2008:
The Club started the year in a very healthy state, finance-wise, with a credit balance of $446.26 in its working account and an amount of $2,000 in the Diocesan investment account. Membership was also increasing!
Keeping up with technology, the Club accepted the offer of member Ian Pick to create a website to which only financial members would have access. Although slow to get off the ground and with some members not having computers, more members are accessing this website and it is proving to be a big success.
The annual inter-Club Friendship Day was held at Banora Point in May when four Club members attended. Although it was felt the day was extremely well organised, it was also felt that some speakers were given too much time and people not seated nearby would have had difficulty in seeing the demonstrations. However, Bangalow was chosen to host the 2009 Friendship Day – a new challenge for the Club! A sub-committee was elected and organisational meetings will be held to ensure the success of 2009 event!
The garden competition schedule was re-vamped slightly, with most of all the usual categories being retained and a couple of new ones being introduced. Our Promotions officer, Helen, was extremely successful in obtaining many sponsors, with prize money being greatly increased and Elders coming on board as the major sponsor. Champion Garden was awarded $200, and the other three major winners awarded $100 each. 2008 major winners were:
Victor Smith Perpetual Trophy……………………… Champion Garden………….. Rosemary & David Hill
Millicent Avery Memorial Perpetual Trophy… Reserve Champion………… Carol & Colin Cook
Mr & Mrs. C. James Perpetual Trophy………….. All Seasons Garden……….. Shirley & Vince Boyle
Percy Hart Memorial Perpetual Trophy…………. Best Landscaped Garden.. Rosemary & David Hill
Of the 26 gardens entered in the 2008 competition, 16 belonged to Club members. The children’s plant section attracted 28 entries from Bangalow Public School.
Members had enjoyed all social outings for the year, with the highlight being a bus trip to Roma Street Gardens and Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens in Brisbane.
There were 28 members in attendance at the November AGM. Treasurer Kath Amor advised that the balance carried forward from 2007 was $472.00. Incoming monies amounted to $6,401.07. Expenses amounted to $5,597.06, leaving a balance of $804.01. The balance of the Diocesan Investment fund stands at $3,653.68 earning 7% interest. Election results were as follows:
PRESIDENT:……………………………………………………………. Mrs Shirley Boyle
VICE PRESIDENTS:………………………………………………… Mr Max Lassen
………………………………………………………………………………….. Mr Richard Rowlands
TREASURER:………………………………………………………….. Mrs Kath Amor
SECRETARY:………………………………………………………….. Mrs Judith Bevan
SOCIAL SECRETARY:…………………………………………… Mrs Helen Johnston
PUBLIC OFFICER:………………………………………………….. Mrs Fay Bogg
STEWARD:………………………………………………………………. Mrs M. Byrne
CATERING OFFICER:……………………………………………. Monthly rotation
LIBRARIAN:……………………………………………………………. Ms Tegan Goodey
PUBLICITY OFFICER:…………………………………………… Ms Tegan Goodey
WEBSITE MODERATOR:………………………………………. Mr Ian Pick
DELEGATES (to Nthn Rivers Regional Council)……. Mrs Shirley Boyle and Mrs Judith Bevan
Members voted to retain the annual membership fees at $5, and the 2008 Christmas luncheon will be held at the Bangalow Bowls Club on Wednesday, 3rd December.
2009:
Membership has increased to over 70! However, all Club members were saddened by the loss of Allan Ernest Dare – one of the Club’s founding members – on 19th April, 2009. Allan will be greatly missed and he has taken with him a tremendous amount of knowledge to the big garden in the sky.
2009 has been a big year for the Club, beginning with hosting the annual get-together for all regional Clubs – Friendship Day. The event was held at the Moller Pavilion in the Bangalow Show grounds on Sunday, 3rd May, with an attendance of approximately 200 people. Thanks to a lot of hard work by a lot of hard-working members, the day was a huge success.
The next momentous occasion for the Club was the change of venue for monthly meetings. The formation meeting for the Club was held in the RSL Hall in 1977 and, apart from a short period when meetings were held in the CWA rooms, Club members have always met and held functions in this hall. However, when a change of administration in RSL bookings caused complications for the Club, it was decided to move meetings to the Anglican Church Hall and the Club held its first meeting there on Wednesday, 6th May.
