2. September 2015 Board Meeting Minutes and Attachments

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2015
Present:
Regrets:
Guest:
Don Butler, Arthur Haskins, Lis Jackson, Patsy MacKenzie, Sarah Cluett, Dona
Benac, Paul Despres, Patti Sharp, Susan Hazelwood, Lorna Williams, Andrew
Clinch, Pamela MacLean, Vicki Willis, Evie Fraser, Dixie Cress, Elizabeth Hill
Ann Jones, Myra Knight
Kathy Harvie
Patsy called the meeting to order and welcomed Debra to the Board and Kathy Harvie as
Pamela’s replacement after the 2016 AGM. We introduced ourselves around the table. The
following changes were made to the Agenda:
• Added 4h. Convention 2016 (Don)
• Removed 5b. Vice-President
• Added 5i. Facebook and 5j. Historian
1. Review Minutes of Board of Directors April 25, 2015 Meeting
• Moved by Lis that the minutes be accepted with the following corrections:
o 2d. Myra’s name is incorrectly spelled
o 4b. changed to “Arthur has compiled a list of ….”
• Seconded by Vicki. Motion carried.
2. Old Business
a. Convention 2015 Wrap Up (Ann)
• Reports are attached.
• Susan will update the convention statistics in the Board Members Handbook.
b. Flower Show Handbook (Susan)
• It was decided that the Handbook will not be offered in paper format for free outside of the
NSAGC clubs.
• Each of the Directors was invited to take a Handbook for themselves and for each of the
clubs in their districts that have flower shows.
• Don moved that the Judges be contacted to let them know that the book is available for $25
or can be downloaded from the NSAGC web site at no cost. Liz seconded. Motion carried.
• Vicki will let the Department of Agriculture (for 4H clubs) and the Exhibiting Association (with
a note to pass along to the Flower Show Committee) know about the Handbook.
• Patsy thanked Paul again for his hard work on the book.
c. Insurance Coverage (Susan)
d. The rep from Zive is unable to attend the Board meeting tomorrow. Susan will ask him to
attend the April meeting. If not successful, she will contact his boss.
e. The insurance policy is sent to Lis each year. From now on, Lis will send it to Susan for
inclusion in the Board Members Handbook.
f. Don will contact the NS Department of Sports and Recreation to see if we could be eligible
for coverage under their insurance and the cost.
d. Continuance of Plant Give Away Program (Arthur)
1
•
We are committed to the program for 2016. There is a very positive response from the
members and the program will continue for as long as we can afford it.
e. Continuance of Plant A Tree Program
• There have been no expense claims yet this year.
• The Directors are asked to let the clubs know that NSAGC will cover $20 toward the cost of
a tree and that they should send the receipt to Lis for reimbursement. Trees can be
purchased at any time during the year.
• We will revisit the success of the Program in September 2016. It was suggested that we
might want to move to another plant such as the milkweed.
f.
•
Judging School (Arthur)
If the course is going to be held, it will be in January.
3. Planning for the Future Reports
• The list was updated as a result of our discussions and is attached.
Goal #1 - Increase membership from current 1800 to 2000
o It is felt that the information about NSAGC is being disseminated in a relaxed manner
instead of in a more structure way. This is an ongoing activity.
o Pamela noted that there is a club in Halifax that isn’t a member of NSAGC. She is
following up with them.
Goal #2 – Focus on Provincial Gardening Week
o Pamela showed a poster that she put together for last year’s Provincial Gardening
Week that lists the clubs in the district and contact information. She didn’t receive
any responses as a result.
o Don indicated that there was great response from the attendees at the AGM as to
activities that clubs undertook for the Week this year.
o Don suggested that there could be a Power Point presentation running in the
background at the Convention of photos from previous and current Provincial
Gardening Week activities. All agreed. Don will have the slide show created for the
2016 convention and we will assess if it was worth the effort at the September Board
meeting. It was suggested that the presentation could include pictures of club
members to generate more interest.
o The poster was reviewed. It will be used as a logo as well. The group voted for the
attached poster with suggested modifications, which Don will make the final
decisions on.
o Don moved that there be a budget approved for printing posters, to a maximum of
$250. Motion carried.
