EAST BRADY – As snow and ice have become the backdrop to the early months of 2026, the Garden Club of Clarion County is drawing attention to one of its longtime members who received two prestigious statewide honors in the much greener days of 2025.
Kay John of East Brady, who has been involved with the local garden club for more than 40 years, was presented with the Garden Club Federation of Pennsylvania’s Perennial Bloom Award at the group’s annual convention in King of Prussia last March.
She was also nominated and won the Exceptional Horticulturist Award for the federation in September of last year, and her winning nomination moved on to the Central Atlantic Region of State Garden Club, which includes Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and surrounding areas.
Garden Club of Clarion County president Lee Ann Ishman said that John’s Perennial Bloom Award “recognizes long-standing, dedicated members of garden clubs, honoring their continuous support and leadership, much like a perennial plant that returns year after year.”
“This award celebrates members who ‘plant seeds’ for clubs success and are the backbone of the organization,” Ishman added.
She further said that in the local club’s nomination of John, the awardee was described as a “devoted, dedicated and highly valued member” of the organization, and that her “knowledge, expertise and leadership have been invaluable in directly impacting the growth and success” of the club.
“The Garden Club of Clarion County can think of no person more deserving of this prestigious award than Kay John,” the nomination continues. “Kay puts her heart and soul into everything she undertakes and is known for getting the job done right the first time.”
Retired from a career of teaching in the Union School District, along with teaching courses at Clarion University, John said she became involved with the garden club more than four decades ago, invited by her mother-in-law who was a member.
Through the years, she said the club has taken on a number of beautification projects around the county, and brings together people who share a love of gardening.
“It’s led me in many directions,” she said, noting that in addition to serving the club and district in leadership roles over the years, she has taken part in many classes, and has become a certified floral judge, officiating at contests ranging from the Clarion County Fair to large events such as the Philadelphia Flower Show.
John said she has also been a Master Gardener for 25 years, an sits on the Clarion County Extension board.
For the Exceptional Horticulturist Award she received last September, John said one of the factors related to her involvement with the Pennsylvania Native Bee Monitoring Project, as well as her work with native plants.
“I’m still involved in the native bee project out of Penn State,” she said.
John said she has long enjoyed gardening, and growing different types of flowers and plants.
“I like to try new and different plants,” she said, explaining that she has been gardening at her home for more than 50 years, starting off with trees and flowers, and now grows a vegetable garden each year.
“And I have quite a collection of indoor plants,” she said.
In receiving the awards last year, John said it was “quite an honor” to earn the recognition from the statewide group.
John and her husband, Bill, have three sons and six grandchildren. In addition to the garden club and related groups, she said she has been a member of a number of other community organizations, including her church, the Seneca Rocks Audubon Society and an antique collector group.
“Kay’s heart and soul are committed to horticulture,” the local club wrote in its nomination of John for last year’s awards. “She is always willing to help in any capacity. We are extremely blessed and very proud to call Kay our club member and friend.”
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