The annual garden competition was slightly disappointing this year with fewer entries, particularly from Club members. Major winners were:
Victor Smith Perpetual Trophy……………………… Champion Garden………….. Michael & Joy Collings
Millicent Avery Memorial Perpetual Trophy… Reserve Champion………… Carol & Colin Cook
Mr & Mrs. C. James Perpetual Trophy………….. All Seasons Garden……….. Michael & Joy Collings
Percy Hart Memorial Perpetual Trophy…………. Best Landscaped Garden.. Colin & Anita White
Three bus trips were organised for members during 2009, two were to Twin Towns for light entertainment, and one was to the annual Spring time in the Mountains at Mt Tamborine. All trips were immensely enjoyed and it is hoped to organize more trips in 2010.
The November AGM showed that the year was a financial success for the Club with a healthy balance to be taken into 2010. Results of the election were as follows:
PRESIDENT:……………………………………………………………. Mrs Helen Johnston
VICE PRESIDENTS:………………………………………………… Mrs Shirley Boyle and Mr Ian Pick
TREASURER:………………………………………………………….. Mrs Kath Amor
SECRETARY:………………………………………………………….. Mrs Hilary Wise
SOCIAL SECRETARY:…………………………………………… Mrs Dell Smith
ASSISTANT SOCIAL SECRETARY:…………………….. Mrs Maddie Jackson
PUBLICITY OFFICERS:…………………………………………. Mrs H. Jackson, Ms J. Baker & Mrs F. Bogg
STEWARD:………………………………………………………………. Mrs Kath Amor
CATERING OFFICER:……………………………………………. Mrs Rosemary McDonald
ASSISTANT CATERING OFFICER:……………………… Mrs Jan Crowle
LIBRARIAN:……………………………………………………………. Ms Judy Baker
PUBLIC OFFICER:………………………………………………….. Mr Lou Dingjan
WEBSITE MODERATOR:………………………………………. Mr Ian Pick
DELEGATES (to Nthn Rivers Regional Council)……. Mrs Judith Bevan and Ms Ginny Giorgio
The Club’s final fund-raising event for the year was at the Bangalow Market where we were again given the opportunity to be “The Charity of the Day”. Members were generous with both their time to work on the stall and donations for the stall, with $460 being raised and the additional amount of $1,425 given to the Club by the Market organisers.
2010:
President Helen Johnston started the year by sending out a survey to all Club members to get an indication of what members were wanting. The feedback indicated that members were keen to get some practical gardening information at each meeting and, with this in mind, Helen introduced “Plant of the Month” wherein a different Club member brought along his/her favourite plant and gave a short talk on its merits. The usual monthly flower competition continued with the addition of each member giving a very brief talk on the flower brought along. Periodically, non-club member speakers were also invited to give talks on their special topics. The survey also indicated that there was not enough support for a Garden Club competition and this was not held in 2010 but further discussions were to take place early 2011 to see if there would be enough support for a competition that year. There has been general dissatisfaction with the way the “Northern Star” has run this year’s regional competition with a couple of Clubs going alone and not participating in the newspaper’s competition. This situation will be taken into consideration when the Club decides its actions in 2011.
Casino Garden Club paid a visit to us in February 2010. Firstly they enjoyed a walk around the Bangalow swimming pool, followed by lunch in the Church hall, a visit to a local farm where delicious macadamia pastes were made and lastly a visit to the delightful garden of Club member John England.
Our guest speakers included members Shirley Nelson, Kath Amor, Hazel Sowerby, Jan Lee and Judith Bevan. External speakers were Jane Davenport – author and photographer who describes herself as an artomologist, Leah Roland – a chef who gave us a wonderful cooking demonstration, and Sharon Gibson – an expert in compost making.
Fourteen Club members made the trip to Uki for this year’s Friendship Day on 2nd May. Thanks to the generosity of all members, the auction table continued to be very financial for us as well as a lot of fun, and the money raised helped to subsidise bus trips for interested members. The first bus trip was to a bromeliad nursery at Wardell, with the second trip being to the Tweed Orchid Fair. On both of these trips the buses were fully packed with happy Club members who arrived home with arms full of beautiful plants!
