Committees
Descriptions, Chairs, and Members
Click on a committee button, or scroll down to read about them all.
Avis Campbell Gardens
Ana Zalles Moore, Chair; Wendy Stahl, Vice Chair; Barbara Meyer, Rose Chair
Members: Olga Bequillard, Susan Dumont, Charlotte Judd, Donna Karanja, Anne Kerr, Nancy Loo, Kem Louie, Maria Matesanz, Barbara Meyer, Debbie Moran, Helene Peck, Celia Radek, Maggie Rothman, Grete Scheidl, Maureen Sprong, Michele Tomasik, Michele Trevenen, Jane Wallace, Karen Whitehaus, Lauren Zodel, Provisionals.
The Avis Campbell Gardens and Grounds Committee maintains the grounds and the display gardens located behind 60 S Fullerton Ave. The gardens are open to the public. Designed by landscape architect and Garden Club member Avis Campbell and installed in 1952, the gardens are inspired by the Wheel of Life and feature a pedestal fountain surrounded by roses and beds of flowering perennials and annuals. The grounds include a memorial to Essex County residents who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. Volunteers are welcome to join committee members who garden every Tuesday morning from April through mid-November.
Awards
Sarah Stransky, Chair
Members: Fran Ackerly, Deborah Hirsch, Floss O'Sullivan, Susan Straten, Kate Khachaturian
This group of members is responsible for managing which members receive Garden Club awards. Click here for the full list of awards and recipients since 1980.​ Member of this committee are appointed.
Botanical Arts
Florence Leyssène, Chair; Debbie Moran, Vice Chair
Members: Kathy Bachmann, Barbara Baletti, Karen DeLuca, Karen Fricke, Debbie Moran, Tova Narrett, Floss O’Sullivan, Susan van Inwegen
Recently joining the line-up of Club activities, Botanical Arts (BA) offers additional opportunity for creative expression and presentation of other types of horticulture, design and exhibits. Included under the BA umbrella are Botanical Horticulture, Botanical Design, Artistic Crafts, and Photography.
Civic/Environment
Deborah Hirsch, Chair; Vice Chair, Michele Trevenen
Members: Kathy Bachmann, Andie Bertsche, Jacoba Coes, Karen DeLuca, Marie Donnelly, Susan Dumont, Karen Kadus, Anna Lee, Sydney Milliken, Sheila Curry Oakes, Imke Oster, Brigitte Padberg, Helene Peck, Maryellen Stadtlander, Wendy Stahl, Sonyia Woloshyn, Jane Wallace, Allyn Young, Sue Young
The mission of this Committee is to encourage environmentally responsible beautification of our town’s outdoor green spaces. This Committee’s goal is to act as a resource for individual and organizational stewardship for planning and plant selection and to provide physical help where appropriate. We will offer advice on ways to beautify town businesses and create floral displays when requested. We will search for existing gardens that exemplify sustainable practices and businesses whose plantings or containers show significant effort in the use of pollinator friendly and native plants. We will highlight these examples on social media and website platforms. We will interface with other committees of our club to learn, educate, and share ideas.
Communications/Publicity
Sue Young, Chair
Members: Janice Benton, Terri Breen, Karen DeLuca, Deborah Hirsch, Christine James, Floss O'Sullivan, Ragna Sloane, Maryellen Stadtlander, Amy South, Karen Whitehaus, Fran Wong, Allyn Young
Not only do we need to inform members of all our activities, but we need to reach out to potential new gardeners. The Club runs this website, creates an annual yearbook, produces seven newsletters a year (see Potpourri below), communicates with blog updates and weekly emails, and links with the public and press through social media and event notifications.
Finance
Bob Chapman, Chair; Vice Chair TBD
Members: Lissa Barrett, Susan Benner, Karen Kadus, Imke Oster, Nancy Stroud,
As in any organization, this committee is responsible for collecting dues, creating and managing a budget, and ensuring we meet all legal and ethical standards concerning our finances. Members are appointed.
Flower Design
Barbara Baletti, Chair; Floss O’Sullivan, Vice Chair
Members: Fran Ackerly, Kathy Bachmann, Susan Brady, Carol Callahan, Cynthia Corhan-Aitken, Karen DeLuca, Karen Fricke, Florence Leyssène, Ana Zalles Moore, Debbie Moran, Tova Narrett, Michele Quinn, Lisa Schweitzer, Cheryl Slutzky, Sarah Stransky, Suzy Straten, Virginia Woo
Flower Design is an integral component of the Garden Club. There are opportunities to create traditional designs, as well as those which express more "freedom of style," and exhibit in monthly competitions. Members learn through Workshop participation and the help of our expert designers. Provisional designs are not judged but receive constructive criticism.
Garden Boutique
Susan Benner, Chair
Members: Marie Donnelly, Anna Lee, Kem Louie, Nancy Stroud, Allyn Young, Marilyn Zaret.
