MINDEN & DISTRICT HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
GENERAL MEETING
TUESDAY October 4, 2016
MASTER GARDNER: Carolyn Langdon opened our meeting this evening with a short but informative talk on “Caterpillars & Worms”. Carolyn stated that 99.9% of insects are beneficial to humans. Without these insects life on earth as we know it would be quite different. Life cycles of caterpillars were discussed as well as damage to our trees and forests.
GUEST SPEAKER: Nick Case introduced our guest speaker, Peter Schleifenbaum, who spoke to us about Global Warming. Peter was born, raised and educated in Germany. Peter has a PhD in Forest History and Forest Economics and moved to Canada 28 years ago.
Peter claims as the temperatures rise and weather becomes more severe, the flora and fauna will be changing, with implications for the state of our animals and lakes and the health of our forests. Peter had many graphs and pictures to back up his outstanding talk on Global Warming’s effects on Haliburton County.
REFRESHMENT BREAK: Pumpkin Treats
CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order by Mary Jane Irwin at 8:00pm
LOCATION: Minden Community Centre
CHAIR: President, Mary Jane Irwin
MINUTES: Moved by Michelle Lewis that the minutes of the September 6, 2016 General Meeting be accepted as read. Seconded by Nick Case CARRIED
FINANCIAL REPORT: Frances Thivierge reported that our current bank balance is $3190.49. Frances will be comparing bank fees in town and there is a possibility we will change banks. If this is the case, the change will occur with the new Executive. Moved by Susan Hill that the financial report be accepted as read. Seconded by Margaret Giles. CARRIED
COMMITTEE REPORTS & EVENTS
COMMUNITY GARDENS: The clean-up day will be Tuesday, October 11 at 10:00am. There is a sign-up sheet for this event. Nancy will send out an email to remind members of the date. All canna bulbs can be stored at Sinclair Russell’s home.
There will be a committee meeting at Karen Shirley’s home on October 17th at 1:30 pm. Karen’s address is: 1023 Pixie Lane, 705-489-2705.
New members are welcome.
NEW BASKET HANGERS FOR MAIN STREET: Sinclair Russell made a suggestion to purchase a new type of hangers for the Main Street hanging baskets. Sinclair had pictures of these hangers. The town would be purchasing the hangers so MJ will look into the matter.
FLOWER SHOW: Please see attached copy for the 2016 Flower Show Report. In 2017 we will have a “Garden Show- More Than Just Flowers” in an attempt to increase attendance. It will be held Aug 11 & 12 and the theme is “Garden Celebration”. Demonstrations will be vegetable oriented. The classes and rules have been established. Prize money will no longer be awarded except in junior classes.
LIBRARY & BULLETIN BOARD: Izabel explained to new members we have a lending library. If anyone has any gardening books they no longer want please donate them to the library and Izabel will catalogue them over the winter.
MEMBERSHIP: Nancy reported our total membership is now at 98 members as of August 31, 2016. We had 44 in attendance this evening.
T-SHIRTS & CARDS & PINS: Elinor will send a thank you card to the Boshkung Tree Services to thank them for the wood chips donated for the Village Green.
VILLAGE GREEN: The iris need to be divided and moved. The date for weeding will be Wednesday, Oct. 26th at 10:00 am (weather permitting).
NOMINATIONS: Liz Case and Rose Paliwoda will be calling members in the next two weeks asking for help to be on the executive.
COMMUNITIES IN BLOOM: Congratulations to our society whose members helped the Twp of Minden Hills achieve the high score of 82.75% and be awarded 5 Blooms!!!
VOLUNTEER HOURS: Please bring in your volunteer hours at the next meeting. If you are unable to attend you can email them to Linda Ross.
OHA, DISTRICT 4 & OTHER MEETINGS
EXECUTIVE MEETING REPORT: Mary Jane reported on the Sept 20th Executive Meeting. A resolution was passed to investigate service charges at the TD bank compared to CIBC. Frances will look into this. There were discussions about purchasing new barrels for the downtown area.
We talked about ideas for Canada’s 150th Birthday. See attached summary report from executive meeting.
DISTRICT 4 FALL SEMINAR: The seminar is Saturday, Oct. 29th from 9-3:30 pm in Dunsford. The Guest Speaker is Anna Mizyn who will be speaking on “Winter Hardy Succulents”. The society will pay the registration fee if any members are interested in attending. Members can car pool. Please bring along any extra year books. You must sign up tonight if you are interested in attending.
CORRESPONDENCE
D4: The dates for the 2017 District activities are as follows: Spring Get-Together March 11th, AGM April 1st Awards Celebration June 14th, Fall Seminar Oct. 28th
FENELON FALLS SOCIETY: MJ has the copy of the newsletter “Backyard Buzz”. MJ will email a copy to members that are interested. It was noted that they use “members’ choice” at their competitions.
OTHER BUSINESS
ORDER OHA CALENDARS & LICENCE PLATE FRAMES: Members must have orders and money tonight for these items. Money raised will be used to update the OHA website.
CANADA’S 150TH: Ideas for special projects? There was some discussion about pairing up with a student and doing a red and white planter. Also, signs could be made up for the 150th Birthday. We could pair up with the township. Liz Case will order red and white tulip bulbs .
The members seemed interested in the idea of traveling to Ottawa to see the tulips in May. We will discuss this at the next Executive Meeting. Come to the next General Meeting with some ideas for the 150th celebrations!
DOOR PRIZE: The door prize was won by Kerensa Case, Liz and Nick’s daughter visiting from England.
ADJOURNMENT: Moved by Margaret Giles “that the meeting be adjourned”. Time 10:00 pm
