Youth Committee Chair 2024-2025: Jeannette Michelson
Youth Committee
The Youth Committee of the Garden Club of LBI meets several times a year from October through May with children from the community at the Ocean County Library in Surf City. Children in grades three to six are welcome to attend. Garden Club members instruct the children in gardening techniques, flower arranging and environmental topics that are especially relevant to coastal areas. The activities vary by season and holidays but fun is always included!
Garden Club of LBI Floral Program for Local Girl Scout Troop – April 2025
Photos by Jeannette Michelson (click on images to enlarge)
Submitted by Jeannette Michelson
The Garden Club of LBI Youth Committee co-chairs Ginny Scarlatelli and Jeannette Michelson, conducted a floral design program on Tuesday April 15, 2025 with Girl Scout Troop 60165 of Stafford Township.
Troop Leader Sarah Creutzinger, and the third grade girls, were introduced to different types of floral arrangements such as traditional mass design, minimal line design and striking underwater design.
The Garden Club then provided the troop with all the material necessary to make a lovely spring time traditional mass design. The yellow bee -embossed containers were filled with bright white daisies, pink-tipped mums, yellow button mums and finished off with baby’s breath and greens.The bees on the container sparked a discussion about the importance of pollinators and the importance of planting native flowers to support them. The young Girl Scout floral designers went home with “Bee-Friendly Wildflower Seeds” and a beautiful spring floral arrangement to grace their holiday table compliments of the the Garden Club of LBI.
Welcome Splendid Spring! – March 2025
Photos by Jeannette Michelson (click on images to enlarge)
Submitted by Jeannette Michelson
Jeannette Michelson, co-chair of the Youth Committee of the Garden Club of LBI asked the youth group, “Tomorrow is the first day of Spring. What do we think about that?” There was an unanimous, ”Yay!” This kicked off The Garden Club of LBI Youth Committee meeting Wednesday, March 19, 2025 at the Ocean County Library-LBI Branch with local students grades 3-6. The importance of pollinators – bees, butterflies, moths, birds- for our food supply was discussed along with the need to provide the pollinators with habitat to ensure they can continue their vital work.
The young floral designers, lead by co-chairs Ginny Scarlatelli and Jeannette Michelson along with members Pauline Gertzen and Paula Cofone, then proceeded to make a “Splendid Spring “ arrangement.
Cheerful yellow, honey-bee embossed containers were filled with local greens and heather, white spider mums, daisies, orange safflowers and carnations and baby’s breath. A hand decorated cut-out butterfly pick topped off the arrangements. Each participant took home a beautiful and unique spring floral design.
The next meeting of the Youth Committee will be on Tuesday May 13, 2025, 3:30-4:45pm at the Ocean County Library -LBI Branch for grades 3-6. At this meeting participants will make an arrangement to display at The Garden Club of LBI’s Standard Flower Show Youth Division which will take place at LBIF Thursday May 15, 2025.
Happy Valentine’s Day from The GCLBI Youth Committee – January 2025
Photos by Jeannette Michelson (click on images to enlarge)
Submitted by Jeannette Michelson
The Youth Committee of the Garden Club of Long Beach Island met on Wednesday January 29th at the LBI branch of the OceanCounty Library to create a Valentine’s Day floral arrangement. The thirteen young floral designers were lead by co-chairs Ginny Scarlatelli and Jeannette Michelson, along with Garden Club members Paula Cofone and Pauline Gertzen.
The heart-embossed (with two or three hearts painted red) galvanized containers were first filled with greens which included a delicate eucalyptus, local euonymus and cedar. Since Victorian times, the colors of flowers given on Valentine’s Day were assigned a special meaning. The scarlet carnations symbolized love, the pink alstroemerias happiness and the white mini-carnations and baby’s breath innocence and purity. A cherubic pink Cupid was decorated and placed on a pick to finish the design.
The next Youth Committee meeting will be on March19, 2025 3:30pm at the LBI branch the Ocean County Library.
Youth Committee Thanksgiving Flower Power- November 2024
Photos by Jeannette Michelson (click on images to enlarge)
Submitted by Jeannette Michelson
Did you know that the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in 1923 did not feature any giant balloons but it did have animals from the Central Park Zoo march down Broadway? The famous balloons were introduced in 1927 and did you know they were then released into the sky after the parade? It’s also true that Snoopy was the most featured balloon in the parade’s history and there was no turkey served at the first Thanksgiving. Area students in grades 3-6 learned all this and more when the Youth Committee of the Garden Club of Long Beach Island met on Wednesday November 20, 2024 at the LBI branch of the Ocean County Library-Surf City to create a harvest floral arrangement for Thanksgiving.
The group, lead by co-chairs Ginny Scarlatelli and Jeannette Michelson along with members Paul Cofone and Pauline Gertzen, guided the students with their designs. Local greens which included euonymus, juniper and bayberry, formed the foundation of the arrangements. Next came yellow alstroemerias, creamy white carnations and goldenrod. Small, colorful peppers and Brussel sprouts were also incorporated into the harvest arrangements. Cut-out hand-decorated, goggly-eyed turkeys topped the designs. Each child went home with a unique and festive Thanksgiving arrangement to grace the family holiday table.
Shine On Harvest Moon Flowers! October 2024
Photos by Jeannette Michelson (click on images to enlarge)
Submitted by Jeannette Michelson
The Youth Committee of the Garden Club of LBI, lead by co-chairs Jeannette Michelson and Ginny Scarlatelli, along with members Paula Cofone and Pauline Gertzen, met at the Surf City library with local 3rd-6th graders on Wednesday October 2, 2024 to create an autumnal harvest moon flower arrangement.
The harvest moon is a full moon that occurs near the autumnal equinox. It rises shortly after sunset to provide farmers with additional hours of bright moonlight to harvest their summer crops even as daylight hours become shorter. Farmers named it the “Harvest Moon” and that is how it is known today.
The young floral designers filled their decorative tomato tin containers with “moonlight bright “ autumnal flowers that featured sunflowers, yellow daisies, alstroemeria and LBI goldenrod. Local greens, flowing fall grasses ,and fragrant dried lavender filled in the arrangement. An orange paper-moon, with original “man in the moon” artwork, completed the design. After a rousing round of “Flower Bingo” each child took home his unique and beautiful floral arrangement.