We are trying to revitalize the local garden club and inject a little pizzaz into it. For the most part, our speakers or guests are always interesting. That's not the problem. It's a very informal club, and for some reason, it's never been an overly social affair. We have a bunch of very nice people, but why not stop and have a cup of tea and a chat? Personally I think it might be because as soon as the speaker is done, people start putting away the chairs. No one has this designated job, so, fair play, they are pitching in to help, when in fact, I think it may kill things because people feel like they have to leave. I thought if we had a specific time to put the chairs away, say 9:30 OR when the last person leaves, that might help. But that may mean having people willing to stay to do the cleanup. Maybe there needs to be more things to look at after the session. Books, mags, etc. to mull about with your tea in hand. What do you think? When is your club's social time? Before or after? Is it successful?
What fun things does your garden club do to keep things interesting and to keep you going? We've talked about things like more outings, more workshops, an 'opportunity table' where people bring things such as used magazines and seeds, plants, etc. and we give them away or raffle them as doorprizes.
I'd appreciate any and all suggestions you may have to help us inject more variety, or whatever you think we need, even if you don't go to a garden club.
Sandy
What makes a garden club, or society fun?
We always have good food and drinks - !
Ummm, what kind of drinks? lol
Whatever people bring - it is always sort of a pot luck - finger food to munch and usually wine or soft drinks to wash it down.
Wine? I want to join your club! But seriously, we're only a small group and there's always some assortment of cookies, squares and tea, so I don't think the food, or lack of, is the problem. We are considering passing around a sign-up sheet where members would provide the goodies for a particular month. Carol, in your group, does everyone bring something, or do you have a committee to look after the food?
Sandy
HI Sandy:
This is a small group that formed originally from a group who did the Master Gardeners class together so there was that connection which probably makes a difference. I became a member sort of by accident after they asked to tour my garden 4 years ago ( when I won in the competition) I think I am the only one not a Master Gardener! but I have more hands on gardening experience than most of them. The ladies who organize the program usually ask for 2-3 people to bring food and I think mostpeople bring whatever they want to drink. No committees, no elections, no rules, nothing formal, until last year not even any membership fees! We do everything from having experts in for a lecture to making concrete stepping stones!
We don't have any rules or committees either, but we do have membership fees. I'm intrigued with how you managed to get experts in for free. Ahhh, I bet it's that master gardener network volunteer-hours-thing, isn't it? Some of our speakers do not ask for anything, especially if they are from a nursery or if the session will be a form of advertisement for them, but we've always given a small honorarium and if an expert or master gardener is coming in from Ottawa, we add enough to make it worth the trip. What made you decide to initiate the membership fees?
Sandy
Hi Sandy We have a pretty good club here in Drumheller. We have membership fees also and really we don't have any rules.We do however have an event list for the year and it is quite full..We really encourage all members to share our planting experiences..Our agenda includes things like A plnting bee where we wil go to a nursery with our own pots and plant flowers there (the nursery gives us the dirt), we also have a seed exchange, a plant exchange, an indoor plant exchange also. As well as we take bus trips to out of town gardens and nurseries. Last year we made indoor fountains from Large pots and that was a lot f fun.We have a summer BBQ and then of course our Xmas party with a Ukrainiun gift exchange..Our club is responsible for looking after the flower beds by the Library as well as we take part in the major planting of all the town flower beds. We do have the ocassional speaker in but that person is someone local and then we know that we can grow the plants also. We just had a local lady come in that grows Roses like I have never seen before.They are magnifiscent. Our group is pretty active and for me I look very forward to our monthly meetings.
Sandy yes I think it is that MG network to some extent - but the speaker always gets a card and a little gift - which I think is why they decided to initiate a membership fee ( I missed that meeting) Of course this city has huge gardening resources and lots of people will come and do a short presentation with no hesitation and no expectation of an honorarium.
The Horticultural Society is of course another matter altogether
at my garden club even though the growing season is stoped we havent ,we do things for the season ,Now that christmas is over we are planing valintines day and easter we have so mush fun.
and we bring goodies to our meeting as will ,we are allways tring out new stuff on our members .
kinnika, you've given me lots of food for thought there! I had a bit of a revelation while going over your post. I think the main thing is that our club has been focused on almost always having a speaker and we don't get enough time to gel socially. I think if we had more evenings to ourselves like seed exchanges, pot luck dinners, round table discussions amongst the group, we would gel more on the social side too. What a fun group you have! Do you have several people coordinating your event list?
Carol, yes, the money has to come from somewhere. I've started to come across a couple of situations where speakers/nursery owners are significantly raising their fees in an effort to force the clubs and societies to either band together to get a speaker, or raise their membership fees. Luckily, these are few and far between and I sure hope it doesn't go down that road! For the most part, people are happy to come and give a short talk with no expectations, as you say.
