A National Garden Club Award for Us!

You couldn't ask for a better spot to photograph butterflies than our Freedom Butterfly Garden.  And the National Garden Club agrees!  Our club won a National Garden Club Award for best video in the Environmental Category of President's Projects.  Turn on your speakers and click the image below to see the video, Dancing with Butterflies.   Do plan a visit to Alpine Groves Park.  With a camera and a little patience, you too can Dance with Butterflies!

Dancing With Butterflies

Two FFGC Awards for Us!

We are happy to announce that our club won two awards from the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs this year:

• Best Club Website:  and you are reading it RIGHT NOW!
• Best Digital Photography (Other Plants)

The winning photos are below.

Beebalm

Chickasaw Plum

Indian Blanket

Ironweed

Passion Flower

Sarah Bailey Honored as Miss Aggie 2016

The Mandarin Museum Historical Society honored our long-time Switzerland Garden Club Member, Sarah Bailey, with their Miss Aggie 2016 Award.   Several of our members were able to attend the ceremony on March 5 at the Mandarin Store.  Enjoy the photos of the event! 

Sarah was the center of much-deserved attention, and not one to rest on her laurels, she proceeded to show us a map of the waterways in St. Johns County and explain how important it is to keep the Julington-Durbin Creek wetlands pristine and undisturbed.  If you have never been to the Julington-Durbin Preserve, click the link to see what it has to offer residents by way of recreation and how important it is to preserving our local environment.  At the end of this post is an excerpt is from the Mandarin Museum Historical Society's March 2016 newsletter highlighting Sarah Bailey's work and accomplishments.

From the Mandarin Museum Historical Society March 2016 Newsletter:

We are very pleased to honor long-time Julington Creek resident, Sarah Bailey, as our 2016 recipient of the Miss Aggie Award. Sarah has been an active member and leader in this community for decades and has made an impact that is hard to measure. She has touched many lives.

As you probably know, the "Miss Aggie Award" is presented to a female who has contributed to the community of Mandarin in the areas of business, civic, educational or charitable accomplishment. MMHS presents an annual award  in honor of Agnes Jones, Mandarin's Postmistress from 1928-1964.

Few people know and live Mandarin history like Sarah Bailey. For more than 55 years Sarah has owned Needmore Land & Cattle Company on Bishop Estates Road, and from from the late 1960s to the early 1980s she and her husband John hosted the regional Girl Scout Day Camp at their ranch. During her years as a St. Johns County Commissioner, 1982-94, she served on regional Jacksonville-based infrastructure committees, always emphasizing natural resource protection and the cultural history shared between Mandarin and Northwest St. Johns County. She is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Mandarin Museum & Historical Society, and has offered leadership and dedication to the Environmental Education Resource Council. She is an authority on the history of Mandarin, Julington Creek and Fruit Cove.