The Gardeners Garden Club
Annual Meeting Minutes (corrected)
June 14, 2022
DuPortail House
Business Meeting
Before the business meeting began, we were treated to a delightful slide show highlighting all of the activities of the club during the previous year.
The meeting was then called to order at 10 AM by president Connie Stelzenmuller. Connie warmly welcomed the membership and introduced the curator of Duportail House, Kate, who shared with us a brief history of the house. Kate explained that the house was built in 1740 by the Chief Engineer who designed the Valley Forge defenses. It passed through many owners over the years and is now in the hands of a Board of Directors who maintain the house and property and offer it to the public for events.
Connie then spoke briefly of the challenges the club has faced over the previous year and particularly thanked her Executive Committee, with special appreciation given to Bonnie for her superb job as Treasurer, to Edwina for excellence in Program development, to Liz for developing the first hybrid Flower Show and to Michelle Jameson for her persistence in hosting a very last minute fundraiser at her home.
Minutes from the April meeting were approved as written by a motion from Lyn Marinchak and seconded by Liz Ward. The May minutes were also approved as written by a motion from Peggy Shaver and seconded by Betsy Crowell.
Connie congratulated Sandy Nesbitt on her Vice-Presidency and also to Judy Shekmar and Margot Patterson for swapping secretary positions.
Treasurer’s Reports
Bonnie presented the Treasurers report and a discussion followed touching on how the membership thought the club’s finances should move forward. Discussion involved raising dues, creating a project for the club to spend its extra money, or whether to leave the large cushion of revenue for future purposes. Bonnie asked the membership to think about options over the summer and re-visit this issue in the fall.
Connie thanked Bonnie for her report and ideas.
Special Recognition
Connie then acknowledged and thanked Michele and Larry Jameson for opening their home and hearts to “The Gardeners” for the spectacular fund raising event. Special thanks were also sent to Peggy Shaver and Regina Baime for their hard work in organizing the party.
Second Vice President
Binney McCague requested hostesses for the upcoming meetings. A sign-up sheet was distributed and Peggy Shaver offered to help with organizing hostess responsibilities.
Membership Committee
Judi Garst took the podium to inform the group of the status of the “Membership
Committee. The club membership has grown by 1 member. We have had 2 members resign and 2 have passed away. We have 31 active members and Judi spoke of the need to increase membership and suggested a few ways of encouraging new members to join. She briefly touched on having small get-togethers to explain the inner workings of the club to potential members so that they might have a better grasp as to who we are and what we do.
Flower Show Committee
Michele Jameson highlighted what to expect in the September Flower Show:
- a class on miniatures in its competition. Michele recommended that members check out u-tube tutorials during the summer on how to create miniatures so that all will be comfortable entering in the fall.
- a “Challenge” class offered in the spring show – “A Mother’s Day Brunch”.
- Gretchen Riley has generously offered to host a “Parallel” Workshop whose theme will be “Spring Up” towards the end of April.
Legacy Awards Presented by Eileen Longacre, Awards Chairman
- Eileen acknowledged and congratulated members who have attained significant length of membership and service in our club. Members were recognized from 25 years with the club with 5-year increments ending with Jean Bodine, who has been a force in our club for 69 years.
Awards Presented by President Connie Stelzenmuller
- The Nurseryman’s Bowl to Presley Schwinn, for her exceptional merit in developing workshops and field trips..
- The Meadowbrook Farm Pitcher to Judy Shekmar for meritorious contributions to the club especially our Posies for Seniors project.
- Joan Harvey (in her absence) was awarded The Garden Club of America Certificate as an emeritus horticulture judge for her long, distinguished career as a GCA judge.
The following Awards were presented by Sidney Spahr, Chairman of the Flower Show Committee with the help of Vice Chair of Floral Design–Michele Jameson and Chairman of Horticulture Presley Schwinn. (Note:) The president would like to recognize the effort that went into getting the awards in time for our meeting. The engraver didn’t think they could make the delivery happen in time. A very special thanks to Sidney Spahr.
Floral Design Awards
- The Dorothy Crawford Arrangement Award to Michele Spence.
The Novice Bowl to Elizabeth Oberdorf.
The Gardeners Bowl to Edwina White.
The Huey Platter to Michele Spence.
Horticulture Awards
- The Mary Helen Lloyd to Deb Donaldson.
The Dorrance Daffodil Award to Sandy Nesbitt.
Photography Award
- The Longacre Photography Trophy was presented to Bonnie Buchak.
New and Old Business:
- Judy Shekmar, who is representing the club at the Shirley Meneice Conference in September, asked the membership to collect seeds over the summer in order for her to participate in the seed exchange at the conference.
- Binney asked for hostesses for the September meeting.
- Karen Nagel, co-chair of Cards and Ribbons PHS, asked for volunteers for the upcoming Flower Show.
- Sandy Beale thanked all who participated in the beautification of Stoneleigh throughout the past year.
- Liz Ward extended her thanks to the membership for their work in the St. John’s gardening projects.
