For 43 years, the Garden Club of Bermuda has provided an annual scholarship to candidates wishing to pursue or continue their studies in floriculture, horticulture and allied fields, landscaping, or the environment.

To date, 91 recipients have benefited from the Club's financial support and encouragement, among them former Directors of Agriculture Edward Manuel and Dr. Walwyn Hughes, farmer Tom Wadson, environmentalist Stuart Hayward, Corporation of Hamilton parks superintendent Steven DeSilva, Bermuda Weather Service director Mark Guishard, Government plant protection officer Claire Jessey, Government conservation officer Jeremy Madeiros, Government Director of Parks Lisa Dawn Johnston, and Government waste education and enforcement officer Vanese Flood Gordon.

Last year, the Club divided its $25,000 scholarship allocation between five recipients, who are currently pursuing such diverse studies as environmental science, landscape design and architecture, sustainable development, golf course technique and management, and plant pathology.

Now applications are being welcomed for this year's awardees, for which the deadline is June 30. There is no age limit, but applicants must be Bermudian, and are requested to give an undertaking that they will return to the Island upon completion of their studies to exercise their newly-learned skills.

"The funds are available for persons seeking financial assistance to pursue educational opportunities in horticulture, landscaping, environmental studies, floriculture, or related subjects which will subsequently benefit Bermuda," scholarship chairman Mrs. Sally Godet says. "Each applicant is judged on merit."

Present and past recipients have pursued or are pursuing degrees in such countries as the United Kingdom, North America, and Australia, as well as by correspondence, and some of them have received the scholarship multiple times.

Many have returned to the Island to take up important posts in Government's environmental and parks departments.

Among them is the Corporation of Hamilton's superintendent of parks Steven DeSilva, who studied at the University of the West of England's Cannington College, in Bristol.

"The Garden Club scholarship was vital in helping me to study in England," he says. "I was a married man and a young father, so it was a major help which allowed me go off to college and obtain a serious qualification. I am grateful to the Garden Club big time."

Mr. DeSilva's first job on returning to the Island was at the Department of Parks, Agriculture and Fisheries, where he was a superintendent in the Parks section.

When the then-Corporation of Hamilton parks superintendent George Ogden retired, Mr. DeSilva was recruited to take his place, and he couldn't be happier.

"One gets satisfaction being able to come home and give back," he says. "I really feel that what I am doing now is a service to Bermuda. I care deeply about what I do here in Hamilton, and I think it is important to feel that you are giving something back."

Vanese Flood Gordon is another recipient who cares deeply about Bermuda, and "cannot sing the praises of the Garden Club enough".

As a mature student, she went to the University of Georgia to successfully study for her Master's degree in coral reef ecology, and says the scholarship, which was renewed annually for six years, was a "tremendous help".

"It was so nice to have it, and to know that, for an older student, there was someone out there who supported me. When you get the scholarship it is not just the money, it is the confidence that is expressed in you," Mrs. Gordon said. "The Garden Club members are so kind, and so interested in seeing Bermudians reach their goals and come back, who care about our environment.

"We are not going to make a lot of money but we are doing something we are passionate about. I would encourage anybody to go ahead and apply for a scholarship. It's about so much more than just gardening. The Garden Club covers all sorts of environmental issues. I cannot sing its praises enough."

Environmentalist Stuart Hayward's interest in living things began in boyhood, first with insects and then in growing corn and beans in his modest backyard plot. Girls and motorbikes distracted him until the 1970s when he took up subsistence farming in rural West Virginia, and later at a farming collective in North Carolina.

On returning home, Mr. Hayward became a Member of Parliament, and when that ended he decided it was a good time to pick up where he left off in his formal education.

"I had developed a reputation as an environmentalist, and was one of the leaders of the team which wrote and published the book, Bermuda's Delicate Balance'," he says. "The Garden Club scholarship was one of the few available for mature students doing post-graduate work. I mainly wanted to be a better advocate for the environment generally, and Bermuda's environment in particular."

The scholarship assisted Mr. Hayward in attending Antioch New England (ANE) Graduate School in Keene, New Hampshire, which had an accredited programme, accorded value to the work he had already done, and was within commuting distance of his Amherst, Massachusetts residence. He graduated in June, 1997 with a Master of Science degree in environmental studies.

"The scholarship was an enormous help, financially and psychologically," the environmentalist says. "While the amount was relatively small, it was enough to make a big difference. I still had to look for used textbooks, but I could buy books beyond the required list, and upgrade my primitive laptop computer. Getting support from a homeland source was highly healing after the feelings of rejection which inevitably accompany an election loss."

Upon graduating, Mr. Hayward was appointed as Antioch's first Diversity Advocate, and joined its adjunct faculty. He also worked as the database manager for EarthAction, the global environmental organisation, at its Amherst headquarters, all of which has been invaluable in his work as an environmentalist.

In fact, when asked what encouragement and advice he would give to a prospective Garden Club scholarship recipient, or a young person wishing to pursue a career in horticulture or an allied subject, Mr. Hayward says: "There aren't enough people who recognise the value of 'the environment', and are prepared to defend it. Become one, and you'll never be out of a job."

Plant protection officer at the Department of Environmental Protection, Claire Jessey, received her scholarship while studying for a biology degree at Dalhousie University.

"I really appreciated that the Garden Club was keen to support me in my studies, and I was extremely grateful for any help they could give me," she says.

Subsequently, Miss Jessey gained her post-graduate degree in entomology.

"Thankfully, I am able to continue my work on the environment, and I am happy to support the Garden Club now by giving lectures and helping them whenever I can."

Since 1945 the Garden Club has funded its scholarships through annual Open Houses and Gardens programmes, but since it has become increasingly difficult to find people willing to open their properties to the public, a major fund-raiser of another sort is being planned for November.

The Club was founded in 1921, and has done "all sorts of things" in its history, according to Sallie Godet, Scholarship Chairman.

"We are not a group of middle-aged flower arrangers, or people who lunch. We work very hard, and our members also take a variety of courses. We also give garden tours on request at $25 per visit. For further information see our website www.gardenclubbermuda.org"

For further information on the scholarships and the requirements applicants must fulfil please contact Mrs. Godet as follows: telephone 236-5586, e-mail sallies@northrock.bm or write to Mrs. Godet, Scholarship Chairman, The Garden Club of Bermuda, P.O. Box HM 1141, Hamilton HMEX.