The General Meeting was called to order by President Carol Ross on Monday, January 11, 2010, at 12:20 p.m., at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, CT.
Thank you to GCNH members who helped make table arrangements at the annual December Holiday Workshop.
Pricilla Twombly, from the Sasqua Garden Club, invited GCNH members to attend a symposium, “Go Native,” presented by the Sasqua Garden Club, April 10, 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., at the Roger Ludlowe Middle School, 689 Unquoqa Road, Fairfield, CT. Symposium featured speakers and topics:
•Doug Tallamy, “Fighting Extinction with Native Plants,” and “The New Role for Suburban Gardens.”
Author of the Book: Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife With Native Plants, Updated and Expanded.
•William Cullina, “50+ Native Plants for the Northeast.”
Author of the Books: Native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines: A Guide to Using, Growing, and Propagating North American Woody Plants, and Native Ferns, Moss, and Grasses: From Emerald Carpet to Amber Wave, Serene and Sensuous Plants for the Garden
Tickets cost $65 (Includes speakers and lunch.) and may be purchased through the website, www.sasqua.org, or by mailing a check payable to Sasqua Garden Club, 912 Hulls Farm Road, Southport, CT, 06890. Questions: Contact Priscilla Twombly at pgtwombly@aol.com.
Program
Debbie Moore, Program Chair, provided a lovely introduction highlighting the many accomplishments of GCNH member and guest speaker, Jennifer Radford. Jennifer dedicated her wonderful garden slide show and presentation to her late husband, Roger Radford, who assisted her in so many ways helping to make the documentation of these exquisite gardens possible. Jennifer graciously offered to donate her guest speaker payment to the Zone II Meeting project. With grateful appreciation for all Jennifer has done for GCNH, Debby presented Jennifer with a charm commemorating the upcoming 2013 Centennial of the Garden Club of America.
Suggested Reading: An Island Garden, by Celia Thaxter,
Business Meeting
The Business Meeting was called to order by President Carol Ross. General Meeting minutes were not recorded for the month of December.
Treasurer’s Report—Sondra Haller
Total Income $ 2,836.42
Total Expenses 1,128.32
Net Income 1,708.10
Total Assets $112,252.00
Reminder: When writing a check to GCNH for any purpose, the check should always be made out to the Garden Club of New Haven or GCNH—not to the person accepting the check on behalf of the club.
President’s Report—Carol Ross
Reminder: The Sunday after the General Meeting is the deadline for submitting information to Ann Hoefer to be included in the GCNH newsletter blog.
Rosita Murphy, Chair of the Trees on the Green Project, has discussed GCNH’s support of maintenance for the trees on the New Haven Green with Peter Tyrrell and Green Proprietor, Ann Calabresi. Over the years, GCNH has donated from its Tree Fund (which is housed at the Community Foundation) approximately $1,600 yearly to aid in the tree maintenance. The arborists and proprietors of the Green have conversations about the specifics of the maintenance of the Green in which GCNH does not need to be involved. Therefore, to help streamline the process, the GCNH Board approved a recommendation for an annual donation of $2,000 to the Proprietors of the Green, and requested reports be given to GCNH to keep the club informed of how this money is spent.
A request was made at the December Board Meeting by Debbie Edwards, Chair of the 2013 Elm Tree Project, to amend the GCNH approval given in the spring of 2009 to fund this project with $16,000 from GCNH Civic Funds plus $16,000 from funds raised from the community. It was requested to amend the amount raised from the community to $17,000 to cover the purchase of 150+ Washington Elms (a more disease-resistant cultivar from Tennessee). This amendment was approved by the Board.
The January Board Meeting focused on GCNH Civic activities—examining GCNH’s ongoing and one-time projects and looking at proposals for new or rekindled projects (such as the Long Wharf Nature Preserve or Habitat for Humanity). How to increase GCNH member participation in these worthy activities was discussed. The Articles of the GCNH, Inc., prominently mention the important responsibility of all GCNH members to be active in GCNH Civic projects. It was determined a survey should be created to gather information from all GCNH members about their interest in Civic projects to help determine our future direction.
Reminder: All GCNH members are welcome to attend any of the monthly Board Meetings. The Board meets each month on the Thursday preceding the Monday General Meeting.
Committee Reports
Hospitality—Rosita Murphy
Thank you to all who brought refreshments, and thank you to Ann Hoefer for the beautiful table arrangement.
Membership—Debbie Edwards
New-member proposal packages are due on February 1, and the wine and cheese reception will be held on January 31,
4-6 p.m., at the home of Rosita Murphy. Please RSVP regarding this event.
Conservation—Mikey Hirschoff
Mikey will be attending a legislative meeting in Washington, D.C. Any members with local environmental concerns please give this information to Mikey.
Check the GCNH Newsletter for links to conservation issues and information, and information about locally-grown flowers.
