Presidents Message:
Thank you! to everyone who participated in the Fall Clean-up. So much has happened since our October meeting that it is hard for me to express what I am feeling. I hope all of you will make an effort to come to our November meeting. I am planning an interactive program. Come prepared to participate. We will be sharing our experiences and getting to know each other a little better.
The November meeting will be on Monday Nov. 9 at 7:00 at the United Methodist Church
Arlene Peters is our November hostess.
AGENDA
* Approve Minutes for October meeting
* Receive and approve Treasurer's Report
* Old Business:
1. Review fall Clean-up
2. Prepare for Election of Officers in December
3. Plan our December meeting
4. Review the results of our Garden Club Survey.
Read some of the suggestions made by members including the suggestions from Everett.
We will miss Everett. Thank you to everyone who attended the Memorial Service.
PROGRAM: Why is gardening important in our lives?
Thank you for all of your encouragement and helpful comments on the garden club survey.
Sincerely,
Nancy
Happy Birthday to…
Monica Ondrusko 15
Alice Haskell 19
Dorothy Swingle 30
October 2009 Minutes
The October meeting was called to order with sixteen members present.
Motion to approve the August and September minutes as printed in the newsletter made by Alice Haskell and seconded by Arlene Peters.
Alan Haskell gave the Treasurer’s Report. Noting the only change was we received a donation of $100.00 from Stevens Barbershop. Our treasury balance is $2,663.29.
The weather being a big part of the Uptown Clean-up, it appears the best days to work will be October 18 and 19. Noted that you may leave your bags from clean up on the Courthouse lawn and maintenance will pick them up for us. Please be sure not to overload the bags. Mary Ellen will get high school students to help clean up the Conservancy Flower Beds.
Jack Hausser spoke of his high regard for the Garden Club and Breast Cancer Survivor Group. He gave a special Thank you to Chris Hunter-Hall, Marilyn Isoldi and Nancy Griffin for volunteering time and cleaning up his garden.
Door prizes of a blue-eyed glass were won by Alan Haskell and flower arrangement by Eydie Swingle.
Nancy Connelly introduced the evening’s speaker, Paul Skuda, a botanist from New Castle, who spoke about native plant gardening.
Respectfully Submitted,
Minutes taken by Eydie Swingle
Due do the absence of Mary Ellen Russell
Club Members
Mary Ellen Russell had heart surgery recently. She will be at home for a month recovering and is doing very well, although on light duty, including no driving. We wish Mary Ellen a speedy recovery and continued good health!
Although Everett Bostrom recently had “retired” from some of the offices and general chores he had participated in over the years as a founding member of the Mercer Garden Club, his death last week was unexpected. The obituary in the paper and remembrances shared at his memorial service all added something new about Everett, even to those who knew him well it seemed. Everett’s strong educational background, military service, Sleep Hollow bookstore in New York, Card Shoppe in Mercer, loving relationship with family and friends, work with the literacy program, and gardening made for a rich, full life. Everett helped with the literacy portion of home-schooling Rick and Patricia McClelland’s children. Patricia recalled Everett reading a book about bears to her son. Near the end of the book, one of the bears dies. Patricia could hear Everett’s voice getting softer and softer. She peeked into the room where the two were reading and she saw Everett’s eyes full of tears, as were her son’s as Everett reached the conclusion of the book. She and the officiating minister, also a long-time friend, both shared examples of the wonderfully thoughtful and appropriate gifts Everett would give to them and their children as they celebrated birthdays and Christmas together. As Nancy said in her president’s message, Everett will be missed.
November Gardening Plant paper whites late this month to have blooms for Christmas and pot and force tulip bulbs for winter bloom.
Calendar for November
5-8 Weingartner’s Merry Christmas Traditional Open House Weingartner’s Flowers
and Gifts, 2701 Wilmington Rd., New Castle, PA, 724.658.6628. Greenhouse
location: 1816 Old Butler Rd, New Castle, 724.654.8251. Refreshments, entertainment and special hours. “Don’t miss it!”
9 Mercer Garden Club Monthly meeting at 7:00 p.m. at the United Methodist Church,
Mercer.
14 & 15 9th Annual Christmas at the Log Cabin Plant’s Herb Farm Bed & Breakfast,
104 South Foster Rd, Mercer, PA, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., 724.301.3273,
HYPERLINK "mailto:plantsherbfarm@myepath.com" plantsherbfarm@myepath.com. Come to the country for a Log Cabin Christmas.
Local artist’s unique gifts for everyone and herbal refreshments.
21 Gathering of the Greens Plant’s Herb Farm, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Make a wreath and enjoy an
herbal lunch. Fee: $25. 724.301.3273 for more information.
26 Thanksgiving
The Gardener
Each garden is unique,
Varying from year to year.
Even the same garden bed -
Reaching into our hearts,
Etching itself upon our memory.
Tender sprouts the Trillium,
Teaching afresh each spring.
Bright summer lilies and Echinacea
Open with vibrant cheer and
Slowly give way to autumn -
Too with a dignity its own.
Rests the garden then as winter
Offers quiet promise that life
Must spring anew.
- ALH
