Mrs. Greeley, the President of the Garden Club of Illinois, in her 
sweet, gentle way bade us welcome, and in her own words said — "The 
freedom of the gardens is yours ". It was her hearty welcome and that 
of the members of the Club which made us enjoy to the limit our 
delightful stay with this Founder Club. 
It was during this Annual Meeting that members more fully 
realized the great work that lies before us — " to stimulate the knowl- 
edge and love of Gardening", and we woke to the realization of the 
part the Garden Club must take in beautifying America. A resolu- 
tion was passed endorsing a National Victory Forest. 
The second day's meeting held in the open at Mrs. McCormick's 
made us wish to throw all business aside and simply dream under 
the shade of her wonderful trees or watch the sparkling sun-hght as it 
shone on the great Lake at the foot of the lawn. We reluctantly left 
Lake Forest and Winnetka unable to express in words our deep 
appreciation of the gracious hospitality accorded to this large company 
of visitors. A few of us had the added pleasure of visiting Lake 
Geneva, Wisconsin, before we were compelled to speed homeward. 
The winter meeting was held in New York in December, 1919, for 
the purpose of discussing the Questionnaire which had previously been 
sent to the Member Clubs. All were in favor of the Slides to be col- 
lected and lent to Member Clubs and of the Cards for Visiting Gardens 
and nearly all felt the dues should be increased to cover overhead 
expenses. The fight against the Sign Boards began at this meeting 
as well as a renewal of the attack on Quarantine No. 37. Mrs. Rhodes 
presented an interesting report on her work as Librarian. After 
luncheon Mr. George Pratt, Forest Commissioner of New York State, 
gave an interesting illustrated talk on the work accomplished by the 
Commission. 
The Club was asked at its Spring Meeting (March, 1920) by the 
Massachusetts Horticultural Society to co-operate with it and other 
organizations in protesting against Quarantine No. 37. It is gratify- 
ing to find that more and more the other organizations are turning 
to the Garden Club for assistance. 
The Garden Club of Orange and Dutchess Counties was our Host- 
ess in March when we heard from Mr. Wilson of the wondrous beauty 
of the Japanese Gardens. We have the happy memory of Mrs. Fair- 
child enjoying with us the hopitality of her Club, on that day. 
I have tried to tell you in a simple way the story of the Garden 
Club's seven years of work; in them we have ploughed the ground and 
sown the seed. In the coming years it must be cultivated by each 
and every one of us if we are to reap the harvest of fine gardening in 
this Country. 
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