Twenty-nine students were introduced to Flower Show School (FSS) at the Buehler Auditorium in the Kapnick Center on November 15 – 17, 2017. It has been almost a decade since a Flower Show Judges School was offered in our area and it was a wonderful opportunity for Naples Garden Club to expand the pool of available judges. And expand we did! NGC had 25 students attending, including 5 Provisionals, 2 first-year Actives and 6 Board Members. Other clubs represented were Calusa, Gulf Coast and St. Augustine.
Course 1 included Flower Show Procedure taught by Dale DeFeo, a 5-star National Garden Clubs, Inc. member, holding Master status in Flower Show, Landscape Design, Gardening Study and Environmental Studies schools. Horticulture was taught by Jan Griffin, State Flower Show School Chairman and Board Vice President of Florida Flower Show Judges (FFSJ). Naples Garden Club member Kathleen Hawryluk, a nationally certified FSS Instructor and State Flower Show Chair, presented the Design segment. Sessions were a mix of lectures, discussion and judging practice, using Mass and Line Designs and Fern and Kalanchoe horticulture exhibits.
Sondra Quinn served as Chairman of the School, Louella McAloose acted as Registrar/Treasurer, Gail Pica was Proctor and Mary Pulick graciously prepared and served breakfast and lunch. Raynelle Perkins provided all the horticultural exhibits and chaired the staging. Judges Renee Lewis, Mary Pulick, Melinda Earle, Lydia Galton and Catherine Ware and students Jane Gregory and Raynelle Perkins brought designs that were used for both presentation and judging
Course 2 will be held on April 4-6, 2018. Penny Decker will teach Design (Petites and Table Design) and Marie Harrison will serve as the Flower Show Procedure and Horticulture (Bromeliads and Coleus) Instructor. Look for the new brochure on the Naples Garden Club website in January and plan to come to Course 2.
~by Sondra Quinn