Windham Community Center/Zoom
Call to order – 6:35 pm, Barbara Wright and Jay Osborne, co-chairs, presiding
In Attendance – Faith Kenton, Jay Osborne, Daniel Phipps, Ursula Roskoski, Carole Williamson,
Barbara Wright.
Minutes of the Board meeting held on 2/22/2024 were unanimously approved. They had been
posted on-line previously for members to access and read.
Financial Report – Barbara stated that the end of the year statement was requested too late to get the finalized amounts; she can share the proposed budget for 2024 once she gets these from
Jennifer. However, we are in good shape as the amounts in the accounts currently are:
Friends of the GOB checking - $39,193.02
Garden Club Checking - $9,881.72
Garden Club Savings - $8,686.30
Pay Pal - $315.00
Carole suggested that the GC increase these amounts by purchasing a CD from the bank. Dan noted that we could purchase a 3-6 month CD at 5% interest. Discussion ensued but no resolution resulted.
Old Business - The latest draft policy statement is available to all members via the March newsletter with a request to send comments/suggestions to the board at gardenclubofwindham.board@gmail.com. Barbara noted that so far we have not received any feedback.
Committee Reports –
Wildlife Habitat/Pollinator Pathway – This report is unavailable as Pam Wright was unable to
attend tonight’s meeting.
Public Spaces – Dan reported that most of the Garden Club gardens have now been claimed by a GC member who is willing to act as a steward, the three exceptions being the Schilberg Butterfly garden, the Thread City Diner garden, and the Brewery gardens. Carole volunteered to oversee the Schilberg garden, Ursula claimed the Thread City Diner garden, and Faith said that she would continue to work in the Brewery gardens with the people she has worked with in the past. Dan would like to see a master list of the gardens with work dates posted on the website calendar. Barbara stated that there is a calendar with dates posted, but she needs to receive the information in order to keep it current. Carole agreed to do a pruning workshop on April 14 from 2 to 4 pm at the High Street Hillside garden. Rain or shine, all are welcome.
Friends of Garden on the Bridge – Jay reported that the hillside area of the GOB experienced
extensive topsoil erosion due to the amount of rain that occurred last year. He mentioned that there are many repairs due in that garden over the coming months so it makes sense to get new topsoil after the repairs are completed. The committee is working on a schedule for the proposed construction.
High Street Hillside – Faith reported that a bench had been tipped over during the winter but
Public Works has agreed to pick it up. Overall most of the plants came through the winter well, work days will be starting soon and will be posted on the calendar. As noted above, some pruning will take place in this garden during the pruning workshop to be given by Carole in April.
Holiday Lights – Carole reported that the committee is getting started with the gathering of
materials for this project. Dan suggested approaching Casella to make an in-kind donation of water bottles. Jay shared that Debbie Fiske, the new Recreation Director for the town of Windham, is very pleased and would love for the Recreation Department to partner with the Garden Club on this project.
Membership – Barbara had information from Debbie Stoloff that, to date, 26 out of 50 members
have submitted payment of this year’s dues. The plan is to send a reminder to all of those who have not yet paid.
New Business
Annual Meeting – Barbara stated that the bylaws obligate a spring annual meeting for the entire
membership and we need to plan a date. Suggestions made that we hold this meeting in the
Community Center for April 11 from 6:30 to 8:00 pm with food available pot-luck. Jay will follow up on the scheduling.
Plant Sale - Barbara stated that Faith’s house has worked well as a location in the
past. Dan suggested a more visible location as a good opportunity to sell the GC to the public. He
suggested combining the May 18 garden walk with the plant sale. Ursula suggested the Schilberg Butterfly garden as a location for the plant sale because it is on the garden walk and has good parking. Dan agreed to chair the plant sale overall, Carole agreed to assist as an on-site chairperson.
Open Garden - There was much discussion about pros and cons of location, timing, help with pre-event maintenance, publicity, etc. It was decided that this topic requires more thought and further discussion was postponed.
Signage – Barbara mentioned that Faith had suggested having signs in all of our twelve gardens.
Faith explained that there had been a couple of go-arounds of signage in the past but the signs
disappear/fall apart, etc. She suggested that the least expensive option is to have generic signs made that include the Garfen Club name and logo. Faith moved that we order some signs, at least a dozen, maybe 20, with a simple, bold design on heavy corrugated plastic, Dan seconded the motion, motion was unanimously approved.
Garden Club Barbecue – Barbara introduced this topic by stating that this has never been done in
the past but it was suggested as an alternative to an indoor event and she asked if there was interest in organizing one. After discussion it was agreed to work on planning a barbecue for July at Lauter Park.
Other Discussion – Faith asked whether the High Street Hillside committee was going to remain ad hoc, or whether it could be voted to become a permanent committee. Jay moved to change the status of the High Street Hillside garden committee from ad hoc to standing. Faith seconded the motion, motion was approved with five votes in favor and one abstention. Faith stated that the members of this committee are herself, Barbara Gibson, Sue Newcombe, Marty Lavoy, Debbie Stoloff and David Stoloff.
Proposed Slate of Officers for 2024 – Barbara presented the proposed slate of officers:
Co-Presidents: Barbara Wright and Jay Osborne
Secretary: Ursula Roskoski
Treasurer: Patty Spruance
Budget and Finance: Jennifer Duchesne
Chair, Wildlife Habitat: Pam Wright
Chair, Public Spaces: Dan Phipps
Chair, Membership Committee: Jay Osborne
Chair, Garden on the Bridge: Jay Osborne
Chair, High Street Hillside Garden: Faith Kenton
Co-Chairs, Holiday Lights Committee: Carole Williamson and Dan Phipps
Board Member at large: Debbie Stoloff Barbara moved to approve the slate of officers, Jay seconded the motion, motion was approved
unanimously.
Next Meeting – TBD
Adjourned – 8:20 pm
Respectfully submitted by Ursula Roskoski