Letter From the Presidents- January

Happy New Year!
I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season and are now looking forward to a fabulous winter and spring with the Garden Club. I am excited about the many plans the committees have for the next few months and hope that everyone will take advantage of the hard work the committees are doing and participate to their fullest in all of the events.

Lisa Lovejoy and the program committee have planned for an interesting variety of speakers for the next few months beginning with the February program, “Rain Gardens and How They Improve Water Quality in Your Community”. This follows the wonderful presentation in January by Tom Pinchbeck who gave us a virtual tour of his rose farm in Guilford.

The horticulture committee has rescheduled their propagation workshop at Broken Arrow and is planning a dish garden workshop. Ann Burrow and Isabel Caride are planning for a small horticulture show in May in conjunction with our May meeting.

The Visiting Gardens Committee under Mikey Hirschoff is reviewing the results of their survey and making plans for several visiting opportunities based on the information in the survey. They have some fabulous ideas; I can not wait to hear what they finally plan.

The gardens at the Neighbor Music School are nearing completion; an open house will be planned so that we can all see this Garden Club project.

Carol Ross has agreed to chair the Zone II committee and Betsy Hartmayer will chair the fundraising subcommittee. They are filled with ideas for fundraising that incorporate the mission of the Garden Club with fundraising. The first event is a flower show/ cocktail party on April 11. The flower show is chaired by Vicki Arkins and Betsy Nininger. Everyone needs to put this date on their calendar now and support this first event in our planning for the Zone II meeting in 2011.

Phelps Triangle Renovation Committee has been meeting regularly. They are reviewing the status of the existing plantings with local experts as the first phase of the renovation.

Stephanie Rank has agreed to chair the photography committee. Now that photography is one of the three areas for shows, we need someone to help us keep in touch with shows in the area and to promote photography for our membership. Many thanks, Stephanie.

My congratulations to Joyce Harris who was the recent recipient of the Carol Stancliff Bowl. We are all so proud of Joyce and her many horticulture accomplishments. Her knowledge and enthusiasm for horticulture is truly an inspiration for all of us.

Finally, we mourn the death of two of our members, Rose DiSesa and Helen Barnett. Rose was a long time, active member of the Garden Club who contributed enthusiastically for many years. Helen was a provisional member who had just joined the club last June. I join with the members in sending our condolences to both of their families.

I hope that you are as excited about our coming plans as I am and hope to see you soon and often.

Yours,
Billie