Friday, October 21, 2011

Oct/Nov 2011 Newsletter

Note from the President- EMHS is at the end of another year of great meetings. We have had speakers from out of town as well as out of state, opened our meeting with a special speaker to other clubs, visited member’s as well as non-member gardens, offered our members the opportunity to buy Hostas at lower than retail prices, gathered to clean the gardens of Pat Carson (member that died this year), and had wonderful friendships renewed as well as made new friendships. Each one of the EMHS Members should be proud of our club as a whole and I wish to thank all of you for another year of EMHS growth and friendship.
I would like to thank all of the members who hosted meetings at their homes this year. We were treated to some beautiful gardens as well as gracious hosts. Also, I want to thank all of the people who donated plants and artwork to our monthly door prize drawings and raffles. Your generosity is very much appreciated. The raffles have been very successful and have been key in raising money used to provide speakers for the spring meetings and helps defray the costs of plates, flatware, cups, table cover, sending the newsletter to those that do not have email, and other costs that the club incurs.
The EMHS Board Members held their annual meeting on 9/27/11. At this meeting we discussed multiple subjects and set most of the meetings for next year. Below you will find the 2012 calendar with the dates, and meeting places listed. Please note that there are a few holes in the calendar. These spaces need to be filled, so consider hosting the meeting in August and/or suggesting a topic for the April meeting.
Cathy and Mick Hodgson are trying to obtain a 2012 Hosta Stone to bring to the Christmas Party. The hybridizer featured this year is Ron Livingston. They are making an order for stones to take to Hosta College in Piqua, OH in March. Those people planning to attend Hosta College are asked to help Mick and Cathy out at the EMHS Hosta Stone sales table. Please contact Cathy and Mick if you are willing to help at the table and/or transport stones to Ohio. Thank you to all 2011 volunteers for your dedication to EMHS and the Hosta Stone Fund Raiser.
Our last meeting for 2011 is our annual Christmas Party. This will be a potluck dinner. As always, the club will provide the ham, the Refreshment chair will bring the table service (table cover, plates, flatware, and cups), and each member is asked to bring their favorite dish to pass. We will also have the gift exchange again this year. You can read more about this further down in this newsletter.
Thank you again EMHS Members for a wonderful year of being your President of this fine group of people.
Glen Pace
EMHS President
THE EMHS 2011 Christmas Party will be held on December 1st, 2011 at the Mayfield Township Hall 1900 N. Saginaw in Lapeer at 6:00 PM. This is our regular meeting place for the cold months and is just south of the point of Saginaw and M-24 (the building north of the cemetery). For those wishing to help decorate you can arrive as early as 5:00 PM. This annual event is always a lot of fun and a great way to end the year for the club. The Club will provide the meat (ham) and table set-ups. We do ask that everybody bring a dish to pass as this is our biggest potluck of the year. We will be doing the gift exchange as we have done in the past. If you are interested in exchanging gifts, all you have to do is bring a wrapped non-gender-specific gift with a value of $10. All the gifts will be laid at the front of the room and during the party we will call names from the sign-up sheet of the people who brought gifts. If your name is called you go pick out a gift. Nobody is required to bring a gift for the exchange, but if you do not bring one please understand that you will not be able to place your name on the list to pick one out. This is the only way to assure that all people who bring a gift will receive one.

Vice-President’s Notes- The annual Board Meeting of the Eastern Michigan Hosta Society’s Officers was held on Monday, September 27, 2011. In discussing the direction we wish to take the organization, the officers agreed that they are pleased with meetings and activities as they are currently being presented, but would value feedback from the membership. We also felt that one area that could be expanded is that of sharing hosta-related information such as AHS Membership information, MHS Membership information, and websites for Hosta growers, etc.
Another way we can learn is to share experiences and/or questions with each other at the meetings or in the newsletter. Do you have a question regarding any phase of hosta growing, hybridizing, diseases, pests, etc.? Chances are others in our club have the same question. You are invited to e-mail your experience or question to our President at pacegardens@charter.net who will print your experience in the newsletter or ask a subject knowledgeable EMHS member to answer the question then add the topic to the meeting agenda for presentation at a meeting.
Also, some of our members are tuned in to what is going on in the hosta world outside our immediate area. Sharing this information would give EMHS club-members the opportunity to be informed, plan to attend functions outside EMHS, and most of, to learn. Any such news should be brought to the attention of our President who will provide time in the agenda for the sharing of this information or publish it in our monthly newsletter.
We are looking forward to what next year's meetings will produce. This is an excellent opportunity to become better "hosta educated."

Sincerely,
Carolyn Pickard
EMHS Vice-President
Member News- Maria Rowland’s mother passed away earlier this month. Please keep Maria and the family in your thoughts.
2012 Calendar of Events:
January- No meeting scheduled
February 9th at Mayfield Twp. Hall, Jan Everson with slide show of the 2011 Nat’l Hosta Tour
March- No Meeting, Hosta College in Piqua, Ohio
April 12th at Mayfield Twp. Hall, no speaker scheduled at this time
May 10th at the Hanner’s, Hands on paper-crete class. Nominal fee and registration required.
June 14th at The Vrable’s in Chesaning. Member Garden Tour
June 13th-16th- Nat’l Hosta Convention in Nashville, TN
July 12th at the Major’s in Goodrich. Member Garden Tour
August 9th- No meeting place set. Member Garden Tour
September 13th at the Hodgson’s in Lapeer. Annual Plant Exchange
October- No meeting scheduled
November- No meeting scheduled
December 6th or 13th (date to be set) at Mayfield Twp. Hall, Annual Christmas Party

Websites of Interest:
American Hosta Society 2012 Convention

AHS Hosta Library Website-

American Hosta Society-

Michigan Hosta Society Website-

Eastern Michigan Hosta Society blog-

Hosta Society Membership info-
American Hosta Society
, $30 individual, $57/2 years, $34 family, $62/2 years  Send dues to: Sandie Markland, AHS Membership Secretary, Post Office Box 7539, Kill Devil Hills, NC 27948
Michigan Hosta Society, Dues is $15 per household for up to two people, good for 2 years. Make checks payable to: The Michigan Hosta Society and send to; Michigan Hosta Society, 2509 Wembly Lane, Troy, MI 48084-1280
Eastern Michigan Hosta Society, Dues $5 per year per household, Make check payable to EMHS and mail to: Mary Smith, EMHS Treasurer, 3431 Swaffer Rd, Millington, MI 48746

EMHS Board of Officers:
President Glen Pace
Vice-President Carolyn Pickard
Treasurer Mary Smith
brooktrout@tds.net 989-871-9833
Secretary Marlene Daniels
Past President Mark Hanner
mhanner@aol.com 810-631-4292
Fund-Raising Mick and Cathy Hodgson


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