Stoodleigh Garden Club Reports 2020
Virtual AGM - Tuesday 10 November 2020
As we were unable to hold our usual meeting for the AGM this year, Members were circulated with information and reports by email ..... see below:
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Chairperson’s Annual Report - 2020
It has been an extraordinary year, an ‘improvise as you go’ kind of time, not the year we had planned.
Since last year’s AGM we have managed to have a wreath making class run by Jill in November 2019 which was a huge success. The Christmas Party was held at Barns Cottage, courtesy of Sheila and John. In February we had a talk by Mervyn Brice on Bees. Then Covid 19 struck.
Stoodleigh Garden Club has had to cancel this year’s programme and find other ways to keep in touch. Malcolm suggested an on line connection and Shirley set up the Garden Club Chat Page in April. It has been very well patronised by members. We have exchanged advice, identified plants and animals, taken members on virtual tours of our gardens, which have been enlightening and generally kept us all in touch.
An enthusiastic group of members tackled the “Eradication of Himalayan Balsam” around the village in August.
Shirley enthused us all with a suggestion for a Stoodleigh Alternative Show in August. It was to be for the garden club but also any other people in the village who wanted to join in. There were 11 classes ranging from flowers and garden produce to flower arranging and poetry. Some fabulous entries ensued and it proved to be a huge success. The overall winner was Laura Parkman. We all thank Shirley for her brilliant idea and enthusiasm.
The programme devised for this year will be held over and as far as possible will be followed in 2021.
We don’t know when we will be able to have a face to face meeting but things to consider for when that happens, is the election of officers for the Garden Club i.e. Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer. All offices are open to anyone who would like to be involved in shaping the future of our club after this unexpectedly weird year.
Wishing all members as good a Christmas as can be managed and with the hope that 2021 will be a more normal kind of year.
Pat Pennington
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Show Report - 2020
Show preparations began at the beginning of the year under the expert guidance of Jill Chant. The programme was agreed and circulated; the judges contacted; the hall booked and seed potatoes sold....... Then everything stopped!
It is planned to use the whole schedule for next year and all is set ready for action, as soon as we know what is possible.
As far as 2020 is concerned; we went ahead with the weighing of the buckets of potatoes and Ann Roberts won this with a potato weight of 1.250 Kg.
A virtual Show was set up using the Garden Club email system, comprising of nine classes for which it was necessary to submit a photo of the entry. 27 people, including 6 children, entered the competition with a total of 80 entries. A magnificent response! The judging was carried out by votes from members and entrants.
There was also a poetry competition judged by Sarah Jones, with eight poems entered. We thoroughly enjoyed reading all of these, the winner being Clive Joosse.
Laura Parkman was again our overall winner with the most points.
Thank you all for your support with this.
Shirley Cope
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It has been suggested that we roll over last year’s unfulfilled programme to the coming year.
Membership fees: As we have not been able to enjoy our full programme in 2020, it is proposed that the membership fees paid last year will roll over to next year. If you are a member now, you will automatically remain a member until the 2021 AGM. Please bear in mind that the discount at Cove Nursery no longer applies.
New members will always be welcome through the year and, hopefully, we shall see some new faces once we are able to resume our normal events.
The Balance Sheet for 2020 is available by contacting the Treasurer, Shirley Cope as below.
If you have any suggestions as to how you would like the Club to move forward or what activities you would like to take part in, please email them to shirley.cope@talk21.com or by phone to Pat Pennington (351549) or Shirley Cope (351126)
Similarly, if you have any queries regarding this AGM, or the Garden Club generally, please do get in touch.