NATIONAL CAPITAL AREA GARDEN CLUBS, INC.
Officers 2009-2011
MARY ELLEN ALDEN
President
Mary Ellen (M’Ellen to her family and friends) is a Michigan native and graduate of Michigan State University. She married her high school sweetheart, Michael, and they will celebrate their fiftieth Wedding Anniversary this June. The Aldens have lived at nine different duty stations over the 25 years of Michael’s naval career. While stationed in Hawaii in 1971 Mary Ellen became interested in flower arranging through her church Altar Guild. She continued flower arranging when she came to Virginia through the Altar Guild of Truro Church. A neighbor invited her to join the Fairfax Ferns Garden Club. Eventually she also joined the Five Hills Garden Club of Vienna, Virginia. She held various offices in both garden clubs.
Mary Ellen was Director of NCAGC, Inc. District III from April 1993 through April 1995. She served as Flower Show School Chairman from November 1995 through the Spring of 2001. Other NCAGC, Inc. board positions held by Mary Ellen are Hospitality Chairman, Chairman of the Council of Accredited Flower Show Judges, Second Vice President/Awards and First Vice President/Membership.
Mary Ellen is an Accredited Landscape Consultant and a Master Flower Show Judge. The Judges Council presented the Medrith Striker Perpetual Award for the most Blue ribbons in Design and the Silver Trowel Horticulture Award for the most blue ribbons in Horticulture to Mary Ellen this past summer for the previous year, 2007. She is also a State Life Member and NCG, Inc. Life Member. Mary Ellen studies Ikebana, Sogetsu School under Joyce Overholtzer.
The Aldens have lived in Fairfax, Virginia since the fall of 1977 and chose to stay in Fairfax after her husband’s retirement from the Navy. The Alden garden is their hobby and joy. She provides the artistic concept and he the muscle, maintenance and execution. The front garden has been transformed by a professional landscape architect. The City of Fairfax VA presented a Community Residential Appearance Award to the Aldens in 2008. Azaleas, about sixty, are a spring delight. The sunny locations are devoted to roses and a high canopy of maples provides summer shade. The garden would not have evolved to its present state without all the knowledge learned through garden clubs, programs, schools and garden club plant exchanges.
VICKIE GODWIN
First Vice President
Being born in Washington, DC and growing up the National Capital Area, Vickie Godwin is a true native. The early years were in Merrifield, Virginia and in Arlington County, where she attended Washington-Lee High School and was a cheerleader for the Little Generals. Following graduation she attended the University of Maryland and transferred to Florida State where she graduated with a BS. Later she went to University of South Florida and earned her Master’s Degree at Texas A & I.
For 25 years she and her husband Stew moved around the world with their two sons, Dwight and Gary. They moved to such places as Germany, Taiwan and Iceland where Vickie taught school. The last assignment for her Army husband was at the Pentagon. This is where theydeclared that they “were home!”
When they moved to Fairfax Station, a neighbor delivered sticky buns to welcome them and invited Vickie to the Dominion Valley Garden Club; that was the beginning of Vickie’s gardening life. This lead to many offices held in the club, then on to the District, where she became the District II Director and was awarded the Award of Honor for “All Around Excellence.” At the State level she has held numerous positions. She is at the Master level in Garden Studies School and is a Master Consultant in the Environmental School as well as an Accredited Flower Show Judge. In 2006 she was the chairman for the Central Atlantic Regional Conference held in Reston, Virginia, “The Capital Stars” did shine! She has been a National Garden Club delegate since 1995 and is a “Life Member” of the NGC. Most recently she is serving as the NCAGC 2nd Vice President, Awards Chairman, the Central Atlantic Region Endangered Species Chairman and the Environmental Consultant’s Council Chairman for National Garden Clubs.
Vickie’s life is centered around her husband Stew, two Bichon Frises, Sam Angel and Bentley Sugar. She and her husband enjoy ballroom dancing and power boating on their boat the Champagne Toast. Vickie also enjoys tap dancing, yoga and dog agility with Sam. There are five grandchildren, one is a “Hoakie” and two others are looking forward to going to college next year. As First Vice President Vickie hopes to grow further with gardening experiences as well as growing the membership of the NCAGC garden clubs!