Goal #4 – Increase Online Presence
New Web Site
o The committee met with Paul in August and reviewed each page of the web site.
Paul made the changes and sent the link to the updated site back to the committee.
Lis indicated that the site is 98% complete.
o Paul reviewed the site with the Board. He has asked Ann for a photo to replace the
one on the header.
o The following timelines were suggested for completing the project:
 Link to site sent to Board members (September 28)
 Comments back to Lis (October 10)
2


o
Send to Executive for final review (October 30)
Site live. Announcement posted on Facebook and an email sent from Patsy
via Susan to the clubs (November 1).
Patsy thanked the committee and Paul for their excellent work on the new site.
Scotia Gardener
o The question was raised as to why there are still over 500 newsletters being sent to
clubs.
Goal #5 – Publicity Committee
o The committee was put together for Provincial Gardening Week and can be called
upon in the future for Publicity related activities. The members are Patsy, Don and
Arthur.
.
4. New Business
a. Plant Give Away (Arthur)
• Report is attached.
b. Handbook Section 4C – use of “committees”
• Lorna indicated that there no need for discussion.
c. Travel Expenses (Lis)
• Susan and Lis reviewed the current by-laws and expense claims policy. The following is a
summary of the major changes discussed:
o Accommodation will be paid for Board members required to travel more than three
hours in a single day.
o Accommodation will be paid for members required to attend both Executive and
Board meetings.
o Instructions added on how to acquire the cost of gas expense.
o The Chair and Secretary will be reimbursed for travel to the AGM. No one will be
reimbursed for travel to the convention.
• Susan moved that the Expense Claims Policy be modified as discussed. Arthur seconded.
Motion carried.
• Paul suggested that there should be time set aside for discussion about items of concern to
the Board (e.g., how to increase membership). Various times around the Board meetings
and the convention were suggested (extended Saturday lunch, end of day on Saturday,
Friday afternoon, Friday after Executive meeting, Friday evening of convention). It was
agreed that we would schedule a one hour lunch during the April 2016 Board meeting and
see if it works.
d. Voting by Club Reps at AGMs (Susan).
• There were at least two clubs at the AGM that didn’t raise their vote cards during roll call.
• Debra suggested that the club reps might not be comfortable voting because they don’t
understand what the cards are for.
• Patsy (and future Presidents) will explain the purpose of the voting cards at the beginning
of each AGM.
• Directors will let clubs know why they are being given the cards.
• Susan will print a short explanation of what the card is for, on the cards.
3
e. NSAGC Master Show Judge (Paul)
• Paul proposed that a panel of NSAGC judges be formed to discuss questions that come up
during judging.
• Clubs should identify problems at the end of flower shows and clarify the issues on the next
year’s show schedule.
• Judges are responsible to review the schedule before the show and follow the guides.
• Paul put a button on the new web site for questions and answers.
• Paul, Arthur and possibly Myra will form the judges panel.
f.
•
•
NSAGC Show Entry Tag (Paul)
Paul suggested that the Section and Class on the tags be reversed to match other show
tags in the country.
Sarah will look into the cost of changing the tags the next time she gets them printed.
g. Saltscapes East Coast Expo Booth Space (Arthur)
• A proposal for our participation in the Expo is attached.
• Pamela suggested selling plants for $3 or 2 for $5 (examples) to avoid dealing with change
and to generate more revenue.
• We could also hand out bookmarks and/or information about the plants for sale.
• Because the status of the Exhibition Grounds is unknown, a committee of Arthur (chair),
Pamela and Liz Hill will decide if we should participate in 2016 or 2107.
h. Convention 2016 (Don)
• See attached report.
• The majority of the Board recommended keeping the Flower Show as part of the
convention.
