September 13, 2023
**FEDERATED 80 YEARS**
PLANT AMERICA - SHADES OF GREEN
Jungle Green
Hostesses Marilyn Wright, Dottie Boudreaux, Sherry Klein
Strawberry Hut, Memorial Park North 6th Street and West Beech Street
11:00 AM Refreshments
11:30 AM Call Meeting to Order
Opening Prayer and Collect – Kathy Bruce
Pledge of Allegiance
Business Meeting Agenda
GUEST SPEAKER
Sandra Grimm, Master Gardener, President of Belle Oaks Garden Club: Saving a Heritage Oak
Sandy Grimm, president of Belle Oaks Garden Club in Hammond, gave a presentation on “Saving a Heritage Live Oak” to the Gardenettes at their September 13 meeting. Held at the Strawberry Board building in Memorial Park in Ponchatoula, the meeting began the club’s new year.
A Master Gardener, Grimm gave a thorough botanical description of some of the physical traits of oaks, describing the male and female flowering characteristics that are often overlooked. She used a PowerPoint presentation to show how acorns are formed. A large part of her talk addressed the decline of the Friendship Oak at Southeastern Louisiana University and the steps being taken to restore it to health.
Jamie Leblanc, recording secretary, presented Grimm with a token of appreciation. Hostesses for the event included Marilyn Wright and Dottie Boudreaux. President Vicky Fannaly welcomed John Grimm of Belle Oaks Garden Club, Kathy Bedenbaugh of River Ridge Garden Club and new Gardenettes member Melly Singer.
Bedenbaugh, an officer in the Louisiana Garden Club Federation Inc., presented Kathy Bruce, a long-time member and past president of the Gardenettes, with a pin honoring her as a member of the prestigious Circle of Roses. Bedenbaugh, chairman of this committee, explained this award was bestowed on club members over the age of 70 who had served the garden club with distinction for at least 15 years. Gardenettes are members of District VI LGCF Inc., Deep South Garden Clubs Inc., and National Garden Clubs Inc.
Corresponding secretary Cynthia Cummer announced that no member’s birthdays fell in the month of September. She requested that emails be used to alert members of coming birthdays and that emails should also replace written greetings due to the increasing cost of postage.
Sunday Hanson, National Garden Week chairman, gave a recap of the weeklong activity which offered free plants through the Ponchatoula library. The June program was well received, and members still bring plants to the library on occasion to help foster a love of gardening in the general public. Hanson urged members to plan for the next year’s event by planting extra seeds to have plants to share.
Genesis chairman Cricket Ayala selected the Ponchatoula Police Department as the recipient of the June – July Award. Due to the drought conditions, the Garden of the Month award was tabled for this month. It will resume in October.
A motion was made to offer White Elephant items for sale: books, plants, seeds; also, hold 50/50 raffles at the meetings to boost the club treasury. The next meeting will be October 11 with hostesses Bailey and Ayala.
A Master Gardener, Grimm gave a thorough botanical description of some of the physical traits of oaks, describing the male and female flowering characteristics that are often overlooked. She used a PowerPoint presentation to show how acorns are formed. A large part of her talk addressed the decline of the Friendship Oak at Southeastern Louisiana University and the steps being taken to restore it to health.
Jamie Leblanc, recording secretary, presented Grimm with a token of appreciation. Hostesses for the event included Marilyn Wright and Dottie Boudreaux. President Vicky Fannaly welcomed John Grimm of Belle Oaks Garden Club, Kathy Bedenbaugh of River Ridge Garden Club and new Gardenettes member Melly Singer.
Bedenbaugh, an officer in the Louisiana Garden Club Federation Inc., presented Kathy Bruce, a long-time member and past president of the Gardenettes, with a pin honoring her as a member of the prestigious Circle of Roses. Bedenbaugh, chairman of this committee, explained this award was bestowed on club members over the age of 70 who had served the garden club with distinction for at least 15 years. Gardenettes are members of District VI LGCF Inc., Deep South Garden Clubs Inc., and National Garden Clubs Inc.
