Membership: As of May 1998 the club had 121 members; in July, 133.

Workshops: Workshops on "Care and Division of Perennials' were held on March 21 at Harold Moline's and March 28 at Gloria Kingsly's home. At each session, volunteers were also requested to help with the potting plants in preparation for the annual plant sale.

Adopt-A-Highway Program: Cleanups of Route 197 were completed in March, June and November. Many bags of trash were collected.

Annual Plant Sale: April 25th at the parking lot between the Bowie High School and the Bowie Public Library.

Annual Club Picnic: The picnic was held on June 20th at the home of Phyllis LaBorwit. About 50  people attended. Shown in the picture (L to R) are: Barbara Perkins & Granddaughter Rose, Phyllis & Lou LaBorwit.

The officers and committee members as of June were as follows:

President: Kent Winterson
1st V.P.: Programs: Jesse Terres
2nd V.P.: Membership: Phyllis LaBorwit
3rd V.P.: Plant Exchange: Scott Felter
4th V.P.: Public Relations Pat Benson
Treasurer: Marianne Klatt
Secretary: Beverly M. Landymore
Field Trips: John McKenna
Historian / Library: Eleanor Leshinsky
Newsletter: Harold Moline
Gardening Information Services: Jonas Bassen
Sunshine: Jessie Smith
Social Activities: Betty Dodson
V.P. Special Projects: Kent Winterson

Garden Tours for June 27--28, 1998: The following members opened their gardens for tours -- Pat Cone, Gloria & Don Kinsley, Marianne Klatt, Kent Winterson, Phyllis LaBorwit, Pat Benson, Harold Moline.

Pat Cone in her Garden

Pat's Pond

B-CGC Scholarship: In October 1998, Club President Kent Winterson received a nice thank-you letter from Iris Mars, a Horticultural Science student and the University of Maryland, and current member of the club. She thanked the club for awarding her the club scholarship for 1998 and 1999. Iris graduated in 1999 with a degree in Horticultural Science. After graduating, she worked for a time as an intern at Longwood Gardens.

Holiday Party: The annual holiday party was held on December 13th at the St. Matthews United Methodist Church on Route 450, Bowie, MD. 

Some of the speakers during 1998 were:

• 1/27: Mr. Bob Carr, Owner of TLC, a custom lawn sprinkler and landscape lighting company.
• 2/24: Dr. Matthew Perry, Patuxent Wild Life Center -- "Projects Being Conducted at the Patuxent Wild Life Center to Protect Endangered Species"
• 3/30: Frank Reger -- "Spring Vegetable Gardening" and a video he and Jesse Terres made regarding cold frame gardening.
• 4/28: Bob Stewart, Prince Georges County Extension Agent -- "Succulents"
• 5/26: Charles Curtis; Anne Hariston-Strang, MD Dept. of Natural Resources; Bob Bunge, International Dark Sky Association -- "Introduction to Permaculture". Permaculture is a method of gardening that places less stress on our environment.
• 8/25: Paul Jung, Bowie's resident ornithologist -- "Birds in our Gardens"
• 9/29: Carol Barth -- slide lecture on "Bay Scapes"
• 10/27: Jesse Terres and Frank Reger conducted a question and answer session.
• 11/24: Tony Rodriquez, owner of the Great American Photo Lab. -- "Flower Photography"

BRAVA Donation: On January 26, 1999, the BCGC voted to donate $2,500 to the Bowie Regional Arts Vision Association (BRAVA) for construction of an auditorium next to the Bowie High School. The money was in support of the courtyard landscape, rather than to the general fund. The club voted to hold this donation in escrow until construction proceeded to the landscape stage. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on June 12, 1999. Shown here are Jessie Smith, Donna Hayward, and Al Golato.

Annual Plant Sale: The sale was held in April 24 at Belair Drive and Route 450 in front of the BowieHigh School.

Christmas In April: 1999 marked the first year for the garden club to participate in the C.I.A. program. Mary Kucharski was the Executive Director of the C.I. A. program in Prince George's County, MD. The program uses all volunteers who work together on the last Saturday in April to repair and renovate the homes of those who, due to age, disability and financial hardship cannot do the work themselves. The goal of the BCGC was to present each homeowner with a container planter. The recipients this year were Mrs. Diana Ramnarine and Mrs. Lillian Kidd of Bowie.

Christmas in April Program of Prince George's County, 1999.

Kent Winterson makes presentation to Mrs. Diana Ramnarine as Bowie Councilman, Bill Aleshire, looks on.

Kent Winterson presents a potted plant to Mrs. Lillian Kidd.

Birds & Blooms Daffodil Campaign: In response to an article in Birds & Blooms magazine in the fall of 1997, Harold Moline collected bulbs to donate to the Daffodil Garden which was being established in the Birds & Blooms visitor center. About 104 bulbs were donated to the garden. In May 1999, a letter was received from the director of Reiman Publications, thanking the club for their donation, and he enclosed this picture of one of the gardens as it appeared in 1999.

Birds & Blooms Subscriptions: On June 8th the club donated subscriptions for the magazine to three assisted living facilities in the Bowie/Crofton area. 

The Bowie-Crofton Garden Club Memorial Award: The Gene Fox Memorial Scholarship was revised and renamed on June 30, 1999. The revision states that the recipient was to be a resident of Prince George's or Anne Arundel Counties. Failing that possibility, the choice was to be made from in-state candidates only. The college was to be responsible for reporting the name and qualifications of the student recipient to the BCGC. The student award was supported through annual contributions made by the BCGC. The initial contribution was $500. The award was increased in 2001.

Annual Picnic:  The club's annual picnic was held July 17th at Allen Pond Park in Bowie, MD. About 50 people attended.

The officers and committee members as of June 1999 were as follows:

Memorial Bench: Money raised from the sale of books belonging to the late Joyce Pelletier was use to purchase a memorial bench for Acorn Hill Park. The bench was installed in September.

Adopt-A-Highway Program: Cleanups of Route 197 were completed on June 21, September 11 and November 6th. Many bags of trash were collected. A picnic to recognize volunteers was held on October 23, 1999 at the SHA site in Laurel.

Garden Tours: Tours of members gardens were held on October 2. These members showed their gardens: Dorothy Campbell,  Jesse Terres, Hans Hirschman, Kent Winterson, Marianne Klatt, and Harold Moline. Beverly Landymore volunteered to make signs for each of those yards.

A section of Kent Winterson's Garden

Jesse Terres and garden.

Membership: The membership in November was 89.

Holiday Party: The annual club holiday party was held on December 5th at St. Matthews Methodist Church, Bowie, MD.

Here's the hostess of the party, Pat Cone.

Wow, even Santa Claus made an appearance in civilian clothes. No, seriously it's only Glen Piatt with wife Susan.

Some of the speakers for 1999 were:

• 3/30: Roger Cole, Arbeck's Orchids -- "Orchids"
• 4/27: Bart Smith -- "BeeKeeping"
• 5/25: Bob Stewart -- "Pesticides"
• 6/29: Jim Walker, Bowie-Crofton Camera Club -- "Photographing Flowers in the Garden"
• 8/31: Jessie Smith and Donna Hayward -- "Pruning"
• 9/28: Kris Gasteiger, Gardener for the City of Bowie -- "Maintaining the City of Bowie Gardens"
• 10/26: Jesse Terres -- "The Tender Loving Care of Exhibition Chrysanthemums"
• 11/30: Pat Durkin -- "Butterfly Gardens"