Williamstown Garden Club Meeting – Minutes, 10/10/17
The meeting was called to order by Joan Wright, at St. John’s Church. She thanked members for bringing the delicious dishes for all to enjoy at the annual Pot Luck Lunch.
Program: Two Hort Shorts. Kathy Jones – Begonias & Sue Metzner – Cacti
Business Meeting: The following represents the topics and general discussion that took place. No decisions were made nor votes taken though there was a consensus among those attending of the importance of addressing / resolving these issues early in 2018.
1. Field Park
The gardeners at Field Park (and other members as well) feel the time has come to seriously consider hiring professional help for some of the gardening tasks. There is always a need for more gardeners and with the long season of work, it’s becoming a burden on the very loyal but small crew. It was reported by the treasurer that the club has the financial resources to hire a professional group to take on some of the work in the future. A suggested first step was for the club to inquire with several companies the approximate cost of outside assistance starting next year.
2. Sally Tenney Osborne Garden
This garden on the Milne Library property needs regular attention and there is a lack of member power to tend it as needed. It was suggested that the club look into professional help since the garden club receives annual monies from Sally Tenney Osborne fund for the garden’s support. Creating a successful planting environment in this garden has proven to be a continual challenge due to extensive tree root system, etc. in the garden.
3. Treasurer duties
The club treasurer, Robin Clutz, is willing to continue another year as that officer overseeing the day to day finance needs. For the future, it has been suggested that the club engage a professional tax preparer. The tax oversight is a time consuming job, and in the future a new treasurer candidate may not have tax expertise. A professional preparer would allow for a stable continuum for the club, while relieving some of the burden of the treasurer positon.
4. Publicity
There was a short discussion re: the type and frequency of publicity the club should be pursuing in order to continue to have the community aware of our value to the town through the club’s civic projects.
5. Membership Renewal
To assist membership, the treasurer, and especially the handbook process, it was suggested that the club strongly request that members submit their renewal dues by the end of the previous calendar year. Most members renew well in advance of the deadline but the process of tracking down a handful of members is labor intensive. The official deadline is Feb. 15.
6. Frequency of club meetings
As the club looks at the attendance at meetings, the type of programing that is beneficial to our members and guests, the question was raised about reviewing the value of meeting every month (9 meetings per year).
Questions raised:
– Might the club think of having fewer meetings? If so, might we eliminate the Nov. and Dec. meetings?
– Then, might the Annual Meeting move to the October Pot Luck meeting, making it possible for more members to attend before leaving for winter?
– To offset the impact on the Greens Workshop, an idea was floated that at the Greens Workshop, members would make arrangements to auction at the Holiday Walk instead of centerpieces for the Annual Meeting.
7. A review and update of the WGC bylaws
Sue Metzner, Susan Pike and Karen Pelligrini offered to begin looking at possible revisions.
Respectfully submitted by: Joan Wright, Susan Pike and Karen Pelligrini