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Annual Report

District 5
2010 Society Highlights

Agincourt - We had great speakers at our meetings and happily ate our way through an Apple Dessert contest in April. At our May Plant Sale we sold bouquets for Mothers Day, and we enjoyed terrific entertainment by the Ulster Accordion Band at our Pot Luck Dinner and Show in December.

Aurora - Last September, at the Apples and Honey event of the Aurora Farmers Market, AGHS designers and youth created a topiary, centrepiece and critters from donated vegetables and fruit. This helped us promote our annual flower show. The creations were then auctioned and earned $146 for the local food bank.

Beach - Our community projects and plantings included the Beach Library Garden and Northern Dancer Garden. As a fundraiser, we produced Notelets from member photos and sold them in packages of 6.

East York - We had an extremely busy year, including maintenance of our public garden every Saturday and participation in our local community parade in July. We also worked very hard on the East York Blooming Contest, organizing the viewing and judging of front-yard gardens with Toronto's Parks Department.

Greater Toronto Bulb - We held our inaugural meeting in October and signed up 64 members on the spot. Thank you to many people who helped us start up: Rosemary Dobson who initiated the idea, her son for the logo, Paul Zammit and the TBG who hosted that first meeting, Dugald Cameron and Mike Maves, our first speakers, everyone who joined the Board, and Dave Money who took on the paperwork for our application to become part of OHA District 5. We are very happy to be the 18th society in the district!

Greater Toronto Rose - This year we had our first booth at Canada Blooms. Our main fund raiser is rose-scented soap and we sold plenty during those four days. We celebrated our 30th anniversary at our November meeting and were pleased to have all but one of our original board members at this very special event.

Greater Toronto Water Garden - In addition to successful meetings, a good plant sale, and our usual excellent Water Garden Tour, we enjoyed a Christmas season brunch and comedy at the Class Act Dinner Theatre. The main actor was stranded in a snowstorm in London so the owner of the theatre stepped in to play the part with script in hand. Bloopers, missed cues - we never laughed so hard!

Lake Simcoe Gardeners - We prepared 75 plant kits for the local food pantry so their clients can grow their own gardens. We had booths at two town festivals, and held a pot luck luncheon and garden tour with enough food to feed an army and gorgeous gardens to boot. We also presented children's programs in three local schools in spring and fall.

Leaside - We had an information table at our local Eco-Fair, including a children's planting experience. We were part of an environmental clean-up day and continued with ongoing community plantings, one being the Toronto Rehab-Lyndhurst Centre where we've maintained their accessible gardens for 20 years. And, happily, our design entries at Canada Blooms and the CNE each won first place in their categories!

Markham - Our activities included planting tulips and daffodils around local schools. Amaryllis were planted by the children for indoor beautification and were used for the measurement unit in the first grade. As the flowers grow so quickly the children measured them every day. In the last few years our February speakers have talked about a country he or she has visited to study different species, and to add to the experience, we decorate the room, tables, etc to correspond with the theme of the talk.

Mount Albert - We continued to work with Friends of the Library, the Library Board and the Town of East Gwillimbury to complete the Literacy Garden with the Grand Opening being in May 2010. We installed three benches in the community garden at the Birchard Parkette, a joint project with York Region Water for Tomorrow. And we provided vegetable-related activities for children attending the Sharon Temple Museum Harvest Festival.

Newmarket - We had information booths at different town events, two being the Home Show and Canada Day at Fairy Lake. We provide a $500 bursary to a Newmarket High School graduate for studies in a horticulture-related field, this year for a student in a four-year Environmental Science program at Queens. We created two volunteer appreciation awards – Lifetime Membership Award and Volunteer of the Year Award. And we continued planning the 2011 AGM!

North Toronto - We were delighted to recapture the OHA District 5 2010 award for highest points in Horticulture and the brand new Dave and Bev Money Award for Most Points in Horticulture and Design. At our November meeting, our annual slide show included members' gardens in Leaside and Cobourg, the Puerto Vallarta Botanical garden, a river boat tour in Russia and a flower-pot type garden in Tacoma Washington.

North York - We participated in "Get the Jump on Spring" at the TBG, held a workshop on garden photography, answered gardening questions at a booth at Bayview Village Garden Tour, and this year began a new community outreach initiative: supporting Parkview Neighbourhood Garden.

Riverdale - Interesting speakers and topics, a gardening program with palliative care patients at Bridgepoint Health Centre, maintaining a perennial garden in Withrow Park, a strawberry social, pot-luck suppers – those are some of our highlights!

Scarborough - We have an extremely active juniors group inspired by the outstanding leadership of Jean Cope. We listened to excellent speakers, had a plant sale eagerly anticipated by the community, and a bus tour that sold out in no time. Our flower show in September has a loyal following of exhibitors who provide plants of excellent quality. A couple of years ago we introduced teaching sessions at the show which has increased the number of non-members who attend.

Stouffville – 2010 was an awesome year for our society. We moved to a new home and our membership grew substantially. In June the Masons invited us to do the table arrangements for their 150th anniversary celebration. Most of the season, we were at Parkview Senior Centre building wooden planters and then placing perennials in them. Finally, at our AGM and pot-luck dinner in November we enjoyed Christmas music by the "Stouffville Brass".

Toronto Region Rhododendron - Our main focus has been the renovation of the rhodo beds in Edwards Gardens. Lots of hard work, but worth it! Last year we renovated the Rhododendron Dell in High Park and we continue to pop by to see how it is doing and chase away some of the less welcome 'companions'.

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Last Updated: 2011-10-14