Corresponding secretary Cynthia Cummer announced that no member’s birthdays fell in the month of September. She requested that emails be used to alert members of coming birthdays and that emails should also replace written greetings due to the increasing cost of postage.
Sunday Hanson, National Garden Week chairman, gave a recap of the weeklong activity which offered free plants through the Ponchatoula library. The June program was well received, and members still bring plants to the library on occasion to help foster a love of gardening in the general public. Hanson urged members to plan for the next year’s event by planting extra seeds to have plants to share.
Genesis chairman Cricket Ayala selected the Ponchatoula Police Department as the recipient of the June – July Award. Due to the drought conditions, the Garden of the Month award was tabled for this month. It will resume in October.
A motion was made to offer White Elephant items for sale: books, plants, seeds; also, hold 50/50 raffles at the meetings to boost the club treasury. The next meeting will be October 11 with hostesses Bailey and Ayala.
Honoring Kathy Bruce: Circle of Roses
Kathy Bruce, former Gardenette President, received the prestigious Circle of Roses honor from Kathy Bedenbaugh, Louisiana Garden Club Federation Inc. Representative at Large and Circle of Roses Chairman. The honor was awarded in a ceremony at the Gardenettes September 13 meeting at the Strawberry Board Building.
Serving as Gardenettes president from the years 2002 and 2003, Kathy Bruce joined the garden club in 1989. Gardenettes are members of District VI, Louisiana Garden Club Federation Inc., Deep South Garden Clubs Inc., and National Garden Clubs Inc.
To qualify for this distinction, a recipient must have been an outstanding member for at least 15 years and be over seventy years of age.
According to Bruce, “I joined in 1989 as Donna Burge and Linda Egnew had children in my kindergarten class that year. These two ladies invited me to Linda’s house for lunch one Saturday and asked if I’d be interested in joining Gardenettes. I remember attending my first meeting at Betty Rosson’s home, when Cynthia Oregon was president in 1989. Cynthia’s husband, George, went to school with my husband, Rolly, in Gretna. We became friends and connected with them through my membership in the garden club”.
Bruce’s first committee was Garden of the Month with Pat Sweeney. She recalls, “I have a picture of Miss Pat and I awarding my first recipient across the road from Kathy Bedenbaugh’s home (the white brick house beside the creek). I always enjoyed this committee as you made new friends, and the families usually invited you in for iced tea or a cup of coffee.”
Through the years, since Bruce taught school her involvement in the club had been limited, but Garden of the Month remained her committee of choice.
“I remember we had to contact The Daily Star and The Ponchatoula Times to meet at the honored home for photos. I got to be close friends with photographers Randy Bergeron and Brian McMahon through the years. Randy would always put me on the spot and ask the name of various flowers in the homeowner’s garden. With time as technology improved, I wasn’t tech savvy to email photos to the newspaper, so I stepped down from this committee,” she said.
Bruce taught kindergarten in Ponchatoula. The Gardenettes would save their coffee and coupons for education to present to her school, Perrin Early Learning Center, as a service project for the club. Each spring the Gardenettes would gather at Perrin for a presentation of the coupons to the school. This was a tradition for a good 15+ years.
“I remember my husband, Rolly, designing a sign for The Bird Sanctuary at Collinswood Museum, and he refurbished the Garden of the Month sign several times for the club. One October Rolly designed scarecrows for the Gardenettes to decorate the downtown area for Fall,” she reminisced.
Since Christmas has always been her favorite season given that she celebrated a December birthday too. She recalls she always enjoyed Peggy April and Cynthia Orgeron’s hospitality with hosting the Gardenettes Christmas Tea. As time marched on and these two ladies were no longer able to host this event, Bruce has hosted the Christmas tea in her home over the past 20 years. Decorating the Christmas trees at North Oaks Hospital has been a favorite community project for her.