The Garden Boutique not only provides gardening and flower design tools, caps, aprons, and other eye-catching gifts to members, but it makes a profit and contributes to our annual budget. Our chair is always open to new ideas for items.
Garden Therapy
Susan Dumont, Chair; Karen Kadus, Vice Chair
Members: Fran Ackerly, Susan Benner, Olga Bequillard, Susan Brady, Elizabeth Burgess, Jacoba Coes, Maria Matesanz, Betty Murphy, Sheila Curry Oakes, Sara H. Olson, Imke Oster, Floss O’Sullivan, Helene Peck, Patricia Rodio, Grete Scheidl, Wendy Stahl, Suzy Straten, Eugenie Temmler, Michele Tomasik, Susan van Inwegen, Jane Wallace, Sue Young. Provisionals.
Garden Therapy is an opportunity to "give back" to the community with visits to nursing homes, senior centers, specialized schools, and refuges. Garden Club members work with the institutions to design programs that will interest participants and members alike, ranging from assistance with planting bulbs and potting plants, to providing floral decorations to Toni's Kitchen's Thanksgiving feasts and staff at our local hospitals.
Horticulture
Heidi Muschick, Chair; Susan Straten, Vice Chair
Members: Karen Carter, Jacoba Coes, Maria Matesanz, Celia Radek, Lisa Schweitzer, Denise Silverman, Karen Whitehaus, Virginia Woo
Horticulture involves the cultivation of fruits, flowering plants, vegetables, and ornamental plants with opportunities for members to exhibit specimens from their gardens or potted plants from their homes.
Hospitality
Florence Sinofsky, Chair; Betty Murphy, Vice Chair
Members: Elizabeth Burgess, Carol Callahan, Karen Kadus, Kate Khachaturian, Dorothy Meissner, Janet Oscar, Gretchen Prater, Michele Quinn, Elizabeth Seebode-Zazzali, Cheryl Slutzky, Patt Sullivan-Perry
One of our three goals is "Fellowship," and the Hospitality Committee ensures that it is never far from any Club event. Our members look forward to the tradition of delicious lunches, teas, and all kinds of comforting fare conjured — apparently — out of nowhere.
Potpourri
Terri Breen, Editor
Members: Barbara Baletti, Ragna Sloane, Marilyn Zaret
Seven times a year, Potpourri provides Club members with detailed information and articles about upcoming and past events from outings and workshops to community service and celebrations. Most members receive the newsletter via email, but a significant number still receive hard copies. See also Communications/ Publicity.
Program
Cynthia Cohan-Aitken, Chair; Karen Fricke, Vice Chair
Members: Susan Brady, Carol Callahan, Charlene Connolly, Deborah Hirsch, Sydney Milliken, Gretchen Prater, Sarah Stransky, Susan van Inwegen, Sue Young
Program meetings are held monthly from September to April for members and guests. Speakers come with an extensive knowledge of gardening, flower design and horticulture as well as topics as varied as the history of Essex County parks, color theory, tree therapy, and the relationship of the fashion industry to gardening.
Triangle Gardens
Betty Murphy, Chair; Janet Oscar, Vice Chair
Members: Olga Bequillard, Charlene Connolly, Susan Dumont, Nancy Foster, Nancy Gerber, Helene Peck, Maggie Rothman, Kathy Sorkin, Wendy Stahl, Nancy Stroud, Patt Sullivan-Perry.
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Triangle Gardens are the raised planting beds along Church Street. Active and provisional Members plant in the spring and maintain through the summer and fall, turning downtown Montclair into an oasis that residents take for granted. The Business Improvement District partners with the club, supplying funds and maintenance assistance during the growing season.
Ways & Means
Susan Benner, Chair; Vice Chair, TBD
Members: Olga Bequillard, Marie Donnelly, Christine James, Kem Louie, Cheryl Slutzky, Amy South, Michele Trevenen, Cynthia Corhan-Aiken, Deborah Hirsch, Kate Khachaturian, Susan van Inwegen, Nancy Stroud, Fran Wong, Virginia Woo, Sue Young
This committee searches for ways to generate revenue to support the various club projects.
Workshops
Karen Fricke, Chair; Tova Narrett, Vice Chair
Members: Fran Ackerly, Barbara Baletti, Floss O’Sullivan, Celia Radek
Workshops are organized throughout the year to help members — provisionals in particular — learn about flower design, cultivating and exhibiting horticulture specimens, as well as other topics related to gardening.
Youth
Donna Karanja, Chair; Susan Straten, Vice Chair
Members: Nancy Foster, Grete Scheidl, Allyn Young
The Youth Committee plans activities that introduce young people from Montclair and surrounding communities to basic principles of gardening, floral design, floral arts, ecology, and conservation. We hope that the children who participate in our activities will develop a life-long love of gardens and an appreciation of the importance of plants for life on our planet.