BABS McCLENDON
Second Vice President
Babs was raised by two lifelong gardeners from whom she caught the gardening bug early in life. It would be a cliché to say that she was born with dirt under her nails! Babs received her BA in education from Dunbarton College and another BA in Interior Design from Mount Vernon College. Her professional careers were as a school teacher, business computer saleswoman and interior designer. Prior to her retirement in 1995, she had owned and operated her own interior design firm for over 20 years.
When she and her husband, Harold, moved to Mount Vernon in 1992, she had her first opportunity to join a garden club. She is currently serving her 5th year as the President of Riverwood Garden Club in her community and is also a member of Yacht Haven Garden Club where she is now 1st Vice President. She has been District II Director and has served on the District II Board for eight years. As a member of the NCAGC Board for eight years, Babs has been Secretary, Membership Chairman and Historian. She has served on the Board of National Garden Clubs for six years where she currently is on the Membership Committee. Babs is a State Life Member and a NGC Life Member.
Through her experience as a member of a garden club, Babs has expanded her interests to include not only gardening and horticulture, but also flower arranging. At this time, she is a student judge and a member of NCAGC Judges Council.
DIANE REBA
Recording Secretary
Diane was born in Minnapolis, Minnisota and grew up in Iowa. Her mother had a knack for gardening and she acquired it growing up raising flowers and vegetables.
Diane became a nurse after graduating from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota in 1964. She joined the Army Nurse Corps and served in Viet Nam for a year where she met her husband, a physician. She has lived in Maryland for many years with a brief stay in Chicago when her husband took a position at The University of Chicago. While she was there she became a Master Gardener, joined the American Rose Society, the Iris Society and the Conifer Society. When she and her husband moved back to Maryland in 1997, they restored an 1881 house and put it on the National Register of Historic Places. She tries to keep her planting historical as well.
Diane joined the Seedling Garden Club in 2000 and has been President for the past two years.
MARY CORLEY
Treasurer
PAULA KNEPPER
Assistant Treasurer
Paula has been a member of the Woodley Gardens Garden Club since 2001. She has been President for two terms and has held a variety of other offices and committee chairs. She is currently Vice President of the Garden Consultants Council, and is the Newsletter Editor for both District IV and Landscape Design Council. She is also a Master Environmental Consultant. In addition to NCAGC activities, Paula is also an Montgomery County - Maryland National Capital Parks and Planning Commission Weed Warrior and a Montgomery County Master Gardener, where she is equally active.
Paula grew up in Ohio, but considers herself from Michigan, having earned a BA, MA, and PhD from Michigan State University while teaching Jr. High Math. For the next 35 years she worked in Washington, DC as a statistician, with the last 20 as Senior Statistician/Technical Advisor for the U.S. Department of Education. Paula has now retired and is able to devote herself to her real loves of nature and gardening (with a computer or three thrown in). But 'retired' is only a concept — she is busier now than when she %% as working, and enjoying it more.
CAROLYN CASEY KNEIPP
Arbor House Treasurer
DISTRICT DIRECTORS
2009-2011
David Healy
District I
David Healy grew up in North Central Kansas where his family was in the cattle and wheat businesses. His grandmothers both gardened but his father said he could farm another quarter section in the time it took to garden.
He is a member, and past president, of the Capitol Hill Garden Club where his interests have grown from culinary herbs and indoor forcing. He presently serves as logistics coordinator on the local committee for the WAFAUSA flower show on October 19, 2009.
Healy is an attorney in private practice. He is a graduate of the University of Kansas and Georgetown University Law Center. He has worked as a political reporter for a Scripps-Howard daily newspaper in South Florida, in government-guaranteed ship financing and government contracting, and as a flea market manager. He authored the first draft of the Eastern Market Real Property Asset Management and Outdoor Vending Act of 1998 which preserved Eastern Market as an urban food market.
