Chipley Garden Club recognized as top garden club in Florida

For their efforts in helping beautify their community, the Chipley Garden Club was recently presented the 2024 Garden Club of the Year award by the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs (FFGC).

The award is in recognition of a Florida garden club which exceeds all aspects of garden club activities and is considered the best of over 150 community-based garden clubs in the state of Florida.

“We are honored to be recognized for our hard work and are so proud to receive this award,”

Club President Gweneth Collins said. “In addition to these awards, many of our members have obtained Pollinator Garden Certification through the National Garden Club. Anyone interested in joining us, please call me for more information about the club – 850-260-4049. Come garden with us.”

Chipley Garden Club member Dania Barnes displays her quilt shown at 2024 Florida Federation of Garden Clubs Convention. [CONTRIBUTED]

FFGC holds an annual convention every spring to recognize the accomplishments of its clubs and consists of over 150 individual clubs and more than 10,000 members.

The Chipley Garden Club was also presented with other awards:

-Butterfly Conservation Award on behalf of the Deep South Garden Clubs, Inc. for outstanding work in the field of butterfly conservation and community involvement.

-Special Achievement on behalf of the FFGC for an informative video on agribusiness and agritourism created by Florida Panhandle Technical College under the direction of Glenda Wilson.

-Civic Beautification for the Yard of the Month Program sponsored by the City of Chipley.

Chipley Garden Club members Beth Watford, Juliet Sauls, Dorothy Odom and Jane Nendick attend the 2024 Florida Federation of Garden Clubs awards luncheon. [CONTRIBUTED]

-Arbor Day Celebration 2023 for recognition of January’s Florida Arbor Day and for the installation of a Southern Live Oak in memory of the late Ri McGlamery at Falling Waters State Park.

-Butterfly Conservation for the complete refurbishment and replanting of the Joyce Carter Memorial Butterfly Garden at Falling Waters State Park including new boardwalks, informational signs, new plants, mulch, and plant ID markers. This project also involved the local Boy Scouts.

-Mary S. Compton Award for Publicity for keeping our community informed of club activities through Washington County News, fosterfollynews.com, chipleybugle.com, and Facebook.

-2024 Tree Planting Award for planting over 1,751 trees in the area.

Chipley Mayor Tracy Andrews was on hand to present a letter of support from the City, congratulate the Club on its accomplishments, and express her appreciation for the Club’s work.