The mission of the Membership Chair, Beverly Metcalf, is to nurture the new class of 28 Provisionals, to help them grow as Naples Garden Club members so that they may contribute to the NGC and to the greater community. To that end, a special day has been planned for our twenty-eight new members to help them begin their new endeavor. (Click here to see the biographies of our new members).
On November 19, from 10:00 to noon, all of the Provisionals have been invited to the third annual Provisional Orientation meeting at the Naples Garden Club headquarters. The class will have the opportunity to bond with each other, meet many of the officers of the club in a small group setting, and learn how the organization operates. Linda Brown, President, Gail Duke, First Vice-President of Education/Program, Arlene Cluff, Second-Vice President/ House & Garden Tour Chair, Roberta Ross, Third Vice-President /Naples Flower Show Chair, Peggy Blackburn, Treasurer, and Beverly Metcalf, Membership Chair and moderator, will explain the workings of NGC including its history, workshops, Naples Flower Show, House & Garden Show, finances, informational sources and more. An updated Provisional Handbook will be provided to each new member.
Following the informational meeting, the class will proceed to the Windstar Room at the Naples Botanical Garden to share a box lunch with their new mentors. Linda Hyde, Mentor Chair, has decorated the boxes with clues to help each Provisional and Mentor find each other. Once the 28 new members and the 28 mentors work through the clues on their box lunches, the pairs will have time to get acquainted and learn about each other. The mentors will provide information, encouragement and a friendly face to the new members as they work through their Provisional year.
Beverly’s goal is to have all 28 new members complete their requirements and become Active members by April 2014. She wants all the new members to feel “a part of NGC, not set apart.” She hopes the class will “learn, be comfortable, have fun and eventually love the club as much as I do,” she said.
~by Beverly Metcalf, Membership Chair