Donations

Purpose: This committee awards grants for landscaping improvements by businesses, schools and public buildings. It is also responsible for awarding scholarships to students studying horticulture and related environmental fields. The committee often has two co-chairs.

 

How It Helps the Club: Donations are an important part of the Club’s mission which is to promote civic beautification, conserve natural resources, and encourage better horticultural practices. It is also a great way for the Club to demonstrate its value to the local community.

 

The Fun Part: Enabling organizations and people in the area to beautify the environment and helping students achieve their academic dreams is very rewarding. It is wonderful to see how excited people are when they hear they are getting a landscaping grant or a scholarship.

 

Environmental and Horticulture Reporters

Purpose: The reporters deliver a short talk before the main speaker at monthly meetings. The purpose is to educate and inform the membership about various horticultural, environmental and gardening topics. There are usually two committee chairs that alternate the reports each month.

 

How It Helps the Club: The reports keep members informed about topics that can help them be more successful gardeners, engage in better environmental practices and just learn interesting new facts.

 

The Fun Part: It’s really enjoyable getting to learn about new horticultural and environmental subjects and hearing positive feedback from club members.

 

Hospitality

Purpose: The Hospitality chairperson provides and prepares the coffee and tea and coordinates the volunteer hostesses who bring delicious snacks to each meeting. Members of the committee are also responsible for set up, clean up, and storage of appliances.

 

How It Helps the Club: Nothing says “welcome” better than a hot beverage and tasty morsel. This committee plays an important role in setting the tone for a warm and welcoming atmosphere and gathering around a table of homemade treats is a great way to get to know each other.

 

The Fun Part: You get to know and work with a small group of dedicated, upbeat, and fun-loving people.

 

Membership

Purpose: The Membership Chair tracks membership of the club. This includes greeting visiting guests and members at the monthly meetings, maintaining prepared name tags, recording guest information, collecting and keeping updated contact information for all members (both new and existing), announcing and helping collect annual dues, and planning holiday and spring luncheons.

 

How It Helps the Club: Keeping track of the membership is vital to the Club’s functioning as it enables the Club to communicate easily with everyone. The membership dues are an important part of the Club’s financial base.

 

The Fun Part: Being a part of the Membership committee is a unique opportunity to personally meet both guests and members of the club while working closely with the committees.

   

Newsletter

Purpose: This chairperson coordinates articles and photographs for the Club’s newsletter, which keeps members up-to-date on the Club’s events. It informs RDGC members about past and upcoming activities in a lively, informative and colorful way. The newsletter is delivered electronically twice a year.

 

How It Helps the Club: The benefit is being part of the information process which keeps all members interested and active in the Club.

 

The Fun Part: The fun part of this committee role is interacting with other members and sharing their wonderful experiences.

 

 

President

Purpose: The President has overall responsibility for managing the Club through the Board. The President sets the schedule for the yearly programs and events, organizes and conducts the monthly Board meetings, prepares agendas, acts as the liaison to the Rye Congregational Church and works with the Chairs of each committee to ensure the work is going smoothly.

 

How It Helps the Club: The President’s role is instrumental to the Club’s functions. The role provides a central point for organization and communication.

 

The Fun Part: The President has the opportunity to work with all the dedicated committee chairs and members, shape the direction of the Club, and participate in the activities that help the Club grow and thrive.

 

 

Programs

Purpose: The Programs committee researches and engages professional speakers to present information on their areas of expertise at the Club’s monthly meetings with the goal of offering delightful, informative talks to Club members and the public. This committee is often run by two co-chairs.

 

How It Helps the Club: Programs are the central monthly activity for the Club. The high-quality speakers and interesting, informative and fun topics help to attract new members and bring older members back.

 

The Fun Part:: The committee has the opportunity to meet lots of interesting people and explore a wide variety of topics. It's great to see how much people enjoy the speakers each month.

 

 

Projects

Purpose: The main job of this committee is to plant, water, and maintain six gardens throughout Rye. They consist of Rye Beach PO, Rye Safety Building, Rye Public Library, Town Planter at Rye Congregational Church, Tonis Common, and the Recycling Center. The committee chairperson coordinates the Club members who volunteer to water, weed and keep the gardens beautiful.

 

How It Helps the Club: This is the Club’s primary summer project and helps to maintain the Club’s presence in the community. The community responds with many “thank you’s” and much appreciation.

 

The Fun Part: Club members are great about volunteering to do a week independently at each site during the summer. Clean up and planting days are a lot of fun as members get together to bring beauty and color to the community. It’s a great way to share gardening tips and tricks with fellow gardening enthusiasts.