A request from the Bangalow Primary School to help with a fund-raising event saw Ginnie Georgio head up a very willing (but small) team of workers who gave demonstrations and talks at the school in October, with the school raising the very nice sum of $2,800. A further request has come from the school for help during first term of 2011 and, again, Ginnie has formed a team to assist the school children to set up a vegetable garden.
Results of the AGM held on 3rd November were:
President: Margaret Byrne
Vic Presidents Wendy Hearne
Hazel Sowerby
Secretary: Gwen Weir
Back Up Helen White
Treasurer: Kath Amor
Social Secretary: Del Smith
Librarian: Judy Baker
Publicity Officers: Helen Johnston
Fay Bogg
Judy Baker
Public officer: Lou Dingjan
Catering Committee: Rosemary MacDonald
Jan Crowle
Auction Table: John England
Web Site: Ian Pick
Garden Club Reps: Judy Bevan
Ginny Giorgio
The Christmas break-up luncheon was held at the beautiful Byron at Byron Resort with approximately 60 members attending.
2011:
The Club got into the swing of things in February with a visit to the beautiful garden of Vicky Brook – a new member. On a very wet Saturday afternoon in March we visited three gardens in the one day! All three gardens (two belonging to members Fay Bogg and John England) were located in Newrybar, and John kindly hosted a very enjoyable Club get-together at the end of the day. Other gardens visited in 2011 included those of Michael and Joy Collings, Fae Flick, Gwen Weir, Max Lassen and Jan Crowle, with a visit to the Lismore Botanical Gardens as well. November saw a bus load of happy gardeners head north to the Mudgeerabah area of Southern Queensland.
As well as the happy occasions this year, there were sad times as well when we lost long-standing member Dorothy Welstead and the husbands of members Shirley Boyle and Jo Schneider.
Although not a great deal of members wanted to hold a garden competition in 2011 and initial interest was minimal, a competition was successfully held and the standard of entries was very high. The Club chose not to be a part of the Northern Star annual competition and, interestingly, there were only four Clubs who did take part in the newspaper competition. Sponsorship was not sought and the Club was able to afford all monetary prizes given to winners. The Club also deviated from the normal practice of appointing officially acknowledged garden judges and appointed Rita Martin from Eden Country Stores and Marie Curran from Eden Byron Nursery as judges. Major winners were:
Champion Garden Victor Smith Perpetual Trophy Shirley Nelson
Reserve Champion Millicent Avery Memorial Perpetual Trophy Wendy Edmonds
Best Landscaped Garden Percy Hart Memorial Perpetual Trophy Shirley Nelson
All Seasons Garden Mr & Mrs C. James Perpetual Trophy Joy & Michael Collings
With a fantastic team comprising Ginny Giorgio, Max Lassen and Alison Jarrett, the Bangalow Primary School’s budding young gardeners have been given much helpful assistance and information. A cash donation from the Club purchased equipment, gloves and seedlings for the school’s use and their vegie garden was given a special award by our competition judges.
Guest speakers at our meetings during 2011 included Gwen Weir, Beth Noble, Neutrog Fertilizers, Tracey Knowland from Bangalow Wholesale Nursery and Fay Bogg.
Thanks to the generosity of all members, the monthly trading table was a roaring success providing a steady income for the Club. It was decided that it was also time to update the Club’s Constitution which had not been changed since incorporation – a long overdue exercise! Members continually contributed to the “Flower of the Month” competition – won by Wendy Hearne – and “Plant of the Month” speakers gave helpful information to everyone.
The November AGM showed the Club in a very healthy financial position and election results were:
President: Hazel Sowerby
Vic Presidents: Wendy Hearne and Ian Pick
Secretary: Gwen Weir
Treasurer: Kath Amor
Social Secretary: Alison Jarrett
Caterers: Rosemary MacDonald and Jan Crowle
Librarian: Judy Baker
Website: Ian Pick
Auctioneer: Shirley Boyle
Publicity Officers: Helen Johnston, Fay Bogg and Judy Baker
Public Officer: Lou Dingjan
Representative to NCRC: Shirley Boyle and Judith Bevan
A most enjoyable lunch at The Harvest Café was a fitting end to 2011!