He lives on Capitol Hill with his partner Bill Dean and four cats.
Joan Boudreau
District II
A St. Louis native, Joan and her husband, Frank, lived in California and New York before settling in Virginia. She attended St. Louis and George Mason Universities and has a BA in Psychology with graduate work in Guidance and Counseling. They have four children and eleven grandchildren, so many of her volunteer efforts have been family related: Girl Scout Leader, PTA Board Member, Neighborhood Civic Association Board, Plant Clinic Consultant at the Library, Religious Education Teacher and President of the Parish Advisory Board. After retiring from Arbor House, she now volunteers for the Literacy Council of Northern Virginia as an ESOL Tutor.
Her gardening activities began in New York after acquiring a house with an extensive garden. She joined the The Clarkstown Garden Club for advice and added a rose garden and grew enough tomatoes to feed the town. Her success with vegetables and roses in her sunny New York garden did not transfer well to her almost-all-shade Virginia garden. Today her garden has a pond, berried shrubs, native plants, herbs and evergreens with barely a rose in sight except for a hardy shrub type and has been certified by the National Wildlife Federation as an official Backyard Wildlife Habitat site. She is a past president of the Camelot Garden Club, the Beverley Hills Garden Club and the Landscape Design Council. She has served as Chairman of the Judges’ Council and is a member of the Gardening Consultants Council. She is a Master Flower Show Judge and a Master Landscape Design Consultant
Beyond the garden, she and her husband enjoy their many family activities, a couples book club and travel whenever time allows. Travel highlights have included individual trips with 6 of the grandchildren (5 to go) and a trip around the world to celebrate their 40th anniversary.
Ida Swiggett
District III
Ida was born and grew up in San Antonio, Texas. Her mother and grandmother were gardeners and she learned at an early age to appreciate growing plants from first planting zinnia seeds in her little plot in the garden.
Ida married her high school sweetheart, Jerry, and last year they celebrated their 45th anniversary. They have a daughter and a son and four grandchildren. Ida has BA and MA degrees in Psychology from the University of Houston at Clear Lake.
A job transfer brought them from the Houston Bay Area, where she was a member of the Clear Lake Forest Garden Club, to Washington, D.C. in 1990. They settled in McLean and Ida joined McLean Hamlet Garden Club to meet people in the neighborhood and to learn about gardening in this area.
As a member of her Garden Club Ida has served as President 5 times and held other offices and worked on numerous committees. She served on the board in District III as Civic Project Chairman from 1999-2001 and as District III Assistant Director 2007-2009. She served on the NCAGC board as Scholarship Chairman from 2005-2007.
Ida is grateful for all the outstanding people she has met through Garden Club and for all the friendship and knowledge they shared that has so enriched her life.
Bette L. Lewis
District IV
Bette Lewis has been interested in gardening since she was nine years old. As a youngster she always headed for her Aunt’s garden when visiting and the aunt picked up this signal and helped her plant her own flower garden, a few purple asters grown from seed. Bette continued to plant seeds and grow a flower garden wherever she landed. Her late husband was a career Air Force Officer so as they traveled to each new assignment, a new garden indigenous to the area was designed and planted. On occasion when living in base housing she was the recipient of the monthly garden award.
Upon retirement from her 37 years as a public school educator, Bette joined the Friends of Brookside Gardens and became a volunteer. There she met Barbara Conway who invited her to membership in the Seedling Garden Club. Bette enthusiastically embraced the activities and began to learn about floral design from Seedling’s experienced designers and Mary Corley, who was a guest presenter on more than one occasion. During Bette’s year as President of Seedling, the club held a Flower Show at Brookside Gardens to celebrate Seedling’s fiftieth anniversary. Bette lives in the Hillandale community of Silver Spring, MD and her garden has twice won the “Beautiful Hillandale” award.
Bette’s other love is Rotary International, another volunteer service organization. She will complete her year as Governor for district 7620 (Central Maryland and Washington, D. C.) representing 70 clubs and 2700 Rotarians on June 30, 2009.