“The trees give a smile and a hug to the families as they visit their loved ones in the hospital. It warms my heart to bring a bit of Christmas cheer to our community,” she said.
Bruce enjoys learning about horticulture as she has been the horticulture and the exhibits chairman for the past few years.
According to Bruce, “Each new job broadens my gardening knowledge. I have made many lifelong friends through my 34 years as a Gardenettes member, I was honored to serve as president from 2003-2005. I continue to participate in supporting the Garden of the Month and the Genesis Award photo shoots when I’m available. Friends are definitely the flowers in life!”
Serving as Gardenettes president from the years 2002 and 2003, Kathy Bruce joined the garden club in 1989. Gardenettes are members of District VI, Louisiana Garden Club Federation Inc., Deep South Garden Clubs Inc., and National Garden Clubs Inc.
To qualify for this distinction, a recipient must have been an outstanding member for at least 15 years and be over seventy years of age.
According to Bruce, “I joined in 1989 as Donna Burge and Linda Egnew had children in my kindergarten class that year. These two ladies invited me to Linda’s house for lunch one Saturday and asked if I’d be interested in joining Gardenettes. I remember attending my first meeting at Betty Rosson’s home, when Cynthia Oregon was president in 1989. Cynthia’s husband, George, went to school with my husband, Rolly, in Gretna. We became friends and connected with them through my membership in the garden club”.
Bruce’s first committee was Garden of the Month with Pat Sweeney. She recalls, “I have a picture of Miss Pat and I awarding my first recipient across the road from Kathy Bedenbaugh’s home (the white brick house beside the creek). I always enjoyed this committee as you made new friends, and the families usually invited you in for iced tea or a cup of coffee.”
Through the years, since Bruce taught school her involvement in the club had been limited, but Garden of the Month remained her committee of choice.
“I remember we had to contact The Daily Star and The Ponchatoula Times to meet at the honored home for photos. I got to be close friends with photographers Randy Bergeron and Brian McMahon through the years. Randy would always put me on the spot and ask the name of various flowers in the homeowner’s garden. With time as technology improved, I wasn’t tech savvy to email photos to the newspaper, so I stepped down from this committee,” she said.
Bruce taught kindergarten in Ponchatoula. The Gardenettes would save their coffee and coupons for education to present to her school, Perrin Early Learning Center, as a service project for the club. Each spring the Gardenettes would gather at Perrin for a presentation of the coupons to the school. This was a tradition for a good 15+ years.
“I remember my husband, Rolly, designing a sign for The Bird Sanctuary at Collinswood Museum, and he refurbished the Garden of the Month sign several times for the club. One October Rolly designed scarecrows for the Gardenettes to decorate the downtown area for Fall,” she reminisced.
Since Christmas has always been her favorite season given that she celebrated a December birthday too. She recalls she always enjoyed Peggy April and Cynthia Orgeron’s hospitality with hosting the Gardenettes Christmas Tea. As time marched on and these two ladies were no longer able to host this event, Bruce has hosted the Christmas tea in her home over the past 20 years. Decorating the Christmas trees at North Oaks Hospital has been a favorite community project for her.
“The trees give a smile and a hug to the families as they visit their loved ones in the hospital. It warms my heart to bring a bit of Christmas cheer to our community,” she said.
Bruce enjoys learning about horticulture as she has been the horticulture and the exhibits chairman for the past few years.
According to Bruce, “Each new job broadens my gardening knowledge. I have made many lifelong friends through my 34 years as a Gardenettes member, I was honored to serve as president from 2003-2005. I continue to participate in supporting the Garden of the Month and the Genesis Award photo shoots when I’m available. Friends are definitely the flowers in life!”
Past Gardenette President Kathy Bruce, receives Circle of Roses honors, for her many years of activity in the club. Making the presentation is LGCF Inc. Representative at Large and Circle of Roses Chairman Kathy Bedenbaugh. Receiving a red rose from Club President Vicky Fannaly, Bruce thanked the club for her honor.
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