2012:
February meeting got the year off to a great start with 40 members attending and 6 new members being welcomed. Membership continued to increase during 2012, with approximately 90 members registered with the Club by the end of the year. Monthly meetings were always well attended, vibrant, busy and with great gardening tips! Members really appreciated the regular guest speakers. Venues for the Saturday visits included Idyll Hours Nursery, the gardens of Vicky and Garry Mann, Lynn and Greg Plummer, as well as Club members’ gardens. A bus load of very happy gardeners made the trek to Mt Tamborine at the end of September.
Fund raising was solely done through the monthly trading table auction, where the generosity of members realized a staggering amount of over $2,000 going into Club coffers – well done all members! One had to be quick to make bids on items being auctioned!
2012 saw the loss of one of the Club’s longest-standing members, Artie Prentice. Artie had been a member almost since the club’s inauguration and his knowledge and helpful hints will be greatly missed.
The November AGM results were:
Joint Presidents: Helen Johnston and Hazel Sowerby
Vice President: Wendy Hearne
Vice President: Lynette Binns
Secretary Gwen Weir
Treasurer: Kath Amor
Social Secretary: Alison Jarrett.
Website: In Abeyance
Caterers: Rosemary McDonald and Jan
Librarian: Judy Baker
Publicity Officer: Helen Johnston
Public Officer: Lou Dingjan
Representatives to NCRC: Judith Bevan and Shirley Boyle
Auctioneer: Shirley Boyle and Ginnie Giorgio
The monthly Flower of the Month competition continued to be popular with lots of wonderful flowers appearing every month. Winners for this year’s award were Beth Noble and Jan Lee – both gardeners of particular note!
Members continued to use the club’s library, with new books being added to the collection regularly.
In October, a survey was sent out to gauge interest in conducting the Garden Competition in the future. Overwhelmingly, members responded that most thought it was an outdated event and there were only nine out of 82 members interested in participating in it. With considerable regret, the president (Hazel Sowerby) moved that the Club no longer run the Garden Competition and the motion was carried.
The end of year break-up lunch was again held at “Harvest Café” at Newrybar with 63 members attending – a great time was had by all!
2013:
Yet again, the Club has had a very successful, busy and happy year. Membership has continued to increase and we now boast over 100 members! Meetings are well attended, noisy and most enjoyable with magnificent afternoon teas being provided. Our auctions also continue to produce a sizeable income for the Club and no other fund-raising has been necessary. August trading table provided a record amount of $563.50! Because of our very healthy financial position, Club donations to other organizations were increased.
What a wonderful range of guest speakers we had this year! Jan Lee taught us heaps about arranging flowers for table decorations and vase arrangements, and these arrangements were bargained for most vociferously when put onto the trading table for sale! Other Club members who spoke were Diana Harden, Del Smith and Denise Stobbart, while we also had speakers from Friends of the Koalas, WIRES, Eden Country Store and Stephen Sayer who gave a very informative talk on Strelitzias.
Diana Harden, Elspeth and Ian Lacey and Vicki Brooke all opened their gardens as part of the November Open Garden Scheme.
A bus load of happy gardeners visited Kyogle in October on a perfect spring day. Members had a lovely time buying plants from Daley’s Nursery before visiting two wonderful gardens belonging to members of the Kyogle Garden Club.
In October, senior members Fae Flick, Dot Gill, Beth Noble, Daisy Dare, Carol Cook, Max Lassen, Marie Flick and Shirley Boyle all spoke about their involvement in the Club. Rita Cowled from the Historical Society also gave a short talk. As the Club is no longer conducting garden competitions, a motion was put to members that the Historical Society could house the trophies and banner belonging to the Club, but to be returned to the Club if competitions were resumed. This motion was passed in the affirmative. Trophies and the banner are now housed with the Historical Society in Bangalow.
Thanks to our Publicity Officer, Helen Johnston, the Club is regularly receiving publicity in Bangalow’s Heartbeat monthly magazine. The September edition contained a wonderful full-page article on its history and members. This prompted a letter from Jan Hulbert who had been an inaugural member of the Club in 1977. Jan felt that the Heartbeat article had not fully covered all the history and helpfully gave us more information on some of the Club’s early members.
