NATIONAL GARDEN CLUBS INC. ANNOUNCES
2010 AWARD OF EXCELLENCE WINNERS

ST. LOUIS (May 26, 2010)—National Garden Clubs Inc. recently announced the winners of its highest honor: the national 2010 Award of Excellence competition. The winners, who were recognized at NGC’s annual convention May 16 in Atlanta, are: Sydney Eddison, a nationally known gardening expert, lecturer and author; Chris Pendleton, president and chief executive officer of the Edison & Ford Winter Estates; and Laura Turner Seydel, a national environmental activist and eco-living expert.

Sydney Eddison, of Newtown, Conn., has nearly 50 years of gardening experience. She has written and published several books on gardening, including her most recent memoir, “Gardening for a Lifetime: How to Garden Wiser as You Grow Older.” She also has penned over 100 articles on gardening for the New York Times, Fine Gardening and Horticulture Magazine.

Eddison has been a guest lecturer at the New York Botanic Garden and the Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, N.Y., as well as at conferences at Yale University, the University of Connecticut and the Chicago Botanic Garden. She also has served as a keynote speaker at myriad NGC affiliate events in New England and along the East Coast. Eddison’s personal garden has been featured on such television shows as “Martha Stewart Living,” and “The Victory Garden.” Eddison’s nomination was sponsored by the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut, Inc.

Chris Pendleton, whose vision for the site of the winter homes of American inventor Thomas A. Edison and automobile industrialist Henry Ford at the Edison & Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, Fla., included the restoration of the estates’ gardens and historic buildings, was integral to securing funding from local, state and federal agencies, foundations and private donors for preservation of the site, as well as in the development of new visitor amenities, classrooms and public gardens.

The Edison & Ford Winter Estates is one of the 10th most visited historic home sites in America attracting more than 200,000 visitors annually from all over the world.  Pendleton’s career includes managing museums, gardens, science and natural history centers in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Florida. Pendleton’s nomination was sponsored by the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs Inc.

Laura Turner Seydel is a noted conservationist and spearheads myriad environmental education and community initiatives. She serves as chairman of the “Captain Planet Foundation,” a nonprofit foundation that acts as a national educational conduit to provide funds to groups conducting environmental projects with elementary, middle and high-school students. The foundation is a partner program to “Captain Planet and the Planeteers,” a highly successful environmentally focused Saturday morning cartoon.

Turner Seydel is chairperson for Atlanta’s Zero Waste Zone, a recycling partnership and co-founder of Mothers & Others for Clean Air, which raises awareness about the link between asthma and air pollution. She also is co-founder of the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper Fund, an environmental advocacy group that works to raise public awareness of issues related to the Chattahoochee River and secure measurable improvements in its health.

Turner Seydel serves on a variety of boards for a number of leading Atlanta businesses and organizations as well as state and national groups. Turner Seydel is trustee of the Turner Foundation, a private family environmental grant-making foundation created in 1990. Turner Seydel’s nomination was sponsored by the Garden Club of Georgia, Inc.

National Garden Clubs Inc. (www.gardenclub.org) offers extensive educational resources and service projects including Habitat for Humanity Landscaping, Golden Days, Plant It Pink, Garden Therapy, Blue Star Memorials, school gardening initiatives for children, flower shows, and a host of civic beautification and improvement efforts. Founded in 1929 and headquartered in St. Louis, NGC has 200,000 members connected to a vast network of 6,300 local clubs, 50 state clubs, and a National Capital Area club, as well as a sizable group of international affiliates. NGC is the largest volunteer organization in the world.

Download Award of Excellence press release as WORD document.

Media contact: Patricia Binder, 636-441-0022, or Debra Finkel, 314-878-1213, Finkel & Binder Communications LLC, agent for National Garden Clubs Inc.