Sandy
Hi diggingdirt! I was hoping you'd reply because you've mentioned your garden club a number of times. I saw that amazing float you all did for the Christmas Parade. What are you going to do for Valentine's Day? Will it be some kind of garden theme? Do you have events planned in advance, or do you plan everything as you go along? Do you get speakers in occasionally too?
Sandy
Sandy the club does not always have a speaker - they do 2 garden visits a year - spring and fall and 1-2 where we make something as I mentioned . Dont do much in the winter except for a Xmas pot luck and in Feb we are having a photography session.
A photography session sounds interesting! Will you be learning about garden photography or sharing garden pics or...? I bet a lot of our members have skills they could contribute into little mini sessions such as photography or demonstrating a garden craft.
Sandy
Kinnika,
Just curious as to what a Ukranian gift exchange is! We have a "Chinese Christmas" popular in this area of Texas where everyone brings a gift and the people participating each draw a number. Then #1 chooses a gift and unwraps. Next, #2 may EITHER take #1's gift away or open a new gift. It continues until the last number. THEN, because #1 didn't have but one option, he gets to choose from ALL the opened gifts, so one is never sure he will get to keep what he has until the very end!!
We love this holiday game, but would love to hear how your Ukranian one works. Probably the same...just a different name for it?
Hey Connie around here it is called a Pirate Exchange. We allow 2 thefts and the third time is final!
Sandy: We make the list as a group, usually on the first meeting in Jan. There is always a member of the group that has ideas or things they know that the rest of us would like to learn . This next meeting I am going to see how many people are interested in Wintersowing as I know some of them have never heard of it much less done it. We don't do potluck suppers or food things at our meetings as we are too busy having discussions on different things..Sandy encourage your members to talk about stuff they know, you will be surprised at the wealth of knowledge that is right in your own group.I forgot to mention that we go year around. In July and August we will start early in the morning and head out for the homes of some of the members (some of our members live a distance from Drumheller) usually having coffee and muffins at the first place and then eventually having sandwiches at another. Last year we ended one day of Garden Hopping with fresh Raspberries that were picked from my yard and cake and coffee at another members place. The only month we don't have a meeting is Sept. and that is because a lot of our members are farm wives and they are harvesting at that time. Ours is a very informal group but we have a ball.At the last meeting I approached the idea of doing something special for Xmas time eg: Adopt a family or something, we kind of ran out of time so I will bring it up again..I have a million ideas and fortunately I have a group that goes along with it..We don't worry about a lot of money as our Guest Speakers are all free..
Connie: Yup ours is the same as yours just a different name.
Digging Dirt: I have printed off your picture of the GingerBread house and am going to take it to my next meeting. I love the idea..I found a bunch of Planting socks on E-Bay and they are pretty cheap so I have bid on them as they make fantastic planters which we could sell..I also love the idea of your wreaths and I will pick your brain later on of how to make them.
We have about 30 mins. at the beginning to change our library books, natter, and when anything is growing - have a show. We also bring anything we have extra and sell them for $1 each, often cuttings, pots or whatever. Then the meeting business, then munchies and a break, then the speaker.
Munchies are 3 people for each meeting. one for coffee & tea, one for cutting up/arranging munchies and one for paper plates, sugar, etc. Each of the 3 brings a munchie. The dates are chosen by going down the list of members. If you are not going to attend that particular date, it is your responsibility to swop with somebody else. System works well.
About 3 times a year we have a paid speaker (honorarium) rest of the time it is a local, often a member with a particular skill. We usually billet the speaker so we don't have a hotel cost.
inanda
kinnika - Traditionally, our group doesn't meet in July and August, but I think I'll bring it up at the next meeting to see if there's interest as it will be a chance for more outings and touring members gardens. I loved your description of the garden hopping - kind of like a progressive potluck! I'm doing a mini workshop on winter sowing tomorrow at our garden club so that should be fun. I'll have to let you know how it goes if you're considering doing one for your club, too. Also, I thought it interesting that you don't bother with food at your meetings at all. Hmmm, there goes that theory of socializing. Do you have tea or coffee? How many people generally attend your meetings?
inanda - what time does your meeting start? We're thinking of doing something similar as you describe where members bring in items, plants, books, mags, seeds, etc. where we'd raffle them as door prizes that night. If the members decide they still want lots of speakers, then we'll have to either raise the membership fee or come up with some fundraising ideas. I like the way you decide who will bring the goodies. Member participation seems to be key.