The November AGM saw the following members elected to various positions:
Joint Presidents: Helen Johnston & Wendy Hearne
Vice Presidents: Jane Collins & Stephen Wedd
Treasurer: Kath Amor
Secretary: Gwen Weir
Social Secretaries: Diana Harden, Deborah Adams & Carol Gamble
Website: Fay Bogg
Caterers: Rosemary McDonald, Jan Crowle and Carol Lea
Librarian: Judy Baker
Flower of the Month: Denise Stobbart
Plant of the Month: Steven Wedd
Publicity Officers: Helen Johnston & Ian Lacey
Public Officer: Margaret Byrne
Representative to NCRC: Stan Heywood
Auctioneers: Shirley Boyle and Ginnie Giorgio
The December break-up Club lunch was held at The Figtree Restaurant at Ewingsdale with an attendance of 84 members. The venue, food and company could not have been better!
2014:
The year got off to a flying start with 73 members attending February’s meeting and, on only 2 occasions, did the number of attendees go under 70. Membership reached 140 during the year – the Club continues to bloom! Meetings are cheerful and noisy with much jolly discussion happening during our scrumptious afternoon teas. Meeting Minutes are now distributed to members from the club’s own email address of info@bangalowgardenclub.com.
External guest speakers covered topics such as regeneration, bromeliads, garden pots, organic gardening and fungi while our Club guest speakers included Steven Wedd, Jane Collins and Colin White. At September meeting, our “expert panel” of Beth Noble, Carol Gamble and Alison Jarrett answered questions from the floor on a variety of subjects. “Plant of the Month” speakers were Steven Wedd, Hilary Wise, Beth Noble, Judith Kaveney, Diana Harden, Allison Jarrett, Carol Gamble and Monica Wilcox. Our “Flower of the Month” competition is becoming quite competitive with Steven Wedd taking the award this year.
There were some very inspiring gardens visited during 2014 with members Diane Stuart, Hazel Sowerby, Elaine Becker and Colin White opening their beautiful gardens for us. We also visited gardens in Booyong and Possum’s Creek plus the bromeliad nursery at Wardell and a biodynamic garden at Mullumbimby. Quite a variety! September’s annual bus trip took a bus load of very happy gardeners to Mt Tamborine for a day of looking, admiring, learning and buying!
During the year, Judith and Brian Bevan were farewelled when they left the district for an easier life on a smaller property out of the area.
Our bright and happy year was saddened with the loss of Patricia and Mac Gibson who had been long-standing members as well as Patrons of the Club.
The November AGM saw the following members elected to positions:
Co-President: Wendy Hearne
Co-President: Margaret Bruce
Vice President: Liz Hind
Secretary Gwen Weir
Treasurer: Kath Amor
Asst. Treasurer: Jan Lee
Garden Visits Soc. Secretaries: 1) Diana Harden 2) Deborah Adams
Guest Speaker Soc. Secretary: Carol Gamble
Website: Fay Bogg
Caterers: 1) Allison Jarrett 2) Sandra Mankowski
3) Carol Lea 4) Denise Willis
Librarian: Judy Baker
Publicity Officers: 1) Ian Lacey 2) Hilary Wise
Public Officer: Margaret Byrne
Representatives to NCRC: 1) Stan Heywood 2) Marlene Heywood
Auctioneers: 1) Shirley Boyle 2) Hazel Sowerby
Flower of the Month: Denise Stobbart
Plant of the Month Co-ord.: Steven Wedd
Our Christmas lunch was again held at the Figtree Restaurant on a very hot summer’s day. Three of our members were made Patrons and Life Members of the Club – they were Marie Flick, Shirley Boyle and Max Lassen. These three people have dedicated much time and effort to the Club and fully deserve this recognition.
2015:
The year got off to a flying start with 83 members in attendance at the February meeting. In fact, attendance during the whole of 2015 ranged from 73 to 90 members at every meeting. Membership grew to the staggering figure of 150 at a time when other garden clubs were struggling to retain their membership. Long-standing Patron Daisy Dare was acknowledged and given a gift of a gardening trowel at the February meeting.
A very sizeable income was gained from the auction table and this made it possible, again, for the Club to subsidize a bus trip and the Christmas lunch. The October bus trip was to the Murwillumbah hinterland area where 3 marvellous gardens were visited, whilst the Christmas lunch was again held at The Fig Tree Restaurant at Ewingsdale where 75 happy gardeners celebrated another successful year for our Club.