Flower Design—Lisa Lovejoy
Clipboards were passed for members to sign-up for the following:
K-1 Floral Design class (Upward Crescent Floral) on Wednesday, January 27, at 12 noon, in the lower level laboratory room of the Jenkins Building at the Ag. Station.
K-2 Design Workshop (making seven arrangements for the wine and cheese reception) on January 29.
Please contact Lisa if you are interested in either of these workshops. Workshops are open to all interested members.
Displayed on the side tables: Floral design books, news items, and flower show information.
The Federated Garden Clubs of CT Flower and Garden Show, “Spice of Life,” is February 18-21. The Garden Club of Woodbridge has chartered a bus to the show on February 18. GCNH members are invited to help fill the bus. Cost: $20 (Also covers your entry fee.) Meet at the Woodbridge Center. Departing Time is10:00 a.m. Returning Time—around 3:00 p.m. Interested? Contact Linda Reilly (203) 387-1051 or jnlnreilly@sbcglobal.net. Deadline for sign-up is February 1.
Three arrangements created for the Spanish theme, “Flamenco Dance,” were brought by members for display. Betsy Nininger and Vicki Arkins provided a critique.
Street Trees—Martha Alexander
In October 2009, Mayor De Stefano announced a planting goal of 10,000 trees to be planted over the next five years. Carol Ross and Martha Alexander met with Colleen Murphy Dunning, ED of URI, to discuss how the GCNH Street Tree Project could be a part of this effort. GCNH member, Josephine Bush, is the URI Board President.
GreenSkills, URI’s program which has been nominated for a GCA Founder’s Fund award (either 1st, 2nd, or 3rd) addresses the decline in street tree canopy across the city (with more trees removed than planted), and the backlog of citizens’ requests for street trees.
GreenSkills also addresses the underemployment of teenage youth in New Haven by training Yale School of Forestry graduate students to instruct high school interns in urban forestry skills. The interns come to GreenSkills from Common Ground High School, the Foundation School in Milford, and Solar Youth, Inc.
The high school students learn to inventory New Haven’s existing tree canopy and are taught how to plant trees—the program provides these students with job skills, experience, and opportunities for mentorship in environmental careers.
URI will provide training in April for GCNH members who are interested in helping URI inventory New Haven street trees. Interested GCNH members could start by inventorying trees on their own blocks and identifying open planting sites where URI could plant a tree. They may also encourage their neighbors to make tree requests to URI. If they prefer, they can sign-up to help URI inventory the tree canopy in areas other than their own.
To request a new street tree in front of your house, contact URI by calling 203-432-6189, or emailing uri@yale.edu They will need your name, address, and phone number if the tree is to be planted in front of your home. If the tree is to be planted in front of a neighbor’s property, you will need to give them the name, address, and phone number of your neighbor.
URI’s GreenSkills program covers the cost of planting these trees regardless of ability to pay. If you decide to have GreenSkills plant a street tree for you and would like to support their worthy organization, they value the installed tree, including materials and labor at $300; this gives a tangible starting point for contributions.
Another long-term project URI is contemplating is a New Haven Street Tree book. They would be happy to partner with GCNH if anyone is interested.
If you would like to contract independently to plant a street tree, the City Park’s website lists arborists licensed and approved by the City of New Haven to plant, trim, or cut down dead street trees at your own expense.
Garden History and Design—Karyl Evans
If interested in joining this committee, a meeting will be held at Karyl’s home on February 5, 9-11 a.m. Slides will be viewed of the recently completed GCNH project submitted to the Smithsonian.
Program—Debby Moore
It was hoped Andrew Cote (bee keeper) would be a GCNH guest speaker; unfortunately, his speaking fee has risen. Instead, Program Chair, Debby Moore, was pleased to announce Rick McGuga, from “CT Grown” will present a program, “History of Agriculture in Connecticut.” He will give insight into Connecticut’s agricultural past and where he sees it heading in the future.
Ways and Means—Vicki Arkins
One tote is left for sale, and the “Vision of Beauty” calendars are available for purchase.
Horticulture—Cordalie Benoit
Members wishing to enter a specimen in Horticulture at the February FGCCT Flower and Garden Show in Hartford, can contact Cordalie, and she will make a “house call” to help you with your entry selection.
2011 Zone II Meeting—Betsy Hartmayer
A Zone II cookbook containing garden club members’ recipes is planned as a fund-raiser. Volunteers are needed to help. This project could raise between $2,000 and $10,000.
The Holiday Boutique was such a success, consideration is being given to expanding it and the profits used for Zone II.
Guests
Guest of Bonnie Byers: Millie Logenhousen
Guest of Debby Moore: Liz O’Connor
Guest of Vicki DiSesa: Nori Babbitt
Guest from Sasqua Garden Club: Pricilla Twombly
M/S/P to adjourn at 1:37 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Recording Secretary, Marty Dauwalder
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