Bayou Vista Garden Club earns awards at convention

Bayou Vista Garden Club members, Donna Bucci and Jo Ann Ryan participated in the Louisiana Garden Club Federation, Inc. Annual Convention in Baton Rouge. The conference was held March 26-28 and was hosted by District 6 members at the Crowne Plaza hotel.
Members visited the amazing Imahara’s Botanical Gardens in St. Francisville. Walter Imahara, a third generation Japanese gardener, led the tour and showed examples of texture, form, line and pattern in landscape design. He also referred to areas of plant repetition and strongly defined shapes in the beds and plant material used. His collection included many unusual and rare specimens. Following the tour, members returned to the hotel for a buffet and fellowship to open the convention.
Members attended business meetings of the LGCF and Council meetings of the four National Garden Club Schools; Gardening Study, Landscape Design, Environmental Studies, and Flower Show Judges. Programs included “Gardens of the World” by Max Conrad, “The Once and Future State of Louisiana: How Garden Clubs Can Aid Conservation and Environmental Health” by Doug Daigle, and an address by Deep South Region Director Gloria Blake. Members were also treated to interesting and educational workshops on “Creating a Power Point Presentation” by Beth Erwin, “Man in the Maze Studio” by Kevin Murphy creating Ikebana flower designs, and ”What’s Bugging You” by Stacy Blomquist.
The culmination of the convention was the Awards Banquet where clubs received well deserved recognition for worthwhile community projects. The Bayou Vista Garden Club received several noteworthy awards and those awards will vie for Deep South Region Awards.