5. Reports
a. Treasurer (Lis)
• Report and financial statements are attached.
• The assessment fees are due on March 1st, which is a firm date. Lis reviewed the
assessment letter that will be going to the clubs in the next week or so. It is very important
that the clubs understand the ramifications of not submitting their form and dues by March
1st.
• Patsy recommended that Directors cover themselves from any negative emails from late
clubs by saving their emails to clubs.
• Susan will send updates to Directors on clubs that have not submitted their forms and dues
on January 1st and February 1st.
• Lis moved the adoption of the financial statements as presented. Seconded by Vicki.
Motion carried.
b. Future Projects (Arthur)
• Report is attached.
• There are two new judges from Bridgewater. Arthur will send their contact information to
Susan for inclusion in the Board Members Handbook.
• Arthur will present the new judges with their cards in October.
c. Web Manager (Paul)
• Report is attached.
4
d. Newsletter (Ann)
• Report is attached.
• No motion is required in order for Ann to proceed with changing publication dates.
e. Tags and Seals (Sarah)
• Report is attached.
f.
•
Awards (Lorna)
Report is attached.
g. Photo Contest (Andrew)
• Report is attached.
• Andrew asked for responses to his recommendations. All 5 were agreed to. No changes
will be made to the competition in 2016, so the removal of the Plant Give Away category will
be done in 2017.
• Patsy recognized the huge strides that Andrew has made in changing the contest and
moving it forward.
• Andrew noted that the budget should include money for extra space on Dropbox.
h. Facebook
• Report is attached.
i.
•
Historian (Dixie)
Patsy reminded the Directors to send detailed club reports to Dixie. Dixie indicated that
either paper or via email works for her..
j.
•
•
•
District Directors
Reports are attached.
District 1 – verbal report given at the meeting, written report not available.
District 3 North – no report as Patti Sharpe has resigned from the Board and the search for
her replacement continues.
District 6 – no report. Myra sent an email indicating that she announced at the District
Meeting in Bridgewater on September 12th that her term is up and she asked members to
consider taking her job.
•
6. Correspondence - none
7. Other
a. Andrew expressed concern over the volume of documents sent by Susan and trying to keep
them organized. Other members indicated that they only print the copy of documents sent
immediately before the meetings. Susan agreed to look into Dropbox as a possible
solution.
b. Debra asked if there was information on hosting a District Meeting. Liz will send the
document that was given to her to Debra and Susan. Susan will look at including it in the
Board Members Handbook.
8. Next Meeting – April 30th, 2016.
5
9. Adjournment
Lis moved that the meeting be adjourned at 2:45 p.m.
Recorded by Susan Hazelwood
6
NSAGC Planning for the Future (2014)
Updated September 26, 2015
President’s Vision 2014-2016
• Bring gardeners together
• Unify the Province
Goal #1 - Increase membership from current 1800 to 2000
Ideas / Action Items
New NSAGC bookmarks
Who
Susan, Pamela
Directors - target 1 group
Status
Done
Ongoing
Susan
Done
Goal #2 - Focus on Provincial Gardening Week
Ideas / Action Items
Start planning now
Provide detailed information to Directors/Clubs via November ScotiaGardener
Publicity - all outlets
Create Provincial Gardening Week logo
List of activities 2014/Greenhouses
Who
Arthur, Don
Arthur, Don
Don, Directors
Arthur, Don
Arthur, Don
Status
Done
Done
April, 2016
In progress
Done
Goal #3 - Develop Leadership and Leadership Assistance (all levels)
Ideas / Action Items
Ask clubs if they want/need assistance
Format and content for Director's verbal reports at Board meetings
Presentations / info sessions to clubs (Pam has presentation developed)
Who
Directors
Patsy
Directors
Status
Done
Done
Done
Goal #4 - Increase Online Presence
Ideas / Action Items
Web site update / redesign
Hire assistance or see if there are volunteers available
Who
Lis (committee chair), Sarah, Arthur,
Andrew
Status
In progress
Done
Information about benefits to other groups. For example:
Welcome Wagon, Real Estate Agents, Seniors Expo, Young Adult Clubs and Activities,
Farmers Exhibitions and Markets, Partner with other clubs (e.g. Boys % Girls) and
schools, Public visibility at plant sales, flower shows, public presentations, etc.
