Job Descriptions and Responsibilities

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Executive Officers | Meetings & Organizational Committee
Community Service Committees | Special Interest Committee

President
• Lead monthly meetings
• Prepare agenda and sign up sheets with input from officers & chair-people, after meeting tally individual sign-ups and distribute to the chair-people within 24 hours
• Organize/lead 3-4 board meetings per year to discuss concerns
• Arrange for meeting place for monthly meeting
• Give words of encouragement to members, chair-people, and officers, check in regularly with VP's to be sure everything is running smoothly,

President Elect-President in Training
• Lead monthly meeting in Presidents absence
• Attend 3-4 board meetings per year to and be sure that these committees are ready to report on their progress to discuss concerns
• Check with VP's to be sure club is functioning,
• Take care of special concerns in President’s absence.
• Organize nominating committee for the next year

Vice-President of Meetings & Organizational Committee
• Oversee M&O Committees which includes Hospitality & Refreshments, Membership, Mini Plant Sale, Newsletter Editor and Publisher, Plant of the Month, Programs, Audio/Visual Equipment, Publicity, Sunshine, Telephone, Yearbook, District Rep., Historian, & Horticulture Reports.
• Check in regularly with chair-people of various committees to be sure everything is running smoothly
• Attend 3-4 board meetings per year and be sure that the M&O committees are ready to report on their progress.
• Assist bringing chair-people into club in the VP of M&O area of responsibility
• Communicate any concerns to the President and/or board.

Vice-President of Community Service Committee
• Oversee C&S Committees which include Arbor Day, Camp Arroyo Garden, Community Outreach, County Fair, Penny Pines, Plant Sale in Spring, Pleasanton Senior Center, Sensory Gardens at Pleasanton Senior Center.
• Check in regularly with chair-people of various committees to be sure everything is running smoothly,
• attend a board meeting 3-4 board meetings per year and be sure that these committees are ready to report on their progress to discuss concerns
• Assist bringing chair-people into club in the VP of C&S area of responsibility
• Communicate any concerns to the President and/or board.

Vice-President of Special Interest Committee
• Oversee S&I Committees which include Herb Group, Floral Design, Member Garden Tour, Third Monday Lunch Bunch, Tomato Tasting, Tours, Wildflower Walks, and Workshops.
• Check in regularly with chair-people of various committees to be sure everything is running smoothly
• Attend 3-4 board meetings per year and be sure that these committees are ready to report on their progress to discuss concerns
• Assist bringing chair-people into club in the VP of S&I area of responsibility
• Communicate any concerns to the President and/or board.

Treasurer
• Responsible for accounting of all monies received and expended
• Lead budget work and report financial status to board members and club members at least once a year
• Attend 3-4 board meetings per year to discuss concerns,
• Lead the membership responsibilities
• Assure all insurance polices are current and apply for additional insured certificates as needed.

Recording Secretary
Responsible for keeping records of the meetings and votes of membership as requested by the President.

Corresponding Secretary
Secretarial duties such as sending cards to members or drafting memos to the community as requested by the President.

Meetings & Organizational Committee
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Audio Visual-Responsible for all electronic equipment at club meetings. This includes the microphone, slide projector, overhead projector and other equipment the speaker of members may require. The AV person should check in with the Program person to assure there is coverage. Attending all meetings and arriving early is essential.

District Representative-Attend monthly and special meeting at the Diablo Foothill District and report to President for communication to members. Monthly updates at meeting as needed.

Historian-Maintain club pictures and various items of interest for LAVGC

Horticulture Reports-Arrange for a monthly 10 minute presentation by a club member at the regular monthly meeting on a gardening topic of interest to LAVGC.

Hospitality/Refreshments-Responsible for the refreshments at the LAVGC monthly meetings. Uses the tally of the sign up sheets provided from the President to call those that volunteered to bring snacks one week before the meeting to assure snacks are at the monthly meeting. Responsible for transporting the water, coffee, or beverage to the monthly meeting.

Membership-Responsible for maintaining the badges of members and transporting to the LAVGC monthly meeting. Receives new members from the VP of M&O or Treasurer each month. Maintains sign up sheets in back, signing in new guests and making them feel welcome. Arrange for an annual new member gathering in the Fall.

Mini Plant Sale-Responsible for the sale of plants or special items brought to LAVGC monthly meeting. Makes announcement of special prices of items and sets prices.

Newsletter Editor-Prepares monthly newsletter from input provided by the 15th of each month from various officers and chair-people. Includes words of wisdom on planting time and special tours or dates important of garden interest. Sends to Newsletter Publisher for release.

Newsletter Publisher-Upon receipt of newsletter from the editor releases electronically or through regular mail on established dates. The newsletter e-mail list will only be used for the newsletter. Publisher refers special requests for electronic release to President.

Plant of the Month-Calls supporting nurseries or organizations that provide the Plant of the Month a few days before the monthly meeting and picks up for the give away at the end of the LAVGC business meeting.

Programs-Calls a Program organizing meeting in June to suggest possible speakers for the next LAVGC year. Researches possible speakers and makes recommendation for the 10 month year. Brings forward to the board for approval of speakers and funds. Upon approval makes arrangements with the speakers and any AV equipment needed. Organizes dinner with the speaker if desired. Contacts Treasurer requesting the speaker fees to be available the evening of the LAVGC meeting. Submits newsletter copy relating to the next month's speaker to the newsletter editor by the 15th of each month. After event, sends the speaker a thank you note. Maintains list of speakers for possible future meetings.

