President's Letter December

President’s Remarks following the Garden Club of New Haven’s Holiday Workshop.

‘Meet Your Club’

December 7, 2009 [With apologies to Clement Moore]

This morn we designed with greens of the season,

Thanks to Lucy & Judi & Betsy – the reason?

To brighten those Whitney and Mary Wade trays,

To banish the gloom of dark, wintry days.

But now for some business before you all go,

I acknowledge our officers in this warm glow.

There’s Susan, a VP with incredible flair

Who handles the details and facts with such care;

And our stalwart secretaries who help us so much

By capturing our business and keeping in touch.

There’s Elaine and Marty and Kathie, too,

Who soon check us in and record what we do.

And then there is Sondra who without any clatter,

Keeps her eyes focused on the things that do matter.

She tracks our finances, reviewing each table

And manages, with skill, to keep our Club stable.

Assisted by Katharine, she reports each transaction

in long monthly statements with great satisfaction.

Our committees are many and varied and busy,

Their projects and plans simply make me feel dizzy.

But, lest you not know them, I’ll call them by name --

With whistles and shouts I state with acclaim

There’s Civic and Finance and Flower Design,

Conservation, Horticulture, Garden History divine,

There’s New Member Education, Hospitality, too,

Newsletter, Program, Photography’s debut,

There’s Public Relations and Ways & Means,

Visiting Gardens that scouts out new scenes.

There’s Scholarship, too, but that’s not all

our Member-at-Large helps us all to recall…

our 86 years and a history quite merry,

all filled with roses and sedum and cherry [oops…cherries!].

But, let’s stop a minute so chairs can be noted

With committees described and tasks duly quoted.

Awards is chaired by the Vice President, Susan Ehrenkranz. The committee considers and proposes candidates for awards available from the Garden Club of America, The Federated Garden Club, and our own Club.

Civic committee discusses, evaluates, and recommends to the Board projects to be financed by the Civic Funds and maintains ongoing civic commitments. This committee is chaired by Judi Freudenburg.

Mikey Hirschoff chairs the Conservation committee which informs and involves all of us about the conservation and preservation of our natural resources.

The Finance committee is chaired by our Treasurer, Sondra Haller. The committee sets the annual budget allocations and supervises all matters relating to the financing of our programs.

Flower Design educates all of us in artistic design and encourages us to exhibit in flower shows both inside and outside of the Club. Lisa Lovejoy chairs this committee.

Karyl Evans chairs the Garden History & Design committee that works to develop an appreciation and understanding of significant American gardens and archives them for the Smithsonian Institution.

The HorticultureCommittee educates all of us in horticulture and encourages us to exhibit in flower shows. This committee is chaired by Cordalie Benoit.

Rosita Murphy is in charge of Hospitality, a committee that arranges for and supervises the serving of refreshments at all general meetings of the Club.

The Membership Committee is chaired this year by Debbie Edwards who, with her fellow committee members, considers the qualifications of all candidates proposed for membership and makes recommendations to the Board.

New Member Education provides an introduction to the expectation and duties of the Club for Provisional members, preparing them for Active membership. Bonnie Sullivan chairs this committee.

Ann Hoefer prepares the Newsletter and the website Blog. She welcomes submissions of material and photographs!

The Nominating Committee is chaired by Susan Ehrenkranz. This committee prepares a slate of candidates for election to various offices and committee chairmanships. They hope that you will all say ‘yes’ when asked.

Photography, our newest committee, is chaired by Amy Estabrook. The committee educates us and encourages our participation in flower shows.

The Program committee, led by Debby Moore, plans and supervises all aspects of our general meetings, from arranging speakers to booking the spaces.

Jennifer Rook heads the Public Relations committee – a committee that publicizes all of our activities to the community, the Garden Club of American and the Federated Garden Clubs of CT.

The Scholarship Committee, chaired by Vickie DiSesa, acts as a liaison to the GCA and the Federated Scholarship Committees.

Darlene Zimmermann chairs the Visiting Gardens Committee. Their responsibilities are threefold: 1) to plan garden visits for our members, 2) to plan garden visits in our area for visitors from other clubs, and 3) to help our members visit gardens made available by Clubs in other parts of this country and in some foreign countries.

Ways & Means plans events to raise funds for the civic activities of the club. Vicki Arkins chairs this committee and encourages us all to support today’s sale.

All of these chairs welcome your participation and help. Please sign up to work on a committee!

I’m back to this poem but I’ll now make it quick

As I list our projects with the speed of St. Nick.

We look with pride at that famous Phelps park,

“An oasis, a haven”, city dwellers remark.

We plant and maintain stately trees on the Green,

On the streets, in the parks, and spots in between;

And in 2013 we’ll bring elms to this city,

Thanks to the efforts of our busy committee.

We work on fundraising and planning for meetings,

On finding new members and offering greetings.

We nominate, archive, and catalog stuff –

With this lengthy list you’d think it’s enough…

But that doesn’t stop us, no, not for a second;

We were always open to projects that beckoned.

There are gardens for Shakespeare and plantings for Yale,

Support for Long Wharf and flowers for sale.

Let’s hear about some of these civic endeavors

By listing the ‘who’s and the ‘what’s and ‘wherevers.

Karen Doyle coordinates our activities at Phelps Triangle Park where the Club provides ongoing care and maintenance of the plantings.

The Trees on the Green provides planting and maintenance of the trees on the New Haven Green, guided by Rosita Murphy in concert with the Proprietors of the Green.

The renewal of Street Trees in the urban landscape is led by Martha Alexander.

The Long Wharf Nature Preserve project works in concert with the New Haven Land Trust to provide care and maintenance for the 5-acre park on Long Island Sound. Billie Ladd serves as the liaison between the Garden Club and the Land Trust.

The 2013 Tree Project which is re-introducing disease-resistant elms to New Haven is chaired by Debbie Edwards.

Betsy Hartmayer ably spearheads our fundraising efforts for the 2011 Zone II Meeting in New Haven.

Finally, as 2009 draws to a close

And 2010, with such promise, shows

A year that I hope will be filled with great joy,

With new garden projects where we can employ

Our considerable skills, and talents, and flair

So the name of our Club will ring through the air.

My wishes for you are that you’ll have a ball!

Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!

---Carol Ross