Create template for club speakers names and contact info
Ideas / Action Items
See what membership would like
Print times of club meetings
List of activities, map more easily accessible
Content includes NSAGC info plus gardening info
Committee to determine requirements for new look as a first step
Facebook to include NSAGC information
Scotia Gardener - printed copies mailed to 300 members
Membership form to change to clarify "how many copies"
Online Club (e.g. Rotary Online Club)
Goal #5 - Publicity Committee
Ideas / Action Items
Create a publicity committee
Who
Ann
Ann
Lis
n/a - taken care of via Facebook for
now
Who
Patsy, Arthur, Don
Status
Done
Include on site
Done
Done
Done
Done
In progress
Done
Future
Status
Done
NSAGC CONVENTION AND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
RODDS GRAND HOTEL, YARMOUTH NOVA SCOTIA
JUNE 5 AND 6, 2015
The year of effort, including many meetings and discussions between the Western District of the NSAGC
and the host Yarmouth Garden Club, culminated in a very successful 2015 NSAGC Convention and
Annual General Meeting.
We had two hundred participants, including the complimentary registrations of Nikki Jabbour, guest
speaker, and Honourable Pam Mood, Mayor of Yarmouth. We had excellent results with our fifteen
vendors. They were well received by our participants and were very pleased with the sales and the
contacts they made during the conference. A number of our guest speakers were also vendors who
enjoyed great sales following their presentations.
We were pleased to have two delegates from Ottawa representing Community’s in Bloom. They were
here on an observation trip as Yarmouth made the short list to host the 2018 National Communities in
Bloom Conference. They enjoyed the conference and were very pleased that they had the opportunity
to be here and partake in the activities.
Registration began at 2:00 p.m. on Friday and from that time until the closing on Saturday evening
Rodd’s Grand Hotel was a very busy spot. We had many favourable comments from those attending
who expressed their thanks for all of our work. The participants enjoyed the Mayor’s tea, sponsored by
the town of Yarmouth. This was held at our Town Hall, which is directly across the street from the
Hotel. The Honorable Pam Mood, Mayor of Yarmouth, and some of our Town Councilors were on hand
to welcome our delegates. It was well attended and everyone enjoyed the treats. Our first presenter
David Sollows spoke on Gardens Then and Now, showing many pictures of historic and modern gardens
from our area. Entertainer Barb Gillis followed him, singing Sounds of Nova Scotia. That evening
Councilman Ken Langille took us on a ghost walk around our town.
Saturday morning began bright and early with the Annual General Meeting, with MC Ann Jones and
NSAGC President Patsy MacKenzie. The AGM was followed with presentations by Gordon Tingley,
Michael Tavares, Alice d’Entremont, Allan Banks and Nina Newington. The entire workshops were very
well attended and received. One issue we experienced was that our video screen size was inadequate
for anyone not sitting close to the front. A larger screen and/or two or three screens around the room
would have provided better viewing for the participants throughout the room. Another improvement
for the presentations would have been a wireless microphone. Rodd’s Grand Hotel sponsored our
morning coffee break. Our afternoon break, sponsored by Atlantic Superstore received many great
comments on the fact that it was mainly fresh fruit. Lunch was served at the hotel with a menu of soup,
sandwiches, sweets, juice or punch. We had a lot of people mention how great it was to have all the
activities at the same location.
The flower show had very few entries. A number of participants mentioned that it was difficult to create
and transport the arrangements while keeping them fresh and in good shape.
