Thursday evening saw the first in-person meeting of the Bond Head-Bradford Garden Club since COVID hit two years ago.
In fact, as Ontario Horticultural Association District 16 President Barbara Collinson noted, it was the first in-person meeting of a Simcoe County Garden Club so far this year.
Collinson attended, both to congratulate the members for remaining engaged over the past difficult months, and to swear in a new 2022 Executive, at what was the club’s Annual General Meeting.
Every pandemic protocol was in place for the AGM, held at the Danube Seniors Leisure Centre in Bradford. Guests were asked to provide proof of vaccination, wear masks, and practice social distancing during the meeting, at which the minutes were read and financial statements updated.
The new Executive, chosen by acclamation, included co-Presidents Mikki Nanowski and Giselle Gutsche (sworn in, in absentia); Past President and Secretary JoAnn Norton, Treasurer Larry Weir, and Directors Jean Calder, Josie MacFadden, Diane Reynolds, Jane Savoie, Linda Stewart, and Sherry Morrow (absent).
“I am so touched and moved that we’re here together,” said Nanowski, expressing the hope that 2022 will see a return of in-person monthly meetings complete with guest speakers, and projects that include the Mother’s Day Plant Sale, annual Plant Auction, and Fall Garden Show and Tea.
“We know that we’re going to go forward – we hope,” she said.
But the evening wasn’t all business.
Member Lynda Usher was recognized as a “champion” of the Audrey Wychopen Memorial Parkette in Bond Head, located at the corner of County Roads 27 and 88, and thanked for her commitment to the maintenance and improvement of the park.
Member Shirley Brown celebrated her 92nd Birthday at the meeting, cheered with a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday, and the presentation of the gift of a Poinsettia, from the club.
And in keeping with the season, special guest Teresa Lipsett provided tips on creating Christmas décor, from centrepieces to wreaths.
Lipsett, a former high school teacher, retired in June – and in September, took a three-week course at the Canadian Institute of Floral Design. As soon as she graduated, she was hired on by the Institute as a instructor.
“I enjoyed it. It’s kind of the next step for me,” Lipsett said as she shared her newly-acquired skills, with enthusiasm and humor.
She provided examples of décor that included an urn – “It’s pretty simple. There’s not a lot in it. For me, the simpler the better!” – a centrepiece in strongly contrasting Christmas colours, a round floral design, and a hand-made 14” wreath.
“I’m kind of a fan of ‘natural’,” Lipsett explained – using all-natural materials from birch logs to pine boughs, cedar, spruce and juniper, much of it culled from local gardens, and floral materials from local nurseries like Mid Valley Gardens in the Holland Marsh.
She shared some of the challenges of creating her designs - especially building her own first wreath.
“It took me a long time, honestly. It has a lot of pieces in it,” Lipsett said, although she was proud of the finished product, a tightly woven wreath of blue spruce and magnolia.
“It was fun to make,” she said. “There’s definite tricks to speeding it up a little bit” – like preparing individual bundles of greenery in advance, to be wired to the wreath frame.
Her goal, she said, was to inspire club members to try it for themselves at home, adding, “If I can do it, anybody can do it!”
The meeting wrapped up with the centrepiece and wreath being given away, in a draw at the end of the presentation – and with cake and ice cream, wishing club members both a ‘Welcome Back’ and a ‘Merry Christmas.’