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Garden Club plans holiday activities

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The Hillsboro Garden Club met October 27, 2009 at the Floral Hall on the Highland County Fairgrounds.  President Nancy Baldwin led the group in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.  Minutes of the September meeting were read and approved.  Roll call was answered by "What does your garden soil need this fall?" Members agreed compost and fertilizer are always needed.  The Treasurer's report was given and filed for audit.
The floral design for the evening was created by Carol Gorby.  Fall colored mums with split-leaf philodendron leaves in a creative container set the Halloween mood for the meeting.  A second Halloween design by Rose Marie Cowdrey featured orange painted dried alliums and dried black philodendron leaves resembling flying witches in a creative container graced the refreshment table.  Iris Cormell also displayed her final dahlia of the season, a lovely white blossom.
Motion was made and passed to allow the Marshall Schoolhouse Committee to utilize our unused decorated sleighs as the table décor for their fund-raising dinner.  They will be auctioned off afterwards with a 50/50 split of the profits.  Three of the sleighs will be kept and presented to former members Dorothy Williams, Kathleen Griffith, and Ann Rehark as mementoes from the club.
Nancy Baldwin announced that the book for Rose Marie Cowdrey's entry  in OAGC's Outstanding Garden Club Member is nearly complete and will soon be on its way to the contest chairman.
Publicity Chair Pat Lawrence reported on the new column running in the Times Gazette, "Gardening from A to Z." She is very pleased with the space given the column and also the article printed with the Fair Flower Show results.
Rose Marie Cowdrey, Ruth Anna Duff, and Ed Davis attended the Gourd Show in Greenville, Ohio in September.  They enjoyed it very much and urged our club to attend next year.  Ed has a list of seeds available for purchase if interested.
Ruth Anna Duff reported on the Regional Meeting held on October 8.  Nearly a dozen Colonial-type arrangements were assembled by Nathan Zurkowwitz and Julia Hidy.  Most were suitable for table and mantle décor and used apples, lemons and pineapple as well as dried and fresh floral materials.  The afternoon program featured a skit by Julia Hidy who explained uses of herbs in Colonial times.
Civic Service Chair Gloria Wright announced initial plans for the Holiday Parade on Nov. 28.  No theme for the parade has been announced but we do plan to publicize our 80th anniversary of the garden club.  Members will ride in a decorated truck or wagon.
Jennifer West displayed pictures of the  flower bed at the Hillsboro Library which was renovated with the help of the Garden Club.  Junipers, spruce and taxus were planted with a Weeping Redbud as the central specimen tree. Mulch was supplied by Mike & Gloria Wright, Jennifer West provided the stepping stones, and spring bulbs and daylilies divisions were requested from members.  Many thanks to the Beautification Committee for all their help.
Nancy Sonner  just returned from two weeks in Hawaii.  She gave a brief talk on her visit and some of the changes she noticed since an earlier visit - mainly the disappearance of pineapple plantations and dairies which have been replaced by coffee trees.  Milk and produce items are very expensive now.
In preparation for the Fair Flower Shows, Chairman Rose Marie Cowdrey and her committee will meet to select designs and consider new selections offered in the catalogs that will soon be arriving.
"Get Well" cards were signed for Beryl Gruelle, Leona Gabriel and "Thinking of You" cards will go to Dena Benner and Teresa Cudkowicz.
Members were reminded to prepare for the Spring Plant Sale over the winter. We will no longer be hosting the Lavender Tea since the festival has been discontinued. The plant sales remain our main source of revenue, so let's pot up those seedlings and divisions for the auction!
Overgrown bushes have been removed from the front of the Floral Hall and a ground cover has been planted.  Beryl Gruelle has some suggestions for shrubs appropriate for the area.  It was agreed that new shrubs will be purchased and installed this fall.
The club Christmas Party will be held Dec. 1 at the Ponderosa Party House.  Members were reminded of the Gift Wrap Contest for the gift exchange.
Mary Jane Espelage presented her program, "Benefits of Horse Manure in the Garden."  This natural source of fertilizer has many advantages over manufactured fertilizer.  Animal manure has been used for centuries for fertilizer, mostly because it was plentiful and convenient.  Over the years, its fans have found it to be a boon to soil of any type.  It loosens heavy clay soil by providing humus to break up the large clumps of soil and promote better drainage; it gives texture and water holding properties to loose sandy and rocky soil by slowing the passage of water and nutrients through the soil.  It has many trace elements beneficial to the soil and plants not available otherwise.  Fresh manure buried beneath the soil can be used as a cold frame heat source so the growing season can be started earlier or prolonged into winter.  Most often the manure should be well dried or composted before using but one orchid grower in Tasmania has grown orchids in fresh horse manure only for over 20 years and swears by it.  Mary Jane has used this by-product for many years and had a sample of aged manure to examine.  During the aging process the manure, which is 88% water, breaks down and dries out.  No odor - and it looks like the finest black soil!
Delightful Halloween refreshments were served by Rose Marie Cowdrey and Iris Cormell to Nancy Baldwin, Phyllis Burns, Juanita Carson, Ed Davis, Ruth Anna Duff, Mary Jane Espelage, Carol Gorby, Danny Gross, Cindy Johnson, Francis Larkin, Pat Lawrence, Kathy Matthews, Larry Moore, Mary Smith, Nancy Sonner, Jennifer West, and Gloria Wright.
The next meeting will be held on Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. at the Floral Hall. Arlene Huiet will have the arrangement for the evening, Kathy Matthews will have the program and Jennifer West and Nancy Baldwin will be the hostesses.
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