President's Welcome

President’s Message

Hello fellow gardeners!

It is with a deep sense of honor that I serve as the President of CFGC. This is a big job and I hope that I represent you well. I look forward to getting to know even more of our members and sharing gardening experiences and knowledge with each other. I look forward to visiting clubs at their meetings and events during my presidency. Visiting clubs is a highlight for me, as I love learning about each club and its members, and I have enjoyed visiting many of the clubs already!

To tell you a little about myself, I grew up on the east coast. We moved around a lot, but my extended family is from West Virginia, where my love for gardening started when I was a child, helping my family in the garden growing food that helped feed our family. I loved being in the garden, planting seeds that would soon grow into plants that graced our table. After graduation, I joined the Army, traveled the world, and met my husband, a Marine (don’t worry, I forgave him for that 😉). We have 3 daughters and sons-in-law, and 8 wonderful grandchildren. After my time in the military, I worked in many jobs related to training adults and implementing new technologies. I eventually started my own company of instructional designers, learning experience architects, software developers, and project/program managers, which I still run today. I enjoy learning new things, whether in the garden or on the computer.

I want to thank each and every member of CFGC, Inc. for the time, knowledge, and skills you have each donated to your garden clubs. Many have taken it a step further and extended that volunteerism to taking on officer and/or chair positions within your club, district, state, region or at the national level. At any of these levels, I know that it is often hard to carve out time from our busy schedules and I want you to know that I appreciate it! I always try to keep in mind that we are all volunteers. The officer and chair positions we fill are not jobs we are paid for with money. They are positions where volunteers graciously donate their time, knowledge, skills, and sometimes blood, sweat, and tears to help our organizations thrive! We could not do what we do without you. You are appreciated!

We had a big year as we hosted the National Garden Clubs, Inc.’s annual conference at the Westin in Broomfield, Colorado, the first week of June, 2024. It’s an exciting time with members sharing their time, knowledge, and skills with us. This conference highlighted Colorado and the Colorado Federation of Garden Clubs members. I'm so proud of our member's hard work to create a wonderful NGC conference! 

I appreciate those of you that volunteer your time and take on responsibilities in our organization. It takes all of us to make this organization thrive and grow. I look forward to working with you over the next two years to help expand our knowledge and share that knowledge with our members and the public.

Thank you for your time, your energy, and your talents. I hope that your gardens grow bountiful harvests!

Sincerely,

Victoria

Victoria Schmidt, CFGC President 2023-2025
Colorado Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc.​

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