CGCI Past Presidents

Incorporated May 13, 1936, under name of California Garden Clubs, Inc.
Hosted the sixth annual meeting of National Council of State Garden Clubs, Inc..

Alice Eastwood Herbarium stated Life Membership Drive. Civic beautification stressed.

Travel restrictions prohibited annual meeting. Officers elected by mail. Tree planting urged.

Blue Star Memorial Highway program of NCSGC adopted and California Highways 40 and 99 were set aside for the placing of markers. First World Gardening effort.

Hosted Pacific Coast Region Meeting. Mrs. Leonard B. Slosson, Founder President elected president of NCSGC. State per capita dues increased 25 cents. Pygmy Forest acquisition adjoining Van Damme State Park in Mendocino County.

Junior Gardening program reactivated. Award to juniors for civic beautification. Hosted the annual convention of National Council of State Garden Clubs, Inc.

Achievement through Unity. State Bylaws underwent complete revision setting up Managing Board of Golden Gardens and providing for division of districts.

Supported State Chamber of Commerce program for Roadside Rests. First California 
Flower Arrangement Book published.

We Grow as We Give. Purchased bench for the sixty-acre (60) Abraham Lincoln Memorial Garden in Springfield, Illinois. Repository for files, records and state lending library books established at Los Angeles State and County Arboretum. First state yearbook since 1932 issued. Penny Pines reforestation program stressed. First CGCI Flower Show, with garden tour, held in conjunction with 1958 Convention, Hotel del Coronado, San Diego.

Togetherness - A Member For A Member - The Best Is Yet To Be. Adopted descriptive names instead of numbers for the 22 districts. Purchased Slosson Memorial Redwood Grove. First Landscape Design Series. First Flower Show at Judges Symposium.

A Better Tomorrow Through Gardening. First state Standard Junior Flower Show staged at annual convention. Per capita dues increased to 50 cents. Flower Show School Revolving Fund established. High School Gardener Units established. Hosted convention of National Council of State Garden Clubs, and convention of Pacific Region.

Step Through the Garden Gate. Brochures and history book published. Policy book and procedure kit for District Directors compiled. Flower Show and Junior Gardener policies established. Two Bird Sanctuaries dedicated.

Celebrate with Color. First Junior Gardening Manual published. Symposium Fund created.  Landscape Design Council formed. Procedure Manual for state conventions and board meetings compiled. Bylaws amended to change terms of offices to two-year terms.

We Shall Make The Land Sing With Living Color. First Pacific Region Conference for Landscape Design Critics. Radio and TV booklet compiled.

Pathway to Beauty. Permanent Files reorganized and indexed. Tax change to 501 (c) (3).  Memorial donations established. CGCI Pins and charm adopted. New CGCI banner. Pygmy Forest honoring Charlotte Hoak dedicated and donated to State of California as part of state park system.

Together - Learn More - Do More. Handbook for Youth Leaders compiled. Poppy Preserve established in Antelope Valley. Anza-Borrego Project adopted. CGCI Flower Show held.  Sempervirens Fund Project approved.

Keep the Dream of a Clean, Green Beautiful State. Stressed education, conservation, horticulture with home gardening, native flora and tree planting. CGCI emblem seals produced. Green Conservation and Gold Honor Books established. Native Flora booklets distributed.

Create - Conserve - Commend the Beautiful. Environmental workshop sponsored by Standard Oil, Shell Oil Companies and the U.S. Forest Service. Library named “Alice Hilton Memorial Library.” CGCI Membership pamphlet. CGCI President’s pin designed. CGCI Flower Show held.

Growing with Gardening. Dedication of ten-acre (10) Conservation Education Redwood Grove.  Sixty (60) acres of native azaleas known as Stagecoach Hill adopted as conservation project.

Showing Ever Growing Concern For All Things - All People. Presented Golden Circle of Trees to National Council honoring its 50th anniversary.

Commitment + Action = Progress. Permanent quarters for files established at C.S.U. at Long Beach, First Historical Preservation Landscape Design Conference. May Belle Brendel scholarship established. FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY of CGCI celebrated.

