2023-2024 — Floss O'Sullivan, Editor
​Our team’s focus this year was to support the Club’s environmental efforts and provide information as early as possible to the membership. To highlight pollinators and native plants in New Jersey, we were fortunate to use Claire Stepleton’s beautiful cover photo. It shows the Eastern Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes asterius), which is New Jersey’s state butterfly, balanced on pink Garden Phlox (Phlox paniculata), a native plant in our state.
​
Thanks to the hard work of all the Committee Chairs and Vice Chairs providing detailed information, the Yearbook Committee completed the 2023-24 edition by August 1. To promote use of the Club’s website and provide members with information as early as possible, we thank Sue Young for publishing all the Yearbook’s content by August 10. We printed the yearbook by August 23, mailed 50% and hand delivered 50% so members received their yearbooks by Labor Day in time for the start of the year.
​
With thoughtful consideration about our environmental footprint and costs to produce the Yearbook, we decided to retire the standard printed edition of the yearbook. Instead, we will move all information to the Club’s website, which allows us to provide members with content earlier and place it in relevant subject areas.
​
The Garden Club of New Jersey awarded the Club a Certificate of Merit with Gold Seal for the 2023-2024 Yearbook, with a score of 97 out of 100 points. Sincere thanks to the Yearbook team for another banner year.
2022-2023 — Floss O'Sullivan, Editor
​
With the Club's growth in members and the robust calendar of events, there was much to communicate to Members meeting in person once again. The Committee Reports are an indication of the dedicated contributions of the Chairs and Vice Chairs, and we thank them for their timely, accurate content. The Garden Club of New Jersey awarded the Club a Certificate of Merit for the 2022-23 Yearbook.
​
The Yearbook team was instrumental in developing a style guide, bridging content with the website, reducing print costs, and hand delivering close to 60 percent of the 146 Yearbooks to save on postage — all by late August, well in time for our new Club year. Thank you team!
2021-2022 — Claire Stepleton, Editor
​Thanks to timely responses from Committee Chairs and other contributors, we were able to print and distribute 190 Yearbooks last August, well before the first program. Ongoing COVID-19 concerns did not keep this Club from scheduling engaging Programs,Workshops, Exhibitions, Gardening sessions, Garden Therapy projects, and other activities throughout the year. This quality content earned the Club a Certificate of Merit with Gold Seal from the Garden Club of New Jersey for the 2021-22 Yearbook.
Karen Whitehaus, Fran Wong, Deb Hirsch, and I tried something new and hand-delivered Yearbooks to 34 of the 148 Members to save postage expense.
I'm grateful to all Yearbook contributors for prompt, well-written information, schedules, and reports. Many thanks to Celia Radek for her extensive training and handholding, and to Janice Benton for her sharp-eyed editing and grammar skills. Fran Wong did a terrific job updating the bylaws and directory. Deborah Hirsch's input was key to ensure accuracy of Membership information. I'm also thankful to Florence Leyssène for her contributions and guidance. Last but definitely not least, my thanks and gratitude go to Karen Whitehaus for her
excellent editing feedback and her assistance stamping and mailing the Yearbooks.
There is no doubt that Floss O'Sullivan will do a fantastic job as the new editor of the 2022-23 Yearbook.
2020-2021 — Celia Radek, Editor
​Last summer, creativity and flexibility were the catchwords of the Committees that organized the gardening sessions, workshops, programs, and exhibitions that kept the Club connected throughout the year. The Committee reports in this Yearbook show an engaged, Active Membership despite the repeat of to be determined in last year’s calendar.
One hundred and eighty-five copies of the Yearbook were printed and mailed to the Membership prior to the first Program meeting, presented on Zoom in September.
The 2020-21 Yearbook was submitted to the Awards Committee of the Garden Club of New Jersey. The Club received a Certificate of Merit with Gold Seal and the Yearbook was forwarded to the Central Atlantic Region of State Garden Clubs (CAR) for national award consideration. The Club was honored to receive the National Garden Clubs, Inc., Certificate of Commendation, First Place for Club size 100 – 299 members. Congratulations to all as it is the work of the Club that is being recognized for achievement!
Many thanks to all members who supplied the information, schedules, and reports that makes this Yearbook an important resource throughout the GC year; to Deb Hirsch and Fran Wong for Membership Directory updates; to Michele Tomasik for another fabulous cover image; to Fran Ackerly, Janice Benton, and Karen Whitehaus for their detailed proofreading; and to Florence Leyssène for her encouragement and leadership.
I’m pleased to turn the reins over to the talented new editor, Claire Stepleton.
2019-2020 — Celia Radek, Editor
​In 2019, Yearbook production moved into the cloud. The online desktop publishing software, which can be accessed by PC or Mac operating systems, allows collaborative work on documents and easy sharing of draft content. Thanks to Fran Wong for researching the software which is now available for Club use through subscription. Future Yearbook editors will appreciate the easy transition from year to year.
​
Printed at a cost of $925 for 210 copies, the Yearbook was mailed to the Membership prior to the first meeting of the Program year.
​
The Yearbook was submitted to the Awards Committee of Garden Club of New Jersey for consideration and, in July 2020, the Club received word that the 2019-2020 edition was selected to receive a Certificate of Merit with Gold Seal. While the Award pays tribute to format and design, it is, first and foremost, the projects and programs of the Club that are being recognized for achievement.
​
Many thanks to Committee Chairs for their Annual Reports and to the Committees for organizing the creative, fun, and informative Garden Club year; to Deb Hirsch and Fran Wong for keeping the Membership Directory updated and accurate throughout the year; to Michele Tomasik for her fabulous cover image; to proofreaders Fran Ackerly, Janice Benton, Lori Vik, and Karen Whitehaus for their collective eye for detail; and to Florence Leyssène for her good advice and much appreciated encouragement.