The meeting was adjourned and the membership happily enjoyed their lovely box lunches and more importantly the opportunity to socialize with each other one final time before our summer recess.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Shekmar, Recording Secretary
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Reports Submitted:
June 2022 Treasurer’s Report – Bonnie Buchak
Submitted June 14, 2022
Following is our financial activity between May 6, 2022 and June 12, 2022:
Balance in WSFS Checking Account as of June 12, 2022: $37,286.74
Balance in WSFS Savings Account as of May 31e, 2022: $43,098.07
| Income/Expense by Category: | May 6, 2022-June 12, 2022 | |
| INCOME | ||
| 2022 Spring Social | $ 2,250.00 | |
| 2022 Dues | 5,780.00 | |
| TOTAL INCOME | $ 8,030.00 | |
| EXPENSES | ||
| Website Maintenance | $ 615.00 | |
| TOTAL EXPENSES | $ 615.00 | |
| NET INCOME | $ 7,415.00 | |
The deadline for dues payment is July 1, 2022.
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THE GARDENERS
PRELIMINARY ANNUAL TREASURER’S REPORT
7/2021 – 6/2022
Beginning Balance July 1, 2021: $39,650.94
INCOME
2022 Dues $ 5,780.00
2021 Dues 1,230.00
2022 Spring Party/Fundraiser 2,250.00
Conservation Plant Sale 555.00
Miscellaneous 65.00 (donations, club merchandise sale)
TOTAL INCOME $9,880.00
EXPENSES
Christmas Workshop $ 508.98
Directory 273.78
GCA Annual Meeting 840.59
GCA Dues 3,286.00
Grants 3,370.00
Hort Committee 50.00
PCGCA Dues, Hostess Fees 300.00
Program Expenses 1,499.90 (venue, speaker, other)
Storage Rental 1,256.76
Website Hosting and Maintenance 615.00
Miscellaneous 243.19 (Corresp., memorials, treas.)
TOTAL EXPENSES $12,244.20
Ending Balance June 12, 2022: $37,286.74
Beginning Balance WSFS Savings 7/1/2021: $43,087.96
Interest 7/1/2021 – 5/31/2022: $10.11
Ending Balance WSFS Savings 5/31/2022: $43,098.07
Notes: Final Annual Report will be distributed at the end of our fiscal year, 6/30/22.
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Photography Report – Sarah Collier
Photography Committee Report June 2022
Unfortunately the photography show this year was again held virtually and we were unable to hold any workshops due to Covid restrictions. The Photography show was still a great success and we hope to upload the show onto the Club website. In the meantime if you would like to receive your own copy for future reference, please contact Sarah Collier after June 28th (in UK).
I’m delighted to announce that The Gardeners Longacre Photography Award is awarded to Bonnie Buchak.
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Ronald McDonald and Judges Representative – Holly Amsterdam
This year we were able to provide arrangements to the families and children being supported by the Ronald McDonald house. Due to Covid protocols, we were not allowed to arrange the items on site, but rather arranged them at Saint Asaph church and brought the finished arrangements to the Facility. A wonderful group of arrangers joined and constructed the arrangements and they were very well received. We are looking forward to doing this again fall if 2022.
As the flower show judges support, I simply coordinated by contacting the assigned judges with the schedule, location and directions and time of our shows. I offered boxed lunches as we were not able to offer our typical lunch. (No one ever accepted my offer). I met them at the show, prepared a little area for them to wait with copies of the schedule, waters, pens, clip boards, name tags, etc. after the show I gave them each a thank you card and small plant as a thank you from The Gardeners.
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The Gardeners Membership Committee Annual Report June 8th, 2022
Our Membership goal for this and next fiscal year was to grow our membership; members were asked to consider bringing interested friends to one of our meetings.
The Gardeners welcomed one new provisional member early this year, Holly Stoviak, who unfortunately has resigned. In the Spring, we welcomed Sally Bauer as our newest provisional.
We also lost 2 of our members – Cricket Roberts and Pam Thompson – who sadly passed away.
Our current membership stands at 32 Active, 1 Provisional, 13 Sustaining, and 9 Affiliates.
Attending our May cocktail party were 3 guests whom we hope will consider joining The Gardeners this coming year, with the promise of further possible new members having been made by a number of our members.
This Spring, our membership voted to accept our Membership Bylaws as amended, and a revision of our Membership Procedures.
Respectfully submitted,
Judi Garst
Membership Chair
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Horticulture Report – Presley Schwinn
With the invaluable help of co-Chair Judy Shekmar, we planned several activities over the course of the year beginning on November 16th with a hardwood propagation workshop hosted by Alice Doering at her home in Wayne. Eight members attended and were provided with a container, planting medium and cuttings from Alice’s garden. It was so informative and hopefully we can all continue with propagating wonderful treasures from around our properties.
On April 4th, we were led by David Culp around his fabulous garden, Brandywine Cottage in Downingtown. There was a nice turnout of around 15-20 members who paid $10 each. David’s books were available for sale and flew off the shelf. What a great way to greet Spring with hellebores and many other early spring ephemerals.
Then, Deb Donaldson opened her home on April 28th to learn all about succulents. She graciously treated us to many culinary delights before settling down in her living room with her prize winning succulent plants. So much invaluable information was provided encouraging us to give the species a try and hopefully enter a flower show. Plants were distributed at the end of the program.
The two May activites, a members garden tour and a visit to Wyck House and Garden in Germantown, were cancelled due to a lack of gardens to visit and interest in touring Wyck. Perhaps we can try again sometime in the future.
Respectfully submitted,
Presley Schwinn Horticulture Committee
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Civic Engagement Report – Sandy Beale
Since September we have had the privilege of meeting at STONELEIGH each Tuesday, 9-11 until March and resuming in April.
We are under the guidance of Samatha Nestory. The experience affords instruction, “hands on”, fresh air and great camaraderie.
Sandy Beale, chairman Civic Engagement Committee
JUL