May 2013
Meeting was opened by Kim Christoff at 7:06 p.m.
There were 45 members signed in.
Minutes: April’s minutes were read. Vel Levatte moved to accept them as read, and Janine Jungas seconded the motion. All were in favour.
Treasurer’s report was read by Kim.
We have 102 members to date.
The plant sale on May 12th was a huge success. We made $1826.00. Thank you to all the volunteers who helped out.
The Home Show was a big success as well. We signed up 18 new members and the raffle raised $738.00.
The teak arbor was won by Sue Tew, the bench by Gord Pyle (both from Dunnville) and the planters were one by one of our own members, Bruce Nevils.
Mail: There was no new mail.
Raffle tickets were sold this evening on a lovely gift basket donated by Hauser’s Pharmacy. There was no Ways & Means draw due to time constraints.
New Business: Due to the fact that we had 2 speakers for the evening all New Business was printed and handed out to everyone. It read as follows:
GARDEN WALK: Thursday, June 21st. Master Gardener Beth Powell has graciously opened up her garden to us for a private visit on the evening of the 21st. There will be no General Meeting at the Optimist Hall on this date. Ms. Powell’s property is located at 440 Concession 1 North, Canfield, Ontario N1A 1C0. Please see attached map for directions. If you would like to carpool, please meet at the condo river front parking lot (next to the bridge) at 6:30 p.m. We will be leaving at 6:45 p.m. sharp. After the garden walk we will be going to Judy’s place for potluck. Please see Judy regarding what she would like you to bring. Please see the attached map for directions to her house.
TRILLIUM AWARD NOMINATIONS: June 16-30th. We will be accepting nominations for trillium awards during this period. If you know of a property that you would like to nominate, you can pick up a nomination form which can be found at all the local garden centres and many other businesses in town.
We will also try to put a nomination form on our website that you can print so please visit our website at www.dunnvillehortsoc.gardenontario.org. Please see the attached map to see the physical boundaries set out by the Dunnville Horticultural Society for eligible properties. If you have any questions regarding the Trillium Award program please see Kim Christoff or Lori Maracle.
GENERAL MEETING July 19, 2012: The Ministry of Natural Resources will be sending a speaker to talk to us about invasive species (plants and animals). We would like to stress that this meeting is “All Welcome and Open to the Public”. This person will be travelling from Peterborough and we would like to attract as many people as possible to this meeting. Please invite your friends and neighbours to come and learn about this very important topic.
In case you were looking, I forgot to include a copy of the Trillium awards boundary map. If you have any questions about the boundaries please contact me and I will be happy to email a copy of the map to you.
Lori Maracle spoke about the town flowerbeds. They have been weeded, edged and mulched. They are ready for planting. We will not be planting the bed where the old Hydro building used to be. The area is under heavy construction and therefore it would be futile.
Lori also told us that students from Dunnville Secondary School’s environmental class will be planting the flowers at the Floral Clock. Students from the construction class have made new numbers. The Dunnville Chronicle will be doing a story on May 29th when the numbers are installed and the flowers are planted. Congratulations to everyone involved.
Maura requested 2 volunteers to help in the kitchen at the July general meeting.
We need judges for the Trillium Awards. You can judge and still win an award as long as you are not judging your own property. Please see Kim if you would like to help out. It will certainly be an opportunity to learn more about landscaping and horticulture.
Thank you to both speakers who shared their wealth of knowledge. Sherry Hayes, who writes a column for the Hamilton Spectator and owns “Landscaping by Design,” spoke about xeriscape gardening. Xeriscape literally means dry gardening. She taught us about many plants that are considered drought tolerant. Lester Fretz spoke about Sweet Potatoes. He was very informative and gave everyone slips of sweet potatoes to grow at home. I have a feeling that everyone will be eating sweet potatoes for a long time to come.
After the lectures, Judy addressed the group, recapping this month’s new business. She also informed us that the list of classes for the Rose and Flower show will be listed on our website.
Rose Draw: May is traditionally our members’ Rose Draw. Only members who signed-in were eligible to win a rose. There were 10 in total. The winners were: Betty Ballinger, Pauline Bradford, Kim Christoff, Jean Cowan (who declined), Lori Maracle, Debbie Wilson, Kirstine Asher, Rob Maracle (who declined), Sam Visser, Joyce Coverdale, Carol Beauparlant, and Mary McKinney.
Kirstine Asher won the Gift Basket. Congratulations to everyone! Thank you to Betty Ballanger for selling the tickets. $68.25 was raised. Good job!
Thank you to Maura Cooper and her kitchen volunteers for a job well done. Everything looked and tasted wonderful!
Meeting was adjourned at 9:20 p.m.