Our Society can take pride in another year that has been marked with many successes.
The monthly meetings continue to draw new members. The high caliber of speakers, on a wide range of topics, are inspiring, knowledgeable, humorous, and ever so helpful with their many tips and suggestions. In addition, so many of our members participated in the flower shows and photo contest – what a bounty of nature’s beauty! The slide shows of the past summer’s Garden Tour and Garden Contest made us eager in the middle of winter to again be in our gardens. Then, to end the evenings, time to take in the displays, talk with friends, enjoy a cup of tea and treats and, hopefully, win something from the raffle table!
No doubt, a special evening to be remembered is the December potluck dinner—a gathering marked by delicious food, festive conversation, seasonal floral designs, and lots of raffle prizes. This evening as well as our other monthly meetings would not be possible without all the contributions and assistance provided by you, the members.
Within the community, we continued to be very visible. In early May, all signs pointed to the Gellert Centre and helped by warm weather, we practically sold out of plants. It’s hard to get better than that in terms of fundraising! The new signs provided by the Town at the gardens we maintain increase the public’s awareness of our presence and contributions to the community. Our Flower Show at the Georgetown Marketplace Mall provided an opportunity for people to admire, enjoy, and learn about plants and floral design. Certainly, our new T-shirts heightened our visibility during the Garden Tour – a wonderful source of gardening ideas. As are the books we donate yearly to the library. This year we are going high tech and including DVDs in our donation. Speaking of high tech, have you checked out our newly revised website – www.georgetownhorticulturalsociety.com. Also, a new brochure about our Society has been created and will be distributed by the Welcome Wagon, available at the Library and our Flower Show.
Special mention must be made concerning the allotment garden as it is a significant addition to the Dominion Gardens Park. Our thanks to Mary Carpenter, who undertook the initial research and information gathering, and to Lil Taggart, who authored and presented the proposal to the Town and then guided the allotment gardeners towards the formation of their own group. What an encouraging sight to visitors of the Park so see the plots flourishing with flowers and vegetables! Hopefully, this will serve as a model for other Town parks.
As always, if you have ideas or suggestions, please let any of the Executive know.
In closing, I would like to again thank Lil Taggart, our Past President, for the leadership, wisdom, and humour she has brought to the Executive and Society over the past two years. Thank you to the Executive and Committee Convenors for their commitment to projects, and all the members who so readily volunteer their time to assist in so many ways.