Our banquet began with a welcome to the delegates from our Mayor, the Honorable Pam Mood. The
banquet was well attended; we had excellent comments about the food and staff of the Hotel. Our
Guest Speaker, Niki Jabbour, give a wonderful presentation on The Super Productive Vegetable Gardens.
Awards were presented at the banquet.
In closing, I thanked everyone for attending and expressed my sincere gratitude to the Committee for
their hard work, enthusiasm and dedication in making this a very successful and enjoyable convention of
2015.
Respectfully Submitted
Vivian Kennedy
Chairperson, NSAGC Convention
NSAGC CONVENTION AND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Chairperson Notes and Comments:
Friday Night Entertainment: Our singer, Barb Gillis did a wonderful job, but very few
people stayed for her show. This also happened in Truro so it may be time to consider not
having any entertainment on Friday evening.
The Flower Show: We had very few entries this year. It may be time to also drop this from
the convention as many people mentioned that it was just too hard and troublesome to try
and bring an arrangement to the convention and keep it looking fresh.
Location: We had many comments on how nice and convenient it was to have all the
activities in one location. This was mentioned to a lot of our committee members.
Food: Our food was very well accepted. Everyone seemed to enjoy the soup and sandwich
lunch, most liked the juice and punch but comments were made that we should have had
tea/coffee available.
It was also mentioned that we should have had coffee/tea available Friday evening. This
seems like a very easy thing to do but it is very expensive as the charge is based on the
number of people attending not the number of cups served. A lot of favorable comments
came from the afternoon break as it was mainly all fresh fruit trays, along with about 8
dozen cookies. We noticed in the survey that most of the comments were centered on food.
It seems to be the main object of concern with many participants.
Picture Books: We were very pleased to see how many people spent time looking through
the picture books that the different clubs brought with them for viewing.
Vivian Kennedy
FUTURE PROJECTS COMMITTEE
SEPTEMBER 2015 REPORT
Plant Giveaway 2015 Astilbe ‘Delft Lace’. All plants were distributed at the convention to clubs
or District Director for later dispersal. All one thousand extra plants were sold and only one club
who ordered very late was turned away. Reports back indicated the choice of Delft Lace was a
good one as members were very pleased with the plants when they bloomed.
Plant Giveaway 2016 will be Ligularia ‘Othello’ and there will be one thousand extra plants
ordered same as last year.
The decision to move forward with a Horticultural Judging Course early in 2016 has not been
made as yet as there are still organizational issues with Continuing Ed at the college.
We have two new Horticultural Judges to add to our roster as a result of the first course offered
through the college. The new judges are Paulette Hudson and Connie Jefferson both from the
Bridgewater Garden Club. I want to thank all the NSAGC Judges who assisted in assessing the
two judges at various shows.
2016 SALTSCAPES EXPO
PROPOSAL
The booth size would be 1Oft x1Oft and would be decorated by posters of flowers or vegetables
and would feature garden club members there to answer gardening questions and to promote
gardening in Nova Scotia and in particular the fun and education of belonging to a garden club.
Information on clubs located in different areas of the province can be given out with a contact
name for followup. The gardeners manning the booth should have brightly coloured T shirts
featuring a gardening theme. Brightly coloured planters in the booth would also draw attention.
The cost for a 1Oft x1Oft booth is around $1,300.00 If we purchased 1000 plants, say an Astilbe
for $1.15 each or less and sold them for $2.50 at the Expo we could make $1350.00 .
As well as a great opportunity to promote the NSAGC and garden clubs it would be an ideal time
to promote Provincial Gardening Week. It may interfere with the Spring Board Meeting but that
could be addressed.
Convention 2016 Report
The 2016 NSAGC Convention will be held at the Pictou County Wellness Center on June
3rd and 4th.
Our theme is “Touched by a Garden”.
Speakers are almost confirmed.
We are aiming to have registration forms and fact sheets in the December 1st Scotia
Gardener as well as the March issue.
