May 2013

Meeting was opened by Lori Maracle at 7:10 p.m.

There were 56 members signed in.

Ways & Means Tickets and refreshments were announced as being available.

Lori mentioned an article written in the Sachem by Lynda Roberts expressing how beautiful the tulips are. Thank you to everyone who helped to plant them.

A list was passed around for volunteer members to sign up for planting day on May 25^th.   Be sure to bring tools (snips, trowels etc.), kneepads and hats. McDonald’s has graciously donated meal vouchers for the volunteers.

April minutes: A motion was made by Vel LeVatte to have them accepted as read. The motion was seconded by Karen Waltham and the motion was passed.

Lori welcomed our new members and explained how we email minutes, upcoming events and newsletters before each general meeting.

Treasurer’s reports: Kim briefly covered March and April’s treasurer’s reports. There were no questions from the membership regarding any of the income or expenses.

Lori spoke about the May 11^th plant sale. It was a huge success this year. Judy did an amazing job heading it up for us this year. We had many members come out and help with the sorting of plants on Friday night and the set up and sale of plants on Saturday. Sales and donations earned $1962.70. Apron sales and memberships each earned $30.00 for a grand total for the day: $2022.70. The left over plants were donated to Fairview School for their current fundraiser.   Congratulations to everyone!

Lori thanked everyone for their help at the District 9 AGM in April. Kim told us that there were 15 DHS members present and 80 people in total attended. The speakers (Linda Crago and Jack Kent) were wonderful.  Most host societies have the attendees “brown-bag” it, but we had pizza, sandwiches and desserts that were delicious and plentiful. Thank you to all the DHS volunteers who helped out. Jack Kent was kind enough to donate his $150 speaker’s fee back to us as a donation.

Pam Blanchard is spearheading our entry in the Mudcat Parade. She explained to the membership that volunteers are needed to help with decorating the float and participating in the parade. The Mudcat parade is June 8 at 10:00 a.m. We will be meeting at 9:00 a.m. at the start of the parade route. Look for us as we don’t know our position in the parade yet. We have a 1949 Massey Harris tractor belonging to Allan and Gwen VanNatter pulling our float this year. This year’s theme is “Go Wild” so NO DHS t-shirts and aprons. We are looking for African motif only. Pam brought several examples with her so everyone should have a good idea as to what is needed. She had a signup list available for members. The parade itself lasts about 1 hour. The Chamber of Commerce has Mudcat Festival booklets with a map of the parade route inside.

Judy Jeffery addressed the group and asked if anyone could help out at Edgewater Gardens with their garden clean up. They are in desperate need of help as they don’t have a gardener. Judy will also donate some new plants.

Lori spoke about the garden walk at Rosa Flora on June 20^th. $5.00 per person and there will be a BBQ at her and Rob’s home afterwards. A map to both places was provided on the back of the agendas.

New DHS and Konkle signs have been made for the public flowerbeds and were shown to the members. Debbie Thomas had them made up at Mirror Imaging. Konkle’s donates the annuals every year and it’s important to let the public know this.

Trillium award nominations are coming up: June 1^st to June 30^th. Lori asked for volunteers for judging. There will be a training night at Lori’s before the judging commences, usually right after the July 1^st holiday. A sign up sheet was passed around. The August general meeting will be our awards night. 2013 winners’ pictures will go up on the “wall of fame” at the Optimist Hall, with 2012’s photos being given to the recipients of that year.

Lori introduced our speaker Anita Buehner. She is the owner of Bonnie Heath Lavender Farm located in Norfolk County.   She spoke of how she and her husband transformed their tobacco farm into an amazing lavender farm and how lavender is grown and harvested. We will definitely have to plan a bus trip there next summer.

Rose draw: Winners of our annual rose draw were: Bruce Nevils, Mary VanOosten, Doris Thomson, Pam Blanchard, Debbie Thomas, Pat Henderson, Mary McKinney, Betty Ballanger, Lori Maracle and Kim Christoff.

Ways & Means tickets were drawn. Thank you to Debbie Wilson and Pam Blanchard for looking after the W&M table. Thank you to Maura Cooper and her helpers Joan King, Donna Cavers, and Dorothy Minor. As usual everything was absolutely delicious.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m. and the Ways & Means draw raised $52.00.

Sue Mazi, DHS Secretary.