Sandy
Sandy, Yes please let me know how your wintersowing goes as I think it is something that my club might enjoy, but I have to admit I need to know more about it also as I have only done little. Ginny put a real good write up about it on the How do you get through winter thread and I have copied it and will take it..She also has some real good web sites in there that I thought were really helpful. But yes please let me know how yours goes.. We have 24 paid up memberships but as per usual there are lots that don't come to every meeting. Those are the first ones to bellyache when we do something that they don't find interesting and they are the first to arrive at our free plant exchange. No, we don't have munchies at our meetings as we really don't have the time and unless you bring your own drinks we don't have any there either. Never do we have liquor at our meetings or parties. Yes our Garden hopping in the summer is a real blast and by the end of the day you are full to the brim with good snacks and delightful conversations makes for a great day for all..You get to show off your yard and snag new ideas from someone elses.
kinnika, once, about 6 years ago there was 70 people out to a meeting and we are starting at 18 paid members this year! So we really need to recruit some new members OR scale back on all the speakers and find some way to keep things interesting for everyone. Sure, I'll let you know how the workshop goes. I've only done winter sowing once, but I'm just going to relate how I did it. Yes, Ginny put it in a nice simple way that would be great for a handout and I've put together one to say When to winter sow- What can be winter sown- Where to get more info. You'd be welcome to any info I have if you decide to do a workshop and maybe in return you'll let me pick your brain a bit more about the Garden Hop idea.
Sandy
Sandy Wow that is a lot of members. We kind of had that problem for awhile and then discovered it was a problem with our at that time President of the group..I really didn't care for her too much either as she was a "Do it my way because it is the RIGHT way and I don't want to hear about your way" person. Well once her term was up we voted in another great gal and out membership came alive after that. Not saying you have that problem but for us with a small community it was a real big problem. As for your info YES please I would love to have it. And as foor picking my brain please feel free to pick away.
Here is acopy of our last year Calendar of Events it might give you some ideas.
Jan.17- Regular Meeting
Feb. 21- Garden Problems and Solutions.
Mar.21-Meet at Pet Shop to make fountains RSVP to Dianne by end of Feb. Cost $35.00
Apr. 18- Planting containers at Kneehill Trees. 7:00 pm
May 16- Plant Exchange Civic Center 7 PM
May 20- Plant sal Drumheller Co-op.
June 6- Tour of Penitentary Greenhouses 9:30 Curling Rink NO purses allowed.
July 11- Tour of Pen Grounds. 2 Cars going to Calgary for Greenhouse visit.
July 15-All day tour of Members gardens.Start at Hussar and end at Dorotos for BBQ.
Aug.12-Tour of Dahalia and Glad farm at Red Deer. Meet Bus at 8:00am in Parking lot. $20.00 for members $25.00 non-members
Sept- No meeting Harvest.
Oct.17- Regular Meeting
Nov. 21- Meet at Dianne's for willow class Dress WARM.
Dec. Xmas Party.
Also in there we did planting of 3 Town Flower Beds and also weeding of the same. We have a program here in Alberta called Communities in Bloom and you earn blooms as well as compete with other towns around. It is a pretty big thing as you are judged on a lot of different things. This year we finally won 5 out of 5 blooms for Drum and we beat the other ones. It was really nice to finally be rewarded for our work Town Hall even sent out Certificates to all of us.
Okay my book is finally complete.
Dianne
Sandy,
Our meetings start at 7.30PM with nattering before. Usually over before 9PMish - unless we have a speaker who goes on longer.
We always have a door prize, but not a raffle. All the $$ from items sold -maximum price $1 - got into club coffers.
inanda
sandy we are planing to put big giant ribbons and roses on our poles { fake roses it will have to be oh will.we cant decide on yellow bows or pink ,mmmmmm maybe mix them now theres a though,we are also thinking of having a party for the kids that should be fun,we are having a meeting saturday i will let you know how it goes,we do have any speakers come to the meeting .with us it all go,go,we have a couple big projects in the works for this year i will tell you all about it as it happens.and thanks for the comments in our float we had the best of time at it.
most of it was done in the dark outdoors in my driveway and it was cold to people must have though we were nuts ,but with a couple hot totties{ohhhhhh i hope thats spelt right} by the time we finished we didnt care how cold it was but it was a blast doing it,sandy do your club do stuff like that,and if you do post some pics its fun sharing ideas,
Oh and for easter we are hanging baskets full of easter eggs that should be realy nice,no bunnies strung up oh the image that brings to mine.Heres a nother view of that float sorry about the pic,it a pic of a photo
Robert
Digging_Dirt; I am curious where are you putting all the baskets and things that you hang, around town or on private homes? It sounds like a ball. And oh yes any way you spell tottie it tastes good especially if you are cold.