We will be following Yarmouth’s lead on door prizes. Each vendor will be asked to
donate one door prize and that will be the sum of our door prizes. We will also follow
their lead on having a silent auction as a fundraiser. Each of the seven clubs in our
district have been asked to donate two items for the silent auction.
Yarmouth suggested the flower arranging competition be dropped due to the low number
of entries. We would like to do this. Does this require board approval?
Because we are not allowed to take any food into the wellness center, we are actively
seeking corporate sponsorship to assist with the conference expenses and to keep the fees
charged down to a reasonable level.
The Holiday Inn Express and Travel Lodge are the two named motels. They are within a
km. of the Wellness Center. They each have a set number of rooms blocked off for our
convention. If not fill be May 15th, they will be released to the general public at that time.
Room accommodations include complimentary breakfasts. The wellness Center has
ample parking space for all our people.
We are planning the conference with 250 people in mind.
We have a strong and enthusiastic committee planning the convention.
NSAGC – September 25th , 2015
Financial Report
Notes for the Statement of Operations for the period of Apr. 1/15 to Aug 31, 2015
In the Revenue section, and under the title of Income from Activities, no additional advertising
revenue was expected as of August 31st. The sale of surplus plants was for Astilbes but also,
$974. of the previous years sales were for this same plant.
Under Other Income, the Association dues are down by $550. over the previous year as the club
Member number numbers have decreased from 1,807 in 2014/15 to 1,669 in 15/16. The
affiliated club dues are also down as the Orchid Society didn’t renew their membership. The
Baptist Foundation interest is only half of what will be received this year and there was no
miscellaneous revenue.
In the Expense section, the future projects includes $3,220 for the plant give away (astilbe) and
$343. for printing of the bookmarks. The balance was gas expense. The current newsletter cost
down significantly for the five month period as the printing dates have changed. There have
been no expenses submitted for Provincial Gardening week or for the National Plant a Tree
program as of August 31st.
Under the heading Meeting Expenses, the Board members expenses include the cost of printing
the flower show handbooks at $641.
The total five and one half month expenses were $8,181. and this equates to a surplus of
approximately $349.
Notes for the Balance Sheet for the period of Apr. 1/15 to Aug. 31/15
The assets show our cash balance at August 31 to be approximately $3,481. and we still have
$12,000. invested with the Baptist Foundation. The loan payment from Yarmouth has been
repayed for the 2015 Convention. The Joint stock was paid in the year it was due and Insurance
will be prepaid for next year further in this fiscal year.
In the liabilities section, as of Aug 31, we have not received any assessment due’s from the
garden clubs for 2016-17 but a letter, with the assessment form, will be emailed or mailed out
late in September in order to notify all club’s before they may close for the winter month’s.
Our total net assets show the excess expenses over the revenue we showed for the fiscal year
(this is the bottom line from the Statement of Operations), plus the unrestricted net assets. This
is calculated by taking the total assets from the Balance sheet minus the liabilities and excess of
revenue over expenses.
