONAL GARDEN CLUBS, INC.
Chippewa Garden Club won two awards for its work in youth gardening. On June 7, 2017, we, along with the Emerald Necklace Garden Club, won an award for Youth Garden Club Beautification for the rain garden installed and planted at Central School. That project also won a First Place for Youth Environmental Education from the National Garden Clubs, Inc.
On May 6, 2016, National Garden Clubs, Inc. presented three awards to Chippewa Garden Club. They were:
- A certificate of commendation for Youth Horticulture Education (for the Recess Gardening Program at Central School);
- The Tommy Donnan Certificate of Merit for our “Art in the Garden” Newsletter; and
- An Achievement Award (with Rosette) and certificate of commendation for a Club Standard Flower Show for our 2015 Flower Show “Artists in Our Garden”
Congratulations to all our members who worked on all these projects. A special round of applause to Pat G. who edits our award-winning newsletter.
CHIPPEWA GARDEN CLUB NAMED GARDEN CLUB OF THE YEAR!!
At its 88th Annual Convention April 5-7, 2016, the Garden Club of Ohio named Chippewa Garden Club the Garden Club of the Year for our work accomplished in 2015. The first time Chippewa won this award was in 1971, and we won another five times from 1999 to 2013. This most recent award is the seventh time our club has been honored among the approximately 150 garden clubs throughout Ohio.
The top award is based on a point system, scoring each project or award topic as judged by the Garden Club of Ohio. Chippewa scored the highest among the other medium-sized clubs and then won overall among all clubs of all sizes.
We won three awards for our 2015 Flower Show, Artists in our Garden, held last September. The show itself won a first place award, the schedule a second place, and the educational exhibit a third place. You can see what the Flower Show looked like in the photos to the right, and scroll down to see all the individual winners at the show.
A total of seven other first place awards were given to the Garden Club for our Arbor Day projects, youth projects, garden therapy, newsletter, yearbook, and membership brochure. Second place awards were given for the establishment of a Monarch WayStation at Central School and our website.
Co-Presidents Kathy Habib and Jo Ann Bartsch attended the awards ceremony in Dayton Ohio. Both were overwhelmed at our success, noting that this was only possible because we have such an active membership. Our members not only participate in our civic projects, especially the Flower Show, but are willing to document our activities in the required award briefs! We’re hoping that some of our projects go on to win regional or national awards later this year. Stay tuned.
A round of applause for all our members!!
Chippewa Garden Club 