WHAT IS YOUR GIFT?

I spent much of yesterday in Seattle, meeting with the NW Federation of Dahlia Growers Executive Board. I always look forward to any block of time that allows me to spend time meeting and greeting fellow dahlia fanatics! I've written about the generosity of dahlia folks in the past, and each experience since then only serves to reinforce my original impressions of these people as incredibly giving to others who share their enthusiasm. From the moment I entered the room, I was "gifted" by the people in the room. First, there was Wendy Brant and her daughters. Wendy, Drew and the girls will be coming over from Kitsap County on March 3 to dedicate a whole day to the NCW Dahlia Society, covering a variety of topics that will help us to enhance our skills at raising and showing dahlias. After talking to Wendy for a few minutes, I ran into Al Kaas. Al is responsible for getting the latest edition of PSDA's Dahlias of Today out to members. He helped us out by bringing 25 copies of the booklet for our club, saving us the costs of postage and handling. After paying Al for the books, I looked up and there was Danielle Parshall, greeting me with a huge smile and warm welcome, making me feel like she was really happy to see me. I got a big hug from Bob Schroeder a bit later, and he confirmed that he and Terry will be coming over sometime this Summer to lead a workshop for us on staging and showing dahlias.

I was moving across the room, when NWFDG president Dick Parshall also greeted me warmly and chatted with me. He asked how my trip over the Cascades was, and we shared how it feels to get "home" again - for me, I always feel like I'm home when I get back to the Pacific Northwest, where I was born and spent most of my life - for Dick, it's the Eastern Washington and Northwestern Idaho regions, with the semi-arid desert climates and basalt cliffs and coulees.

As we got to the "Club Reports" section of the agenda, I took my turn, reporting on behalf of my club. I reported our tuber sales and show dates, upcoming workshops, and some changes in our awards, including the possibility of replacing trophies with medallions. I talked about the quilt that Beth Miracle and Debbie Koehnen are making for a raffle to raise money for the 2014 ADS Show. Many members spoke up, encouraging me to bring the quilt to a Federation meeting, or send out pictures, so their members would be able to see it and buy raffle tickets. Everyone was more than willing to do whatever they could to help us sell tickets for this fundraiser.

I also thanked the Federation for helping our club to become more professional and to acquire critical dahlia-growing knowledge and resources. As I sat down, Dick Porter, who was sitting in front of me, leaned back in his chair and asked me if we would like him and his Whatcom County club to donate some tubers to us this year, as he did last year. Of course, I said yes! Bernie Wilson, Dick Williams and Dick Porter were just wonderful to our club last year, donating some new introductions of their own tubers to us for our auction, which helped us raise a little money, and to increase our stock of award-winning show dahlias. Now, in 2012, we are once again being gifted with this opportunity.

During the break, a member of the Washington State Dahlia Society came back and offered to trade some medallions with us. Their club has used medallions for some time, and they have traded with over 60 clubs around the world. Viv Connell also came to talk to me about medallions, and offered to send me a list of names and addresses of medallion contacts. Also during the break, Rosemary Freeman stopped me to tell me how much she enjoyed reading this blog, and that she had shared it with others in the Federation. When I got back to my seat, Dick Porter stopped by again, and offered to come over and do a training on raising poms during one of our club meetings. Then Art Wuerth, show chairman for South Sound Dahlia Society, leaned over and told me that although he is not usually very outgoing, he would also be happy to come over to lead a training during one of our regular meetings.

WOW! Can you see how many times I was "gifted" during the course of one three-hour space in time? I have always believed that everyone has something to share, that we all have strengths or blessings that are unique. We have all heard people with extraordinary talents referred to as "gifted" - but the fact is, a "gift" is only a gift when it is shared. I love the idea of paying it forward - providing mentorship, support, time, labor, inspiration, enthusiasm, presence, encouragement, feedback - these are all things that I have received, both at this meeting and in my work with club members and others in my dahlia life. Having been so gifted, I hereby resolve to share what I have where it will serve the greater good, whenever possible. What do you do to turn your talents and blessings into "Gifts?"