Nova Scotia Association of Garden Clubs
Statement of Operations for period covering
April 1, 2015 - Aug 30, 2015
9/10/2015
5 months ended
Monday, August 31, 2015
2015-16
12 months ended
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
2014-15
Revenues:
Income from Activities
Tags & Seals
Newsletter Advertising
Sale of Surplus Plants
Total Income from Activities
Other Income:
Association Dues
Affiliated Clubs
Baptist Foundation Interest
Miscelleaneous
Total Other Income
104.00
50.00
1221.50
427.54
800.00
2380.00
1,375.50
6,676.00
300.00
178.51
0.00
3,607.54
7,226.00
350.00
360.00
125.00
7,154.51
Total Revenue
8,061.00
$8,530.01
$11,668.54
Expenses
Future Projects (Plant Give away)
Activities Contest
Newsletters
Awards
Photo contest
Printing Tags & Seals
Insurance Cost
Miscellaneous
Provincial Gardening Week
National Plant a tree
Meeting Expenses (Board & Committee)
Board Meeting - Willow Bend
Board Members
Director's expenses
Total Meeting Expenses
Office Expenses
Bank Charges
Financial Statement reveiw expense
Joint Stock
Website (15-16 pd nine yr renewal for .com)
Total Office Expenses
Total Expenses
Excess of revenue over expenses (expenses over revenue)
3,595.65
0
718.53
195.53
253.66
174.44
1,030.00
2,898.00
120.00
2,514.47
92.13
125.00
598.29
1,030.00
146.05
247.32
0.00
0.00
809.58
1,002.31
156.23
1811.21
923.78
482.97
1,968.12
21.97
100.00
30.25
92.39
3,217.96
234.91
100.00
30.25
57.50
244.61
422.66
$8,180.54
$11,411.88
$349.47
$256.66
Nova Scotia Association of Garden Clubs
Balance Sheet for period covering
April 1, 2015 - Aug 30, 2015
5 months ended
Monday, August 31, 2015
2015-16
12 months ended
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
2014-15
Assets
Current
Cash
Investment - Baptist Foundation
Accounts Receivable - Halifax Area 2013 Convention Loan
Accounts Receivable - Yarmouth 2015Convention Loan
Accounts Receivalbe - Newsletter Advertising
Prepaid Insurance
Total Current Assets
Capital Assets
Equipment - Computer & Printer
Total Capital Assets
Total Assets
3,480.70
12,000.00
6,697.23
12,000.00
-1,000.00
1,000.00
-250.00
1,030.00
14,480.70
20,477.23
0.00
0.00
$14,480.70
$20,477.23
0.00
0.00
6,676.00
300.00
0.00
6,976.00
0.00
349.47
14,131.23
14,480.70
0.00
256.66
13,244.57
13,501.23
$14,480.70
$20,477.23
Liabilities
Current
Unearned Revenue - Garden Club dues
Unearned Revenue - Affiliated Garden Club dues
Total Current Liabilities
Net Assets
Net Assets Invested in Capital Assets
Excess of revenue over expenses (expenses over revenue)
Unrestricted Net Assets
Web Master Report
To the NSAGC Board Meeting, 26 Sept 2015
Truro, Nova Scotia
This report covers activities from April 2015 through to September 2015
A few changes to the site took place over the report time frame. Minor changes were completed on the Plant Sale
and the District Events pages of which District 4, 5 and 6 appear to use more frequently. As you can see by the
graphs below, March, April, May and June were the busiest months, probably due to people looking for plant sale
and convention information.
The plant sale page on the site was put to good use again this year with many of the clubs advertising their sale.
A new NSAGC website is being worked on and is almost ready to be released.
In closing, the site appears to be functioning well and has seen considerable use as shown below.
Respectfully Submitted by
Paul Despres
NSAGC Web-Master
20 September 2014
Report of the Scotia Gardener
September, 2015
With the change of timing of the Scotia Gardener to publication dates October,
December, April and July, no issue has been published to date. The October, 2015 issue
(Volume 15, No. 1) is at the printers and is due to be mailed on September 30.
The October edition is only 4 pages. I received very few articles. I think the change of
publication date was a little confusing. I will remind Directors and Presidents for the December
issue. The deadline is November 15. This information is in the October, 2015 issue of the
Scotia Gardener. I have asked for 525 copies to be printed.
Via e-mail I did receive a very positive response from the executive for the changes and
indication that as Editor, I could make this change as part of my responsibilities. If you would
like a motion to confirm this change at this September meeting then I would suggest the
following motion:
Starting with Volume 15, 2015, that the dates of publication for the Scotia Gardener be
October, December, April, and July.
Ann Jones, Editor, Scotia Gardener
NSAGC Tags & Seals Report as of September 26th, 2015
3 orders were placed for purchase of Tags & Seals between April 2015 to present.
Seals included 600 Tags, 100 2nd place Seals, 1 Best in Show and 1 Honorable Mention.
July and August were slow with no orders.
