Meetings, Programs and Events
2025-2026
- When: 8:45 a.m. Coffee Social, 9:00 a.m. Business Meeting, 10:00 a.m. Program
- Where: Chevy Chase Village Hall/AU Arboretum
- Program: Ransum Schutt, Assistant Director of Grounds Operation at AU Arboretum
Ransum Schutt will provide a tour or the Arboretum and talk about the history of the University and the grounds. Following the meeting, Ransom will give members a walking tour of the Arboretum.
Business Meeting and Program
- When: 8:45 a.m. coffee social, 9:00 a.m. business meeting, 10:00 a.m. program, 11:00 a.m. luncheon at the home of Leslie McKay
- Where: Chevy Chase Village Hall/the home of Leslie McKay
- Program: Kathy Jentz, editor and publisher of Washington Gardener Magazine
- When: 8:45 a.m. coffee social, 9:00 a.m. business meeting, 10:00 a.m. program
- Where: Chevy Chase Village Hall
- Program: Jeanne Ha, Owner of Park Florist
Jeanne Ha, esteemed floral designed inducted into the American Institute of Floral Designers, is the owner of Park Florist, one of the oldest florists in the Washington, D.C. Metro area. Jeanne will deonstrate her creative talents in making beautiful and timeless holiday wreaths. Her wreaths will be auctioned off after the workshop, and proceeds will go to the Club's administrative funds.
- When: 8:45 a.m. coffee and social, 9:00 a.m. meeting, 10:00 a.m. decorating
- Where: Chevy Chase Village Hall
- What: Annual decorating of the Village Hall, lead by Civics Committee
- When: 9:30 a.m. coffee and social, 10:00 a.m. meeting, 10:45 a.m. program
- Where: Chevy Chase Village Hall
- Program: Michael Gaige, Reading the Landscape Tree by Tree
Join ecologist Michael Gaige as we tour trees from the Potomac region and beyond to learn what they can tell us about landscape history, site conditions, and natural communities. We'll explore significant trees from Chevy Chase, D.C., and northern Virginia to consider history, culture, and both in-tree and local ecology.
Michael Gaige is an independent consulting ecologist whose work explores the intersecrtion of natural and cultural history using field evidence and archives to reconstruct land use history. Michael works with organizations and privae landowners on ecological inventories, historical ecology interpretation and conservation planning. Past clients have included the Yale School of Forestry, the Oak Spring Garden Foundation and George Washington's Mount Vernon estate. Michael currently teaches part time at Skidmore College and is writing a book about Wolf Trees as storybooks of America's landscape history.
- When: 8:45 a.m. coffee social, 9:00 a.m. business meeting, 10:00 a.m. program
- Where: Chevy Chase Village Hall
- Program: Jennifer Brown: Harvard University's Glass Flowers Collection
One of Harvard University's most famous treasures is the internationally acclaimed Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants, better known as the "Glass Flowers."
This exquisite collection was made by Czech glass artists Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka between 1886 and 1936. The Blaschkas produced 4,300 glass models that represent 780 plant species. The life-size models are remarkably accurate and were used in teaching botany to Harvard students.
Jennifer Brown, Collection Manager at the Harvard University Herbaria, will give a presentation on the remarkable glass flower models, share their history, and discuss recent work and behind-the-scenes information
- When: 8:45 a.m. coffee social, 9:00 a.m. business meeting, 10:00 a.m. program
- Where: Chevy Chase Village Hall
- Program: The Art of the Seed Start, Emily Sells and Hannah Sholder
This interactive presentation and workshop by Montgomery County's premier Urban Farmer, Emily Sells, and Community Organizer, Hannah Sholder of our partner organization, the Charles Koiner Conservancy for Urban Farming, will discuss the physical act of seed starting with the metaphorical understanding of this timeless activity. Emily and Hannah will share practical advice on starting seeds, while also integrating inspirational stories and lessons learned from grassroots community programs, like the Plant Exchange with the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County or the Urban Farmer Internships Program which has resulted in an on-school farmers market featuring healthy student-grown produce. Following Hannah's and Emily's talk, attendees will plant seeds for Koiner Farm and the REACH Hub Urban Farm in seed beds. GCCC members are also invited to visit Koiner Farm in May for a special GCCC volunteer morning.
- When: 8:45 a.m. coffee social, 9:00 a.m. business meeting, 10:00 a.m. program
- Where: Chevy Chase Village Hall
- Program: The Healthiest Food at Any Scale: the Gardens and Farms of the Future, Benjamin Friton, Director of the Reed Center
As Director of the Reed Center for the Ecosystem Reintegration, Ben resides on the 150+ acre land called Morning View Food Forest that serves as the headquarters for the Reed Center. The land is actively being transformed from what was once a conventional farming site to a beautifully diverse, increasingly densified and productive forested ecosystem. It is a hub for innovation, research, education, community-building and networking for all who wish to live in harmony with each other and with natural ecosystems, while building a future of abundance.
Ben will discuss how small spaces from urban front yards, the edges of a park, to large scale rural agriculture can be places to plant, grow and harvest, which densifies food quantity and quality and improves ecological outcomes. He will discuss how to use biomimicry to create sustainable and resilient communities by mimicking the natural ecosystems that thrive without the need for human interventions such as irrigation, fertilizers, and pesticides. Ben will also discuss the economic and social impact that diversified, ecological agro-ecosystems can have on people in the developed and developing world. After attending this presentaiton one will never look at space in the same way, allowing one to truly reimagine any space, and therefore, our future.
- When: 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
- Where: Chevy Chase Village Hall
- When: 8:45 a.m. coffee social, 9:00 a.m. business meeting, 10:00 a.m. program
- Where: Chevy Chase Village Hall
- Program: Nature Walking, Melanie Choukas-Bradley
Melanie Choukes-Bradley is a Washington, D.C. author and naturalist who leads field trips, tree tours and forest bathing walks for Nature Forward, the United States Botanic Garden, Smithsonian Associates, the Rock Creek Conservancy, the Nature Conservancy, Politics & Prose, Casey Trees, the Aspen Institute, the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies and other ogranizations. Melanie's newest book is Wild Walking - A Guide to Forst Bathing Through the Seasons (June 2024). Melanie will speak about "nature walking" and will present photos from Rock Creek and other local places while she shares with us the importance of time in nature and forest bathing. We will learn about forest bathing and how and where we can go to practice our own forest bathing. Books for signing and selling will be available. Melanie will also lead a walk, tour and forst bath at Tregaron Conservancy for members at a future date.