Creativity, Gardening, Conservation, Involvement. Added sister club in San Salvador and twin club in England. New life membership and district director pins. Yearbook changed to computer typesetting.  Hosted 1984 Pacific Region Convention.

Perspectives In Place. One-year presidency bringing CGCI in line with NCSGC. Published bird book, Wings Over Our Gardens. EE Penny Pines Conference. EE Youth Workshop at SCION. Major revision of bylaws completed. CGCI Flower Show held.

Cherish the Land. First Wildflower Conference held. Area Groups formed for Gardening Study Consultants. By-Way marker at historic Santa Maria Inn, site of Celebration of our Beginning board meeting. Civic Development Conference. New Policy book printed.

A Fresh Wind Blowing. Statewide liability insurance policy established. Plant societies accepted into full club membership. Manual prepared to help organize new clubs. CGCI roadside recognition signs were developed. Grants established for partial funding of new educational schools.

For Everything There Is A Season. Watsonville Earthquake Fund established. Adopted California Hall-of-Flowers. Cosumnes River Preserve. The Friendship Garden. National Garden Week Proclamation. First Solid Waste Conference. Gardening Study Course Seminar established.

Color California Beautiful. Celebrated 60th Anniversary with a History Book. Floriade Tour to Holland and France contributed to the $10,000 gift for the Mendocino Coast Botanical Goodwin) Garden. Hosted Pacific Region Convention. First Yearbook and Pamphlet by the Landscape Design Critics Council. New Logo watches and signs for clubs.

The Challenge - Expanding Our Horizons. Landscape Design Conference held in the wine country, Wildflower Conference in Death Valley. Permanent files removed from C.S.U. Long Beach. Revision of financial system. Fifty-year member certificates awarded. Handbook For Youth Leaders reprinted. 22% increase in membership.

Share, Care and Enjoy. Established mutually beneficial relationship with Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden which was initiated with a state project. Organized first Landscape Design Conference in conjunction with a state convention. Started Environmental Study School Courses. Increased computer use for state business. Compiled procedure book for garden club presidents. Continued to increase membership.

Our Garden Path to the Future. CGCI Flower Show held. Hosted 1999 Pacific Region Convention using PETALS grant for UC Davis program. Supported Conejo Valley Botanic Garden. Supported the National Garden and purchased a paver. CGCI website created. Ten-acre (10) Conservation Education Redwood Grove dedicated.

Communication, Commitment, Concern - Bridges for Growth. CGCI Flower Show at 2000 San Francisco Home & Garden Show. Hosted 2000 NCSGC Convention with International Flower Show, San Diego. President's Project, California Living Museum, Bakersfield, received PETALS grant. Purchased paver at National Garden, Washington, D.C. honoring California youth. 95 youth groups. Free website donated.

Ideas for Progress. CGCI Flower Show at 2001 San Francisco Flower and Garden Show.  President's Project, The Gardens at Heather Farm, received $1,000  PETALS grant. Violet N. Gose Trophy for greatest increase in state membership. $1,000 from PETALS for best state participation in PETALS projects. Refurbished nine Blue Star Memorial Markers. Published Youth Manual. Added 28 clubs, 2,300 members.

On the Wheels of a Dream. President's Project, Garden Restoration at Hearst Castle raised $21,000. Two garden/theatre trips - New York, London. Design tour 2003 Flowers for Each Hour of the Day, combined design/horticulture tour 2005 Butterflies. Hosted Waterwise Tour for NGC. District Clusters for fund-raising events and presidential visits, Cabinet for better communication with members. Tested Golden Gardens in color with new format.

Garden Club: A Natural Place to Grow. President’s Project – Trail of Trees at Conejo Valley Botanic Garden – raised $31,500. Offered parliamentary workshops at each state meeting; 3 Tri-refreshers; NGC award-winning, full-color 3-ring binder yearbook; partnership with Principal Financial Group funding $2,000 of Blue Star grants and membership cards; 21 Blue Star dedications; 6’x2’ vinyl banners expanded to clubs, districts, councils, etc; The Diamond Years, a 75-Year History of CGCI, 75 Years of Inspiration from Golden Gardens, and Installation Ideas, Vol. III produced.