Dianne
we have a large area in the town hall.were we have our mettings and store our stuff.We are trying
to get the town to buy us a large green house and it just might happen then the fun will happen growing our own plants.we have these poles for hanging baskets we put in last summer so instead of plants now we put things for the season on them.
This message was edited Jan 9, 2007 12:15 PM
Diane - yes, the club almost died out, but, as is the case when you are personally vested in something, you want to see it work out so I want to do the best at organizing a program for the club. You know, there's a lot of great and knowledgeable folks in our group that we really should be tapping into, I just didn't know quite how. But this thread has sure helped me to think through the process! Along with our meeting last night, it's quite clear that people aren't as interested in the paid speakers as might be expected. We asked what they enjoyed in the past and for the most part, with the exception of a couple of outstanding speakers, the membership preferred the workshops, the demos, basically where there was more interaction.
Thank you so much, you guys for helping me get perspective on this. One thing I'd really like to try at our club is to reserve the first 20 mins-1/2 hour for a show & tell/Q&A session on every meeting. I think this will allow us to share more of our experiences as a group and will help us gel more socially. I know there's a ton of talent in our midst and we can hash around our experiences (eg. it would have been nice to have a bit of time last night to chat as a group about our WARM January). As for the evenings when we have a paid speaker, well, I'm sure they are used to waiting, especially at horticultural society meetings where there is a formal structure). Once the speaker is finished, it seems everyone is cleaning up and it's not as easy to socialize at that time.
I have tons of ideas for little garden crafts that I could bring in or show, and demo the easy/cheap ones. And maybe that will kickstart a shift in thinking that we want the club to go in the participatory direction (rather than just slides/entertainment passive learning). I really like the idea of a 'garden hop' of members gardens! Also, I'm thinking if we had the refreshments up front while we are doing our Show & Tell session, it would help to encourage a comfortable, sharing and open environment. I'll give this a whirl at next month's meeting and see how it goes.
As for the miniworkshop I did last night on winter sowing, it was extremely well received! There were 19 people and none had even heard of winter sowing! So, I really could have said anything couldn't I? LOL But seriously, people were amazed and really excited about trying it. It took quite a bit of prep, because I only had 1/2 hour (it turned into 45 mins due to questions) so I need to prepare the containers ahead of time. Everyone sowed a container with seed, labelled it and took it home. I also had 2 handouts, some pics to pass around and and sowed 2 'special' containers for give aways. It was fun! So kinnika, or anyone else that is interested, just dmail me and I'd be happy to share, especially to those that have contributed to this conversation! Yay, to you guys.
Also Dianne, thanks for your calendar of events. That helps. I chuckled at the 'Tour of Penitentary - NO purses allowed'! lol, and also wondered, what did you make at your willow class?
Congrats on 5 out of 5 for Community in Blooms! That's quite an accomplishment. As I understand it, our club started as an offshoot of Community in Blooms, although it has veered in it's own direction since. I'm not sure how the town faired in '05 & '06, but they did very respectfully in '04 winning 4 out of 5 blooms for Landscaping in their size category and being invited to the national competition . Community in Blooms has certainly spruced up the town and is a very worthwhile endeavour.
Well, that's my book, too (bigger than yours nah, nah, nah, nah boo boo).
Sandy
inanda, our meetings start at 7:30pm too. I guess when I said a raffle, I meant a door prize, where someone goes home with the goods that night. Actually someone offered to head up an Opportunity table where we'll bring in our excess garden related stuff for exchange and if it's a special item, it'll be a door prize for someone to take home. If it's really special, we could do a raffle. So that's great!
Robert, your group is sure into the community spirit! Are you involved in the Community in Blooms, or is it just good home town community enthusiasm you have there? Some of the things I remember seeing the Community in Blooms group put on the town's downtown lamposts are four seasons: spring, sunflowers for summer, scarecrows for fall, and Christmas trees for winter. I'm amazed that you do Valentine's Day and Easter etc, sounds like you are very busy - go, go is right! Arnprior also has a night time Christmas Parade, but I'm pretty sure CIB doesn't organize that. Here's some pics from the town website if you are interested http://www.arnprior.ca/parade2006.htm Your Garden Club sounds amazingly active in the town. For us, perhaps the community participation will come as time goes along. As I mentioned, the garden club got it's start as an offshoot of Communities in Bloom.
Oh, wait! Maybe it's the hot toddy's/toddies/ that's the secret to a fun club, eh?! LOL I'd be interested in knowing about your big projects for the year.... and I hope you get your greenhouse too!
Sandy
Congratulations Sandy on how well your presentation/workshop went! --Ginny
what a great looking place just ficked true some of the pics im going to see them all when i get a chance,A night parade sound fun thats something we never tried food for though.
I was wondering how would a easter parade do mmmmmmm .