Publicity-Responsible for monthly notices sent to the local newspapers, Alden Lane or other communicating vehicles to make the public aware of club events. This may include publicity for the annual LAVGC Plant Sale.

Sunshine, Telephone- Secretarial duties such as sending cards to members that are in the hospital.

Yearbook-Update list of officers and chairs, members, by-laws in data base, descriptions of various functions within LAVGC, have the officers review for accuracy, request number of booklets from the treasurer, and when all text has been approved send to printer for reproduction.

Community Service Committees
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Arbor Day-In association with Alden Lane Nursery and the CA Association of Nurserymen provide education program to Pleasanton and Livermore schools. This consists of calling one meeting to train and assemble seedlings for distribution to schools and 7-10 different school presentations to approximately 120 second grade school children to explain why we have Arbor Day, the founders of this special day, the benefits of trees, how they help our environment, and a demonstration on the correct method of planting. This is usually in March in California.

Camp Arroyo Garden-Camp Arroyo is a service project for LAVGC. The Camp Arroyo garden is used to demonstrate vegetable gardening, composting, and various other outdoor education camps to various schools and the Taylor Foundation throughout the year.

Community Outreach-This chairperson works with the community to "encourage interest in all phases of home gardening and promote better horticulture practices."

County Fair Receiving-This committee person works with the county fair to assist individuals entering a flower, vegetable, or arrangement in entering the correct paperwork to display and have their item judged. Detailed job description available upon request. Usually a 3-5 day commitment at the fair. Free tickets to the fair are usually included.

County Fair Information Booth-This committee person works with the county fair in July to have individuals answer questions at the information booth. A shift schedule is set up for the duration of the fair and members are contacted to sign up. LAVGC is compensated for this position by the Alameda County.

County Fair Horticulture Advisor- This committee person works with the county fair in July to have individuals answer garden related questions at the information booth.

Penny Pines-This committee person passes around a box at each meeting. All funds collected are given to the treasurer to purchase trees for reforesting burned out National Forest Lands. Each donation of $68 enables a government program to re-plant one acre.

Plant Sale in spring-This committee should ideally be shared by two to three individuals. This is the largest fund raiser of the organization. This includes organizing a number of propagation workshops at different individual's homes in the fall to gather plants for the spring sale, arranging for tables, umbrellas, trucks for transport, clerks for marking plants, cashiers for taking the money, individuals for identifying the various plants to customers, clean up individuals, and much more. There are formal job descriptions and month to month planning steps available upon request.

Pleasanton Gardens-This is a LAVGC service project. The chairperson organizes a seasonal group of helpers to prune, dig, trim, and do general garden clean up at a local non-profit retirement facility.

Sensory Gardens-Pleasanton Senior Center-This is a LAVGC service project. The chairperson organizes a monthly group of helpers to prune, dig, trim, and do general garden clean up at some of the garden beds in Centennial Park behind the Pleasanton Senior Center.

Special Interest Committee
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Herb & Culinary Group- This committee chair organizes special herb related events for each month, where the event will take place, the individual in charge, how much the event will cost and all the necessary equipment and material required. Emails based on those that signed up from the monthly meeting sign up sheets are sent to everyone reminding them.

Floral Design- This committee chair organizes a plant arranging session each month, usually before the monthly meeting so we have flowers to display at the meeting.

Spring and Fall Garden Tours-This can be chaired by one or two individuals. We have a spring and fall tour if possible. The spring tour is a one day event, usually in May, of a tour of several members' gardens. Our fall garden tour is a two day event in conjunction with Alden Lane's Quilt in the Garden show. The fall garden tour is a fund raiser for LAVGC. The chair must arrange various gardens for members and none members to tour, provide Alden Lane with a list of homes, distribute the quilts, and after the event give a thank you gift for each member that opened their gardens.

Third Monday Lunch Bunch- This committee chair organizes lunch and a speaker on a garden related topic for the third Monday of each month. Emails are sent out based on the sign up sheet received from the President and money is collected for the lunches.

Tomato Tasting-This event is in September usually and involves the chair to open their home for members for a few hours to bring their favorite tomato and tomato dish. The tomato is rated according to taste and any other characteristics desired. A ranking form is used to determine 1st, 2nd and 3rd and prizes are awarded accordingly. A small write up before and after the event is sent to the newsletter publisher by the 15th of the month.

Tours- This committee can be completed by one or can be shared by two individuals. This position includes organizing tours in advance to give members the opportunity to plan ahead, arranging with the garden to be visited, preparing an announcement for the newsletter by the 15th of the month, collecting any costs required, organizing the driving route and meal arrangements.

Wildflower Walks-Wildflower walks are planned in advance by the chairperson, notices are released in the newsletter of the place, what to bring and what to expect.

Workshops- This committee can be completed by one or can be shared by two individuals. This position involved organizing a workshop, assembling the material, arranging for the workshops location and preparing an announcement for the newsletter by the 15th of the month. Any costs must be determined and collected in advance.

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