The Driftwood Garden Club planted a magnolia tree at the Gulf breeze City Hall for Arbor Day on January 19. The program began and ended with Presentation of Colors by Boy Scouts of America Troop 417. Tim Mulroy led scouts: 6th grader, Parker Van Tassel; 8th graders, Blair Edwards and Ryan Mulroy; and 5th grader, Sean Mulroy for this presentation..

The invocation was given Dr. Jerry Blacklaw, Pastor of Gulf Breeze Presbyterian Church and included remarks about the meaning of Arbor Day and ended with a prayer.

Pat Trachy, Driftwood Arbor Day Chairperson, gave the welcome. Trachy gave a brief review of how Arbor Day began.

"The idea for Arbor Day originally came from Nebraska because of the lack of trees there in the 1800s. A pioneer, J. Sterling Morton, who moved with his family into the Nebraska Territory in 1854 from Detroit, was responsible for starting Arbor Day," said Trachy. Morton and his wife were lovers of nature. On January 4, 1872, Morton first proposed a tree-planting holiday to be called "Arbor Day" at a meeting of the State Board of Agriculture. The date was set for April 10, 1872. Prizes were offered to counties and individuals for planting properly the largest number of trees on that day. It was estimated that more than one million trees were planted in Nebraska on the first Arbor Day.

Betty Archer Allen/Gulf Breeze News

The program continued with speakers Gulf Breeze Mayor Pro Tem C. V. (Clay) Ford, Jr. and Director of Parks and Recreation Ron Pulley who both spoke of the importance of replacing the trees and foliage since Hurricane Ivan and Dennis and importance that garden clubs play in that replacement.

Following the speaker Dot Morgan dedicated the Little Gem Magnolia tree in honor Gizilla Korose, a former member and president of the Driftwood Garden Club. Gizilla was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio and there she married John Korose. John worked with Newport Industries and they moved frequently. Their first visit to the Pensacola area was in 1941. They returned to the area in 1963 and lived in Gulf Breeze; first on Sunset Blvd. and then in the Ranchettes. Gizella enjoyed service to the community and was a leader wherever she lived. She was a president of the Women's Club in Bellaire, Texas when she lived there. Later she served as a president of The Woman's Club of Pensacola and also served as the Northwest Florida district director. In addition, she served as president of the District 1 Federation of Garden Clubs and was very active in both the Driftwood Garden Club in Gulf Breeze and the Camellia Garden Club in Pensacola. Gizilla and John had two sons; Robert who lives in Homestead Fla. and Richard who lives in Yula City, Calif. and two grandchildren. Robert and Richard gave her a surprise birthday celebration in Gulf Breeze on her 90th birthday shortly before her death.

Betty Archer Allen/Gulf Breeze News Navarre Lion's Cub President Ron Gurta presented ten camping tents to Scoutmaster Glen Ashby for the Navarre Boy Scout troop 401.

After the dedication Trachy and Dot Morgan did the honors of planting the tree. Arbor Day has now spread beyond the United States and is observed in many countries of the world. Morton, the founder of Arbor Day, not only advocated tree planting by individuals in his articles and editorials, but he also challenged civic organizations and groups to join in. The Driftwood Garden Club has met that challenge.

Archer Allen

Landscape Design Workshop

Navarre Garden Club's first public horticultural workshop in three years was a resounding success. On Saturday, January 27, 59 people attended the club sponsored Landscape Design Workshop. The workshop was provided free to the public at the Community Center. The speaker was Carol Simpson, owner of Carol Simpson's Landscape Design, a former master gardener, and 10-year employee of Garden Gate. She summarized the elements of art and principles of design then went on to lecture about how these are applied in landscape design. Interspersed throughout her instruction were charming stories from her family and her experiences throughout the years that made what could have been a dry topic highly entertaining, as well as educational. Simpson answered questions, even on some topics that she admits are not her forte.

Jeanne Blage, another garden club member, came along as a helper for Simpson. At the end of the workshop, Carol gave away two plants, courtesy of The Garden Gate, and a free landscape consultation at a value of $75.

Betty Lawson did an outstanding job of organizing this workshop; Dixie Pardue and her team: Linda Henderson, Susan Cook, Carolyn McLaughlin, Sandy Thompson and Joyce Horgan provided scrumptious refreshments; Lynn Wilson and Pam Johnson created an attractive display of Garden Club craft items for sale at the Ways and Means table; Carolyn Igo set up the registration table with membership information and gained a new member; Linda Henderson provided two lovely floral designs to decorate the registration table and the refreshment service; Libby Messenger helped Betty Lawson with plant sales; and Leona Hutchinson, Kay Harris, and Linda Marshall helped with set-up and/or cleanup. Joanne Connor even herded a couple of non members from the audience into an efficient chair folding and storage team. And finally, Connie Jones did a great job publicizing this event. The Arbor Day tree give-away was a help, of course, since we were able to distribute a large number of flyers there. The next Public Workshop will take place on March 10 at Insta-Too on Hwy. 98. The topic will be Water Features.

The Navarre Lion's Club

Navarre Lion's Cub President Ron Gurta presented 10 camping tents to Scoutmaster Glen Ashby for the Navarre Boy Scout troop 401. Lion's Cub is internationally recognized for helping the sight impaired through eye banks, research of eye diseases and the training and rehabilitation for the blind. Now they are doing the same for the hearing impaired. They collect, refurbish and distribute used eye glasses, hearing aids and cell phones. For information, call Ron Gurta at 936-8408.

Gulf Breeze Optimist Club

The Gulf Breeze Optimists Club awarded three checks at their weekly meeting, Friday, January 19. Marguerite Burr, President, presented a check for $2,000 to Jim Ogden for "Sports Ability" which provides athletic opportunities for 272 severely handicapped children. Their next event which includes running and field activates occurs March 30 at Navarre High School. The Unites States Marine Corps also assist and support the group.

Nina Cobia accepted a check for the Cody Foundation, named after her son who suffers from a rare form of muscular dystrophy called Duchenne's Disease. The award contributes to research in finding new medicines to aid victims of this disease.

Hank Shirah, Interim Director of Santa Rosa Kids' House, received a check to support their efforts to help abused children. The mission of this child protection agency is to "repair the child and his family."

Send emails to Betty Archer

Allen at betty@gulf breezenews.com or write to Talk of the Town at Gulf Breeze News P.O.

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"Talk of the Town" Mayor Pro Tem Clay Ford stands with members of the Driftwood Garden Club who dedicated a magnolia tree in honor of former member Gizilla Korose.