Sunday, January 9, 2011

January/February 2011 Newsletter

Note from the President- Welcome to 2011! We have been fortunate so far this winter. There haven’t been any of the below zero temps with no snow cover, we haven’t had any heavy snowfalls to clean up, and now we are already seeing a stronger sunlight with a few minutes of longer daylight. That doesn’t mean we aren’t going to get bad weather, it just means I am looking forward to spring. Two weeks ago when the snow had all melted I was able to go out and find blooms at Pace Gardens. The Hamamelis (Witch Hazels) are in bloom, the Helleborus are in bud with H. “Josef Lemper” in flower, and the Cyclamen are in beautiful leaf and some with buds. There really is something to look forward to.

I finally have the EMHS Membership Directory completed. It has been emailed to the EMHS Board for approval and as soon as I hear back from the remainder of the Board I will email it out to you, the membership. When you receive it please check your information and email any corrections to me immediately. I have the directory in MS Word so I can easily make additions, deletions, and corrections. After your name you will find a year. This is the “Dues paid thru date”. If that date is 2010 you must pay your 2011 dues ($5.00) which can be mailed to Treasurer, Mary Smith at any time, but must be paid by the March meeting for you to continue to receive your newsletter. Any dues paid after that date will not be prorated and will be paid only for the 2011 year. I will email the Membership Applications for you to print out, fill out, and mail to Mary. Her address is on every Membership Application.

There will be a couple of extra meetings this year. We have Clayton Oslund from MN giving a presentation on “Bringing Nature’s Beauty into Your Shady Garden” in March, another Japanese Maple grafting session in late spring (contact Glen if you are interested), and possibly another special meeting in October on dividing a single Hosta crown into multiple plants.

Don’t forget you can view the EMHS blog for updates about EMHS at any time. Go to http://easternmichiganhostasociety.blogspot.com/ anytime night or day to read past meeting minutes, past or present newsletters, and see the next meeting date on right side of the screen.

Lastly, we had no members volunteer to run for Office in 2011. The current Officers have offered to keep their current positions for another term, but if you are interested in running for office in 2011, please contact Mark Hanner.

Glen Pace
EMHS President

2011 Calendar of Events
January 2011- No Meeting
February 17th- Jan Everson presenting a slide show of the 2010 Nat'l Convention
March 11-12th- Hosta College in Piqua, OH
March 17th- Clayton Oslund presenting "The Shady Garden" (first time speaker in our area)
April 14th- Grey Gitzen presenting a slide show on Hellebores
May 12th- Mark Hanner presenting a slide show on Japanese Maples
June 9th- Garden Meeting at the home of Jerry and Bernadette Perrou in Clio
July 14th- Garden Meeting at the home of Carolyn Pickard in Millington
August 11th- Garden Meeting at the home of Dyane Moore
September 8th- EMHS Plant Exchange at the home of Pam Walmsley in Grand Blanc
October 2011- No meeting scheduled
November 2011- No meeting scheduled
December 2011- Annual Christmas Party/Potluck, date to be announced

Next Meeting- will be on February 17th, 2011 at the Mayfield Twp. Hall in Lapeer. This is our regular meeting place just south of the point of M-24 and Saginaw Rd. (north of the cemetery on Saginaw Rd.).

Hosta College- As soon as more information about Hosta College is received a mass emailing will go out to the membership. For those that receive the newsletter by email, be sure to let one of the Board Members know you would like to receive a call when information is available.

Hosta Stones- The 2011 EMHS Hosta Stone featuring H. “American Halo” by Van Wade was unveiled at the December 2010 meeting. If you are interested in purchasing a stone for the member price of $30.00 for the plain or $35.00 for the colored stone (non-member price is $5.00 more), please contact Mick and Cathy Hodgson. Also, the Board has decided to sell the overstock past year Hosta Stones for the discounted price of $20.00. Please call Mick and Cathy for a list of the available stock.

We hope to see you at the February 17th meeting!

EMHS Officers;
President, Glen Pace pacegardens@charter.net 989-244-4029
Vice-President, Carolyn Pickard (no email) 989-871-2873
Treasurer, Mary Smith brooktrout@tds.net 989-871-9833
Secretary, Marlene Daniels gardenfairy50@aol.com 810-664-8317
Past President, Mark Hanner mhanner@aol.com 810-631-4292
Fund-Raising, Mick and Cathy Hodgson cehodgso@hotmail.com 810-664-8985

Meeting Minutes December 09, 2010

The meeting was held at the Mayfield Twp. Hall in Lapeer on 12/09/2010. A number of members arrived early to decorate the hall for the Christmas Party.

Meeting was called to order at 6:00PM by President Glen Pace and everybody welcomed to the EMHS Annual Christmas Party.

Forty-five members were present at the meeting. A literal feast of a buffet was laid out for the party and dinner was served.

Gift Exchange- 30 members participated in a voluntary gift exchange.

Business Meeting-
EMHS Board met on 10/18/2010 and decided;
*Meeting dates for 2011 which are in your newsletter as well as on the blog.
*Dues will remain $5.00 per year, February thru December and are due by the March meeting. Annual dues paid after that date will be only for that current year. No dues will be prorated.
*There will only be one membership per household. Any persons living in the same household will pay one membership and be entitled to all the benefits of a single membership i.e. one vote for that membership, have one chance in the monthly door prize drawings, etc.
*The Board will create a cut-off date for selling Hosta Stones.
*Over-stocked Hosta Stones will be sold at a discount price of $20.00. Call Mick and Cathy for a list of what is available.
*Work on new By-Laws and apply for the appropriate status with the Gov’t.

Election of Officers- Since no member has offered to run for any of the EMHS Offices, the current Officers have offered to keep their positions for another term.

Current Officers Introduced- President, Glen Pace; Vice President, Carolyn Pickard; Past President, Mark Hanner; Secretary, Marlene Daniels; Treasurer, Mary Smith; Fundraising Chairs, Mick and Cathy Hodgson. These people were thanked for all their hard work over the past two years. Glen presented each Officer with a small gift.

USDA/APHIS Encounter- Glen spoke of his encounter with USDA/APHIS and importing plants from China. Synopsis; be sure to have all USDA Permits in place and be sure you are dealing with a reputable person in the foreign country. Be sure all the documents are affixed to the inside and the outside of the package in the country of origin. Be sure the shipper places your Import Permit shipping label to the outside of the package. You are ultimately responsible for the package having all the proper documentation before it enters the USA.

Hosta Stones-The 2011 Hosta Stone featuring H. "American Halo" by Stuart Asch was unveiled by Mick and Cathy Hodgson. 
Special Meeting in March- Clayton Oslund (originator of Shady Oaks Nursery in MN) offered to do a presentation for EMHS. Presentation topics were presented and a vote taken. The presentation will be on “Bringing Natures Beauty into Your Shady Garden”. This will be a one day presentation. The date is on the 2011 Calendar of Events.

Next Meeting- will be February 17th at the Mayfield Twp. Hall in Lapeer. Jan Everson will present a slide show on the 2010 Nat’l Convention.

Dismissed at 8:00 PM