GARDEN CLUB OF OHIO INC
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE
Betty Cookendorfer

It is a great honor to be elected as your President for the 2009-2011 term and I am very excited about this wonderful opportunity.
Over the past four years while traveling around the state as Second Vice President and First Vice President, I have enjoyed meeting
many GCO garden club members and getting to know you better. I look forward to attending your District meetings and
commemorative occasions and becoming better acquainted with you over the next two years.

I especially want to thank Barbara May, National Garden Clubs President, for being at our GCO State Convention in Canton and for
the installation ceremony of officers for the next term. Barbara’s leadership and dedication over the last two years has been an
inspiration to garden club members across the Nation.

What a wonderful 81st Annual GCO Convention at Glenmoor Country Club in Canton and a special thank you to Deanna Stearns,
Convention Chair, and Carmie Devito, Convention Vice Chair, and their committee members for their planning and commitment to
make our annual convention a wonderful experience for everyone. It was fun, educational and very enjoyable. I hope those of you who
attended enjoyed the variety of programs and workshops offered and had a rewarding experience.

I want to announce the theme for my term of office as President for 2009-2011 – Bloom Where You Are Planted! Now one might say
– this is just a cliché of words, but to me it means much, much more. To me it means – How to make the most of your talents right
where you are.

When considering what I would write about for my first article as President, I had the opportunity to read the applications of students
applying to GCO for scholarship money to continue their education in the fields of Horticulture, Floriculture, Landscape Architecture,
Botany, Agronomy, Forestry, Conservation, Plant Pathology, Environmental Control, City Planning and Allied Subjects. These fields
of study encompass the goals and objectives that we have as an organization. And, by helping students with scholarship money to
aid them in continuing their education, we are planning for the future – to make our world a better place. I was able to draw my
inspiration from those students who will be our future.

I have a couple of stories that show how these students plan to carry out examples of Bloom Where You Are Planted!

Mary Lee Keppler tells about the summer that she worked for the Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati and for the first time, felt
as though she was contributing valuable skills and knowledge to the community. She worked in several areas of the center, helping
with grounds maintenance, compiling reports on class attendance and working in several of the neighborhood gardens around the
city. In Mary Lee’s words, “I enjoyed each piece equally, but especially looked forward to working with the children during the
“Summer Sprouts” program each week. The children involved come from low-income families who live in Over-the-Rhine, a stricken
community with very little infrastructure. To see the wonder on a child’s face when they bite into a tomato they have grown from seed
is indescribable.”

Mary Lee goes on to tell about a group of high school students who stopped at the garden and timidly asked if they could just stand
in the cornrows. These youth would not have the opportunities to dig in the soil, water plants or harvest without support from
community organizations who promote the love of gardening whether it be flowers, herbs or vegetables. Mary Lee plans to continue
her education and pursue a career in botanical education. She plans to teach children and the young at heart about gardening and
the positive benefits whether it be food for the table, beauty for the eyes or a very rewarding hobby!

My second story is about Allison Moscarillo who has decided to pursue a career as a chemical and environmental engineer at the
University of Toledo. Through her involvement with a campus – Student Environmental Activists, she decided to pursue a career that
would help our deteriorating environment. As a member of the University of Toledo Engineers Council, she is planning to implement
fundraising and awareness activities for climate control and improving the planet.

Allison has been a co-op student for Marathon Petroleum Company in Georgia as an environmental technician. Allison has learned a
great deal about the way terminals and refineries work to reduce pollution. Her goal after college is to work in the petroleum industry
to help improve emissions and doing research on alternative fuels and opportunities for transportation.

In Allison’s words, “From my experience with Marathon, I believe I am prepared for undertaking a career in environmental
engineering and I truly believe I can help to improve the oil industry. My ultimate goal is to feel that I have made a difference in this
world.”

My third story about Bloom Where You Are Planted! draws from us – our group of GCO members. For those of us trying to preserve
landscapes, historic buildings, traditional ways of life and the more ordinary places that figure into our community and personal
history - growth and inappropriate development are the greatest challenges. And we are confronting those challenges in every part of
the American landscape – from the opportunities to make our inner cities more livable, through more parks for people, all the way to
the remote places of inspiration that also need protection and are also under pressure from back country sprawl.

When I think of the special and ordinary places that give the world meaning, I think of the places that are in the words of author
Robert Michael Pyle, “…places of initiation where the borders between ourselves and other creatures break down, where the earth
gets under our nails and a sense of place gets under our skin.”

So we embrace the need to protect and celebrate the places where the world was changed and shaped – or the places that show us
what it was like “back then” and that help us remember our history. We want to be sure those personal places of history are there for
everyone to enjoy – every child in every community.

Continue to beautify your homes and communities, conserve energy, protect the environment and grow our membership in garden
clubs and in this great organization (Garden Club of Ohio) with enthusiasm. Thank you for what you do in your communities across
the state, and in your gardens. Your passion for place and your commitment to conservation and preservation are commendable.

In summary of the stories – we each have a distinct role to play to make a difference in our areas, across Ohio and our country. From
the work you are doing in your committees and garden clubs – to the students at college preparing to begin their careers – to the
leaders of our country addressing global issues – we each need to contribute our time and talents to the overall plan to improve our
environment, create green spaces and have clean, healthy air for future generations

Let me suggest that we harness our talents and energies to promote the love of gardening, education and preservation of our natural
resources.  Let us not only preserve the gardens and green space that we have but assist in creating new spaces through programs
such as Beautify Blight (a new program by incoming National President Renee Blaschke). Every community needs their own register
of gardens – places where we can all feel the touch of nature close to home and where we can all learn from the inspiration and
beauty of the natural world.

You care, as I do, about our common goals of responsible stewardship of our land, environmental issues and every aspect of
gardening through educational programs, horticulture and floriculture. I am very proud of the work you are doing in your garden clubs
and in your communities. I am honored to represent you as President - please join me the next two years as we each Bloom Where
You Are Planted!
Betty Cookendorfer President of Garden Club of Ohio 2009-2011
Bloom Where You Are Planted!