Lists of the Club’s library books were added to the website, thanks to Fay and Judy. Although these books had been stored at the Moller Pavilion for some years, the Show Ground Trust decided that our books could no longer be stored there. A culling was done of the books which were then restricted to four large (and heavy) boxes. A roster system was set up so that these books could be taken away and returned to the Pavilion for every meeting.
We had some very knowledgeable guest speakers as always, with members Stephen Wedd, Fay Bogg, Beth Noble and Leon Coventry giving talks along with non-Club members. The Flower of the Month and Plant of the Month segments continue to be popular. The Q. & A. section provided answers for gardeners with teasing problems. Donations were given to Landcare and the A & I Society.
The November AGM came around all too quickly and the following people took up these positions:
Co-President: Margaret Bruce
Co-President: Robyn Armstrong
Vice President: Leon Coventry
Vice President: Sandra Mankowsky
Secretary Denise Willis
Treasurer: Kath Amor
Asst. Treasurer: Liz Hind
Garden Visits Soc. Secretary: Diana Harden
Guest Speaker Soc. Secretary: Carol Gamble
Website: Fay Bogg
Catering Convenor: Jane Marsden
Librarian: Judy Baker
Publicity Officers: 1) Ian Lacey 2) Helen Johnston
Public Officer: Margaret Byrne
Auctioneers: 1) Shirley Boyle 2) Hazel Sowerby
Flower of the Month: Denise Stobbart
Plant of the Month Co-ord.: Steven Wedd
NCRC Representative: 1) Stan Heywood: 2) Shirley Boyle
With the committee comprising longer-standing members and new members, it is a good balance and augurs well for the future of Bangalow Garden Club. The Club finished a very successful, informative and enjoyable year with Christmas lunch at Elements Resort in Byron Bay.
2016:
February saw 91 members gather for our first meeting of the year, and meeting attendance remained at 74 to 96 members for the entirety of 2016. Needless to say, the quantity of food required to feed our hungry members at afternoon tea demanded many more volunteers on the monthly roster. Luckily, everyone loves a cuppa and a chat and more members happily provided extra food.
With very few people borrowing books from our library and the inability to have a safe storage area for the books, it was decided to offer these for sale to members. This duly happened and those books remaining were either given to charity or tossed out. The library had served us well for many years!
A couple of changes were made to the format of our meetings wherein the “Flowers of the Month” and the “Plant of the Month” segments were combined and a new segment “Bug Spot” was introduced. The “Bug Spot” topic has proved to be a very popular one and is efficiently run by our very knowledgeable member Allison Jarrett, who also runs the Q&A spot.
Our guest speakers were varied and interesting. Topics included controlling Indian Myna birds, rainforest propagation, how to attract birds to our gardens, evergreen and deciduous magnolias, anthuriums, control of local pests using natural control methods and a demonstration on how to make simple posies. The speakers included members Shirley Nelson, Nan Pulsford, Ian Lacey and Jan Lee.
The Bangalow Garden Club came into being in 1977, making 2017 the Club’s 40th anniversary year. Discussions took place on how to celebrate this event and an offer was accepted from member Steven Wedd (an expert dahlia grower) for him to propagate a dahlia for the Club – the dahlia to be called the “Bangalow Ruby”. It is very worth mentioning that Steven and his brother appeared on the cover of the ABC “Gardening Australia” magazine with a great article inside on growing dahlias.
We saw so very many beautiful gardens on our monthly Saturday visits including gardens of members Carol Lea, Shirley Nelson and Nan Pulsford, John Astill, Elspeth and Ian Lacey, Diana Hughes and Debbie Hayward. Other visits were to the Lismore Rainforest Botanic Gardens, Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens and a walk through Heritage Park.
Sadly, we lost ex-member Judith Bevan. Judith had filled the role of secretary for many years and was also Club President for 2004 and 2006. RIP, Judith.
November AGM came around all too soon and the following members accepted roles on the Committee:
Co-Presidents: Margaret Bruce and Robyn Armstrong
Vice Presidents: Sandra Mankowski and Leon Coventry
Treasurer: Liz Hind with assistant Robyn Hazeldon
Secretary: Denise Willis
Social Secretary: Diana Harden
Speaker Co-ordinator: Monica Wilcox with assistant Christina de Water
Membership Secretary: Elspeth Lacey
Catering: Jane Marsden
Bug Spot & Q&A: Allison Jarrett
Website: Fay Bogg
Publicity: Helen Johnston and Ian Lacey
Public Officer: Steven Wedd
Flower of the Month: Denise Stobart
Auctioneers: Hazel Sowerby and Shirley Boyle
As Club numbers had increased a lot during 2016, the end of year lunch was event held at “Elements” in Byron which could cater for our ever-increasing Club. A joyful time was had by a big group of happy gardeners.
