April 2013
Meeting was opened by Lori Maracle at 7:04 p.m.
There were 57 people signed in.
Minutes from March 2013: Pauline Bradford made the motion to have them accepted as read and Judy Jeffery seconded the motion. Motion was passed.
There was no treasurer’s report presented tonight. It will be presented at next month’s general meeting.
Lori spoke about the bus trip to Canada Blooms which was a success. Everyone had a good time and 19 members were signed up that day.
The Home Show on April 19th and 20th was also a success. Our booth looked awesome! We signed up 15 members and raised $705.00 which will be split with the students of the Dunnville Secondary School for making the arbour and Adirondack chairs which were first and second prize. Thank you to all the volunteers who manned the booth set it up and took it down. It’s a lot of work to put this together and it can’t be done without everyone’s help.
The DSS students are trying to raise money to buy a computerized lathe so they will be joining us at our annual plant sale on May 11th, showing what they build and taking orders. The plant sale starts at 8:00 a.m. Judy passed around a volunteer signup sheet. Volunteers are needed Friday evening (May 10) from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. to collect and sort donations. Please meet at the condo parking lot next to the bridge. Trailers will be needed to move the plants overnight since we can’t leave them at the Optimist Hall so if anyone has one please bring it with you. Set up is 6:00 a.m. Saturday morning. The sale usually lasts until noon. Plant donations are needed and if you need pots you can go to Judy’s place to pick some up. Please be sure to label your donations and make sure they are potted, not in bags or boxes. Debbie Thomas announced that if anyone is interested in selling crafts at the plant sale they need to contact Judy Jeffery asap because space is limited. There will be a fee for setting up a craft table so please contact Judy about the details and you must bring your own table. The Optimist club will be holding an indoor garage sale the same time as our plant sale. Hopefully this will draw more buyers to our sale.
The District 9 AGM Spring Forum is this coming Saturday (April 27th). Please plan on attending. There is an entry fee of $10 per person. This includes 2 speakers (Linda Crago and Jack Kent) and lunch and refreshments will be provided. There is a flower show and photography contest so if you are interested you can go to our website to see the complete list of classes and rules. Please help with providing some baked goods such as cookies. This meeting is very important and we want to make a lasting impression on the other society members who will be attending.
Lori spoke about the public flowerbeds. There has been a lot of activity already this year with new planting and last year’s bulbs blooming. There are new pines planted on each side of the bridge, and numerous perennials in the new beds downtown. Annuals will still need to be planted. Our planting day will be May 25th. As usual, volunteers will be needed and each of you will be treated to lunch at McDonald’s afterwards. Hours worked by high school students will count toward their mandatory volunteer hours that are needed to graduate. They can help out with various projects as well as planting. The courtyard at the high school needs a makeover. If anyone is good at this sort of thing and would like to lead the DSS students please let Debbie Thomas know.
The Mudcat parade is June 8th. This year’s theme is “Go Wild”. Members are invited to help with decorating the float and joining us in the parade. Each year we have lots of fun.
Our annual members’ only garden walk will be held at Rosa Flora. It’s a great opportunity to get a “behind the scenes” look at the greenhouses and there will be a BBQ at the home of Rob and Lori Maracle afterwards. There will be a $5.00 fee per person to attend.
Don’t forget about our upcoming Trillium awards and our photography contest. There will be 4 categories again: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. Photos must be 4” x 6” in size.
Lori introduced our speaker for the evening, Mr. Lester Fretz. He spoke about innovative and inexpensive ways to recycle items to make seed trays and mini greenhouses. He spoke about starting new plants from seeds and cuttings and graciously donated many items to the Ways & Means draw. As expected he was a very interesting and entertaining guest. Hopefully he will be able to visit again next season.
The Ways & Means draw raised $83.00. Thank you to the members who donated items and thanks to Betty Ballanger and Debbie Wilson for looking after the ticket sales.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:04 p.m.
Thanks to Maura Cooper, Jenny Elgersma, Pauline Bradford and Barb White for bringing the goodies and looking after the kitchen.
Next month’s meeting is Thursday, May 16th and it will be our annual rose draw. Don’t miss it!
Sue Mazi, DHS Secretary.