The Garden Club of Mountain Lakes

GCML: 2026-27 Membership

Indicate your interest areas: Please choose a minimum of three (3) areas of interest from among the opportunities listed below. All members’ interests, current roles, past responsibilities, and potential for future leadership positions will be considered when determining roles for the coming year. All active/provisional members are required to participate in club programs and projects. You will not necessarily be assigned to EVERY role/committee in which you express interest; please provide a few options. Please review your selections and be sure that you have indicated a minimum of three (3) areas of interest. Thank you.

Positions

Indicate whether you would like to be considered for one of these positions. These jobs are done independently, in coordination with other members as needed.
Positions

Projects & Committees

Indicate any committee(s) you would be interested in serving on as a member or as Chair/Co-Chair, if the chair is open.
Borough Gardens: Chair, Laura Stuss
The Chair coordinates and supports the individual garden leads and acts as a liaison to the DPW and the borough.
Communications: Chair, open
The Communications Chair manages member communications and publishes BuddingNews & Spotlight. The Website/System Administrator manages and maintains the club website, member database, event registrations, and software systems. Committee members may have specific responsibilities in other the areas listed above.
Critter Tree: Chair, Margie Peacock
The Critter Tree committee coordinates the display of the tree in the ML Library during the holiday season.
Drumthwacket: Chair, Nancy Bigelsen
The Drumthwacket team plans and executes our club’s portion of the annual holiday decor at the NJ Governor’s mansion.
Floral Design: Chair, Katja van der Loo
The Floral committee provides flower arrangements for club meetings, hostess arrangements for special events, leads the Holiday Greens Workshop project, and provides floral pieces for any special projects or occasions as needed.
Flower Arranging Workshops: Chair, Cindy Shaw
The Flower Arranging Workshops committee provides technical instruction in floral design principles and practice through a series of workshops based on designs in the Handbook for Flower Shows.
Flower Show: Chair, Cindy Shaw
The Flower Show committee organizes and presents a flower show. A Flower Show is a formal exhibit and competition in floral design and horticulture, presented in accordance with the structure specified by the National Garden Clubs, Inc.
Garden Therapy: Chair, open
This program is offered at Victoria Mews Assisted Living in Boonton, in which garden club volunteers lead and assist residents in a floral/garden-related therapeutic recreational workshop.
Holiday Greens Cutting: Chair, open
Chair/CoChair identifies potential sites for greens-cutting for the holiday greens workshop. They lead the greens-cutting team in gathering greens, delivering them to the workshop site, and arranging for disposal of leftover materials.
Holiday Greens Workshop: Chair, open
The Holiday Greens Workshop Chair arranges for the venue and coordinates the activities of the committee in workshop set-up, hospitality, and clean-up.
Horticulture: Chair, Sue Marshall
The Horticulture Chair is responsible for developing Horticulture themes for club general meetings, and identifying individuals to discuss the theme at the meetings. Committee members coordinate with the Chair to define the themes and they support the effort by presenting the topic and/or bringing one or more specimens of the relevant horticulture to the meeting.
Hospitality: Chair, Peggy Galluzzi
The Hospitality Chair coordinates meeting hostesses who provide refreshments and set-up/clean-up at club general meetings and events. Committee members support hospitality at regular club meetings, and serve as hostesses at club events such as the annual luncheon meeting, the holiday greens workshop, and the holiday party.
Junior Nature Club: Chair, open
The JNC Chair coordinates with Wildwood School for participant registration; plans and leads JNC programs; and helps recruit JNC helpers to assist students during a JNC program(s).
Membership: Chair, Margo Gillespie
Chair/Co-Chair coordinates activities around recruitment and retention of new members and maintains our club’s membership data with the state Garden Club. Mentors are veteran members who team with a provisional member(s) to familiarize them with the club and support completion of their requirements for active membership.
Nominating: Chair, Gail Boertzel
The Nominating Chair recruits and develops a slate of candidates for club officer positions, as current officers’ terms expire. Nominating Committee members assist in these activities.
Photography Show: Co-Chairs, Jenn Apito & Roxanne Tavakkol
The Photography Show Chair manages and executes the club nature photography show, to be held in early March at Mountain Lakes High School. Committee members work with the Chair to execute the project.
Plant Sale: Co-Chairs, Janet Horst & Randy Shreve
The Plant Sale is the club’s primary fundraiser and involves myriad areas of responsibility and tasks necessary to plan and execute the event. Committee members will be deployed in accordance with their interests, skills, and availability. NOTE: All club members are required to donate plant material for the plant sale. In addition, all provisional members are required to work at the plant sale. These responsibilities are separate and apart from plant sale committee duties.
Programs: Chair, Marilyn Dowling
The Program Chair/Co-Chair coordinates the planning of the club’s meeting programs for the year. Committee members work together to develop the slate of programs, with each member taking responsibility for booking and managing one program/presenter, and introducing the program/presenter at one club meeting. Club Trip Coordinator plans the club’s field trip to a garden(s) of interest. The trip typically occurs annually in early June. AV/Tech Support troubleshoots and ensures that systems are operational for speaker presentations and zoom meetings.
Event Hostess
Indicate whether you’d like to host one of the club’s annual events in your home. Both our Hospitality and Floral Design teams provide support to event hostesses. Your job is simply to open your beautiful home!
Club Officers
Indicate whether you would be interested in serving as a club officer in the future. Checking one or more of these boxes lets current leadership know that you would like *to be considered* for a leadership role in the coming years. Officers are nominated by the Nominating committee and elected by the membership to two-year terms.
Dues for Active and Provisional members are $65/year.