 

Publicity/Historian

Purpose: This committee informs the local press about RDGC’s events and activities, maintains the website, and keeps the Club’s photo archives. Committee members write and email short press releases to the local print and online media each month, and update the website by adding pictures and changing the text on an as-needed basis. The activities are usually split between two co-chairs.

 

How It Helps the Club: Publicity helps the Club expand its membership and bring visitors to its programs, greens, and plant sales. It helps to maintain the Club's presence in the community.

 

The Fun Part: This is a fun job to do with a co-chair and is a wonderful way to be involved in all the Club activities, get to know all the committee chairpeople, and feel an important part of helping the Club grow.

 

Secretary:  There are 2 positions – Corresponding Secretary and Recording Secretary

 

Corresponding Secretary

Purpose: The Corresponding Secretary writes welcome notes to new members, notes of condolence and get-well sentiments, thank you letters to vendors, and greeting cards to members who are ill or confined.

 

How It Helps the Club: The communications from the Corresponding Secretary play a key role by reaching out to Club members and recognizing business establishments in the Seacoast area who support the Club.

 

The Fun Part: This role can be rewarding by knowing that you have made someone happy or grateful that our Club was thinking of them. It also helps strengthen our ties to the local business community.

 

Recording Secretary

Purpose: The secretary takes minutes and writes them up for both the board and the general meeting each month.

 

How It Helps the Club: The minutes are the living memory of the Club and its activities. They provide a written history of the happenings and can be used for reference when needed.

 

The Fun Part: The job is fun because you get to be in on all the happenings of the organization and meet the really great workers of the club.

 

 

Treasurer

Purpose: The Treasurer is responsible for the planning and budgeting for the Club and maintaining the financial records. Current funds and those to be raised are accounted, categorized, documented, and reported to the Board and General Meetings.

 

How It Helps the Club: The Club benefits from membership dues, contributions, customer sales, and donations from the town and local businesses, so keeping track is very important to maintaining a sound financial footing and making sure the Club is complying with financial regulations and requirements.

 

The Fun Part: The Treasurer works closely with all of the other committee members to ensure the club's money is being collected and disbursed accurately which greatly contributes to the financial well-being and growth of the club

 

Ways and Means: Ways and Means are divided into two functions, Spring Plant Sale and Holiday Greens Workshop and Sale.

 

Holiday Greens Workshop and Sale

Purpose: This committee chairperson organizes the Club’s yearly Holiday Greens Workshop and Sale which includes coordinating donations and delivery of fresh greens and other natural materials, decorations, bows and items for the Holiday Treasures table. In addition, the chairperson provides posters and publicity and presides the day of the workshop and sale.

 

How It Helps the Club: Proceeds from the sale are instrumental in enabling the Club to present professional speakers, offer landscaping grants in the area and support student scholarships.

 

The Fun Part: Many members of the club participate in this activity, so it’s a wonderful opportunity to get to know more people. It’s a lot of fun to see all the creativity Club members bring to the workshop, and very rewarding to see how appreciative sale patrons are of the Club’s work.

 

Plant Sale

Purpose: The committee chairperson coordinates the preparation for RDGC’s annual Plant Sale by organizing plant digs at Club members’ houses, setting up the sale, and working with the Publicity committee to promote the event. Multiple members of the Club participate in the preparation and sale days. During sale days, the chairperson and committee members orchestrate the various activities: plants, treasures, raffle, bake sale and checkout.

 

How It Helps the Club: The Plant Sale is the club’s biggest yearly event. Sales usually exceeding $5,000 enable the club to sponsor scholarships, landscaping grants, and community gardens. As a community outreach effort, the sale helps us spread the message of beautifying our surroundings and increasing knowledge about plants and gardening.

 

The Fun Part: It is very gratifying to work with so many willing volunteers who come together to make the Plant Sale a success. The Sale has become a much-anticipated activity in the community. During the sale, we are always greeted by excited customers who are looking forward to enhancing their properties with shared treasures from our gardens.

 

 

Yearbook

Purpose: The chairperson’s function is to compile information about the Club including a list of current members and their contact information; a brief description of the programs, luncheons, and special events for the year with the times and locations; Club objectives; membership requirements; and a list of businesses that have supported our Plant Sale. It is customary for another member of the club to volunteer to help proofread the Yearbook.

 

How It Helps the Club: The Yearbook provides each member with easy access to a calendar of events for the year and contact information of other members all in one place. The small booklet is easily carried in one’s purse or pocket.

 

The Fun Part: The fun part about this role is the social interaction with the other board members and being able to attend the board meetings and have a vote. The job is easily done at New England Printing, with whom we have worked for several years, has a template of our Yearbook.