August 17 Meeting

Meeting opened with prayer.

Our Co Chairman, Karen, was home recovering from surgery. Get well, Karen! Other CoChair Barb A held the meeting.

Attendees included Bob and Mary Michela, Sharon Andres Glenda Sinclair, Cathie Ware, Kelly Matlock, Shari Glenn, Diane Roddy, Nancy Berlew, Barb Bishoff, Lenore Uphoff, Patti Gruber, Stephanie Colie, Molly Francis, Katie Stanley, Barb Andries, and Melody Peterman.

TREASURER’S report; We started the month with $3796.51, had income of $2335.80, spent $400, and ended the month with $5732.31. Income was from the plant sale and garden tour. Lenore tells us that, for 2 years now, more is earned by the plant sale than the garden tour. Treasurer’s report was accepted.

SECRETARY’S Report: No report

COMMITTEE REPORTS;

PROGRAM: Our next meeting will be September 21 at Wes Alexander’s gardens in Gladwin. Lunch and our business meeting will follow at the Hearth restaurant in Gladwin. Afterwards, members are encouraged to stop by the Stone Cottage Gardens, also in Gladwin. Note: There is a steep hill up to the gardens. If you cannot handle walking, please feel free to drive up and park there. If you can handle the walk, please leave parking space for those who can’t.

PR: Facebook and newspaper advertising are going well. We now have Public and Private Facebook pages. Steph Colie maintains the private one; if you have difficulties making posts there, please contact her. Hope you’re getting and reading emails! If you are not, contact Barb A.

WEBMASTER: No report

DONATIONS: No report

BEAUTIFICATION: There will be a cleanup at the Houghton Lake library on September 9th. Email to come. 

CRAFTING: A crafting day is planned for the beginning of September. Watch your emails/texts.

ART FESTIVAL: The suggestion was made that plants for next year’s sale could be potted upnow, as you divide perennials. Barb Bishoff told us that hers did well overwintering under a pine tree. Kelly Matlock plans to collect leftover crafts and plants from the sale and have them for sale at her house during next year’s garden tour.

GARDEN TOUR: YES, there WILL be a garden tour next year. Instead of recruiting gardens from the public, 5 of our members will showcase their own gardens. This should help with finding volunteers, as gardeners will sit at their own gardens. There will be no online sales next year. 22 tickets were sold “day of.” There was some discussion of having the plant sale yearly, and having the garden tour every other year, OR of changing the date of the garden tour from July to the first part of August. The busyness of plant sale and garden tour in the same month was the reason for this. Think about this. If you have any concerns or suggestions, contact Patti Gruber, Glenda Sinclair, Kelly Matlock, or Cathie Ware BEFORE the November meeting.

OVERNIGHT TRIP: A trip to Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids is planned for mid-October. The cost will be approximately $36 for admission, the Chihuly exhibit, and a guided tram tour. We will need 20 people for this price; 12 have expressed interest. Hotel rooms will be additional. The suggestion was made for rooms along the river; these would start near $180, although room sharing/slumber partying was popular. More information will come via email in the next 2 weeks.

SEE MY GARDEN: We will be visiting Barb Andries’ garden at 115 Burlington Dr, Roscommon. Date is August 24, at 11am. Bring a sack lunch and we’ll picnic. Barb says to use your GPS & trust it!

NATURE WALK: No report

GARDEN TIP: Actually, a quote;

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” Audrey Hepburn

(Do you know that Audrey Hepburn was 10 when WWII began, and spent her childhood in Nazi-occupied Netherlands? Family members were killed and confined to camps by the Nazis, and the family suffered through the 1944-45 Dutch famine, even resorting to making flour out of tulip bulbs. Audrey suffered malnutrition and disease. This led to her volunteering for UNICEF, becoming the organization’s Goodwill Ambassador. She said that her family was grateful for the humanitarian aid they had received after the War, and she wanted to give back.)

Meeting adjourned; the vote was unanimous!

Melody Peterman

Secretary 🌸