"Lucky Louise" Cleans up at September's Kickoff Meeting

If Louise ever takes a trip to Las Vegas, the entire garden club might be traveling with her.  She won both the raffle and the best guess contest at our September 11 kickoff meeting.  Her raffle winning was a photograph of the Cummer Museum's gardens taken by Marguerite (and signed by the artist).  Her best guess was an explanation why holes had been drilled into the picture's frame (see the left and right frame sides).  She and her prizes are pictured next to the marvelous arrangement of September flowers and foliage brought in by Beverly Fleming.  For the answer to the mystery of the "holey picture frame" and the names of the plants in the cut arrangement, click the Read More >> link just below this sentence. 


The best guess Louise made was to explain why Marguerite and her husband, Scotty, had hung the photo in their home by drilling holes in the frame and screwing it into the wall.  Louise guessed that Marguerite and Scotty had used this technique when sailing around the world.  The only secure way to hang a picture in a sailboat is to screw it into the wall.  They continued the practice when living on dry land afterwards, although they were no doubt confident that the "Land of the Flowers" was steady and securely connected to the North American continent.  Louise's explanation "hit the nail on the head" and her prize was a Christmas cactus Marguerite had left for the club prior to moving to Texas.  Many thanks to Marguerite for her generous donations!

Many thanks are also due to Beverly Fleming, who brought in the gorgeous arrangement of mixed wildflowers, grasses, and berries.  Beverly provided us with the names of each plant in the vase.  They are identified in the pictures displayed in the Resources posting, Seven for a September Bouquet.  Thank-you, Beverly for sharing this lovely arrangement.  We'll be thinking of you over the coming months.

Other meeting notes.  Our club decided that this year's project would be to erect bluebird houses.  Beverly and Claire already had done research on the subject, and we voted unanimously for it.  Dianne updated everyone on the ESS Committee planning efforts, and distributed the new Garden Club of Switzerland publicity materials. Our president, Mickey, urged us to recycle as much as possible, especially when hostesses bring in our mid-meeting "nosh," and she distributed registration materials for the District IV meeting on 10/10 at the Jacksonville Garden Club.   

Join us at our next meeting, 10/9 at 10AM that features Malea Guiriba from Hastings' Pie in the Sky, who will talk about her initiative, Farm to Family, that brings via truck local and fresh-grown produce to areas of the county (like Switzerland) that have diminished access to locally grown fruits and vegetables. Just let email switzerlandgc@gmail.com if you plan to join us at the Bartram Trail Library, so we can have enough snacks (featuring Farm to Family produce) for everyone.