2017:
2017 was a very big year for the Bangalow & District Garden Club. It was the Club’s 40th anniversary! To mark this milestone event, Steven Wedd had produced an amazing dahlia (named Bangalow Ruby) and bulbs were made available for sale in February. Our inaugural Bangalow Ruby dahlia grower was Wendy Hearne who produced a marvelous specimen for us to admire. Great celebrations were held on the 4th October for all members to enjoy. Lots of preparation was put in by a small committee and their efforts ensured a very happy and festive afternoon. A few of the longer-standing members (Shirley Boyle, Beth Noble, Hazel Sowerby, Shirley Nelson and Margaret Byrne) reminisced about the founding and early days of the Club, with very-early Club members Daisy Dare and Dot Gill in attendance. The Club was also able to welcome to the Ruby Celebrations Jan Hulbert who was also a very early member of the Club and who could recount stories of the Club’s very early days. Thank you to all who contributed to the organization of the afternoon and to all who attended and made the day a success.
The year got off to a flying start with 88 members attending the February meeting. Attendance stayed in the vicinity of this number throughout the year. A motion was put forward at the 2016 AGM that annual membership fees would be increased to $15 and this was passed unanimously by members. This membership can now be paid by cheque, cash or directly into the Club’s bank account by EFTPOS.
It was a very busy year in many ways. We had many interesting guest speakers including Aaron from the Permaculture Research Institute, Rhett from Rous County Council (talking on noxious weeds) and Julie Ray from the “Garden to Kitchen” team and who also gives cooking classes. Our own members were invaluable with their contributions: Leon Coventry, Steven Wedd, Denise Stobart and Hazel Sowerby, Garry Dwyer and Judy McDonald. What a wealth of knowledge we have in our Club!
Many thanks to the following members who allowed us to visit their gardens: Lesley Player, Gael Solomon, David Williamson and Susan Dempster, Diana Harden, Steven Wedd and Colleen Anderson. We also had a most enjoyable visit to the garden of Peter & Marieke Bleeker.
After years of struggling with a very inadequate PA system, the Club finally invested in a new PA system which has proved to be an indispensable acquisition. Also, it seems that we all have problems with bugs and insect pests in our gardens as the Q & A and Bug Spot segments are always keenly looked forward to.
2017 was a sad year with the loss of two Life Members, Marie Flick and Max Lassen. Both will be remembered for their untiring work for the Club as well as their smiling faces and wonderful gardening knowledge. RIP Marie and Max.
A bus load of very happy gardeners drove out to Tenterfield on the 18th October, and the gardens were just beautiful and so different from the sub-tropical gardens of our area. The trip was a resounding success and 4 gardens were visited with the opportunity to purchase plants, eggs and antiques. Thank you to Diana Harden for organizing such a great day.
November again brought along the AGM, with the following results:
Co-Presidents: Robyn Armstrong and Fay Dwyer
Co-Vice Presidents: Leon Coventry and Sandra Mankowsky
Secretary Denise Willis
Treasurer: Liz Hind
Asst. Treasurer: Sue Brennan
Membership Registrar: Margaret Bruce
Flower of the Month: Denise Stobart
Garden Visits/Social Secretaries Lesley Player & Patricia Ditullio
Guest Speaker Social Secretaries: Mary-Louise Fraser and Margaret Bruce
Q&A/Bug Spot Advisor: Alison Jarrett
Website: Faye Bogg
Catering Convenor: Diana Harden
Publicity Officer: Helen Johnston
Public Officer: Steven Wedd
Auctioneers: Shirley Boyle and Hazel Sowerby
Christmas lunch was held at the function room above the Lennox Hotel and this finished the year on a very high note, with 3 members being made life members: Helen Johnston, Hazel Sowerby and Margaret Byrne. All have contributed to the Club in many ways over many years. Congratulations, ladies! As Helen was absent, she will be presented with her award at the February 2018 meeting.
