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Leamington Report 2009
by Giovanna Day
Leamington
2009 Report
The Leamington Horticultural society during the 2009 season had 100 members, 12 of which were corporate members. In 2008, the LHS invited local businesses involved in any aspect of the flower industry, to become corporate members. For an annual fee of $35, the business would be listed in our newsletter, members encouraged to buy from them and each business would be given the opportunity once a year to promote their business during one of our general meetings. This has proven to be a success.
Each year the club holds three main fundraising events—a raffle, a wreath making workshop and a plant sale. Raffle tickets are sold throughout February, March and April at a number of venues and during our May general meeting the winning tickets are picked. The prizes this year are: first prize, $500 cash; second prize- a wooden planter and there are two third prizes of $50 gift certificates each, from our corporate members.
During the Mother's Day weekend we hold our annual plant sale. Members generously donate their plants and time to make this fundraiser a success. Many local gardeners look forward to this event to buy new plants for their gardens at a good price.
In November we have our much appreciated wreath making workshop. The general public is invited to come and make a fresh wreath or a winter pot to decorate their home for the Christmas Holidays. For the price of $25 for a wreath and $30 for a pot, clients are supplied with everything necessary to make these fresh decorations, from greenery that has been specially prepared with picks so they can easily be inserted in straw circles (also provided) to natural and artificial berries, flowers etc., to bows to give a finishing touch to both wreath and planter.
The money that is raised during the above events is used in a variety of ways. Some is spent buying annuals to plant in cement planters along the main streets of Leamington to beautify the town during the summer months; some is used to revamp flower beds in various town locales; some to provide bursaries to deserving students who plan to pursue a career in agriculture and some to defray the cost of attending the OHA conventions.
We have redesigned and revamped our newsletter. It is now a full colour, four page publication containing interesting horticulture related articles as well as the club's upcoming events. Currently we are encouraging members to express their view on whether to keep or change our present logo flower, the geranium, as some members feel we should use a flower native to our area. A vote on this issue will take place this November.
During the year we hold two festive get-togethers—one, a picnic at a member's house; the other a Christmas dinner at a local restaurant. In 2010 our club is celebrating our 60th anniversary. A committee was struck to plan events for the year and many interesting and worthwhile projects are in the planning stages to make 2010 a memorable year for the Leamington Horticultural society.
This year we gave a Service Award to one of our valuable members, Marg Ross.
Thank You, Giovanna Day
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