On July 23rd, I ordered more Honorable Mention seals (1000), 1st place seals (1000) and 2nd place seals
(500) from Encore Promotional Products in Ontario for $170.04 including Canada post –freight charge.
Inventory is now good at present.
Only 1 order was mailed. The rest were picked up at Convention this year in June.
All monies are still passed directly to our NSAGC Treasurer by the clubs.
Respectfully submitted,
NSAGC Tags & Seals Chairperson
5. a
REPORTS HIGHLIGHTS
Report from Awards Chair for September 26, 2015 Board Meeting
Retiring Board Members
There were no retiring Board members at the time of June convention. However, at the
Board meeting Debra Carey was accepted as Valley District #5 Director, replacing Paul
Depres. Paul will be recognized for his service at the 2016 convention in Pictou.
Outstanding Members
23 NSAGC members, chosen by their individual garden clubs, were recognized at the
banquet.
Congratulations to all for outstanding work with your club.
Yearbooks
There were 14 Yearbooks on display at the June Convention.
Thank you to all clubs who
display their Yearbooks.
It gives us an opportunity to see what other groups are doing.
One thing I noticed is that it would be more comfortable for people viewing the Yearbooks if
they had somewhere to sit.
Starting 2016, I will ensure that a couple of chairs be placed
at the Yearbook display table.
Respectfully submitted,
Lorna Williams
Awards Chair
Report: Photograph Competition.
September 2015.
1. Accepted invitation to be a guest speaker of the zone 5 annual meeting. I was also
speaker at the Wilmot Garden Club. These commitments increased the number of
photograph contest submissions from Zone 5.
2 Designed a pamphlet that advertised the competition. I gave these out to participants at
the Zone 5 annual meeting. (see Appendix) Due to the personal cost of these, it is not my
intent to produce them in any numbers.
3. For the first time, email addresses were requested to be placed on all submissions. There
was not a 100% compliance to this request.
4. For the first time, all photographs received in the mail were acknowledged via email.
5.All images that were submitted for the 2015 contest were scanned and made available to
all contestants through a Dropbox link that was mailed to those contestants who had recored
their email address, as requested, on their entries. This was the first part of an attempt to
make better use of digital technology as well as giving all contestants an opportunity to study
all the submissions.
6. A digital newsletter was created and a link to it was sent to all contestants who had
submitted their email address.
7. Heather Rushton who judged the contest in 2014 was also the judge in 2015 and has
agreed to judge in 2016.
8. 2015 saw the largest number of contestants enter the contest - at least the largest for the
past three years.
9. With Paul’s assistance, we improved our web mterial on the on NSAGC site.
Recommendations for 2016.
1. Remove requirement for mailing address to be recorded on each entry if the contestant
records an email address.
2. While contestants did make suggestions for changes in the classes and rules, no major
changes will be proposed for 2016 as there have been several changes over the past few
years, changes which photographers do not hear about until after the main growing season
has already passed thus making preparation for them more difficult.
3. The question of class 12 needs to be looked at again. This class has never been well
supported. In 2014, there were four submissions of which two were from directors so there
were only three submissions from the membership at large. In 2005, there were five.
• The directors need to ask why this is consistently so. Last year, I pointed out how poorly
supported this was as did my predecessor a year previously.
Having seen the judging process with regards to this class, I am not sure whether the status
quo meets the Director’s goals. The winning image in this class was a winner arrived at by
choosing applying the standard judging criteria. The photograph that represents the most
impressive use of the give-away plants did not win .
4. Include, in advertisements in the Scotia Gardener, a link to a data base of the images of
previous year’s contest.
5. I have begun to move away from just conventional advertisements in the Scotia Gardener
to more creative and more educational notices.
Weakness revealed this year.
• Revealing who the judge is, allowed a contestant to contact the judge.
• When is a food plant, food or a flower. One contestant entered a flower in the wrong
class - she was using the class designated for the previous year’s contest. In looking up
the flower, I found, that it could be used as food. I left the image in that class and she
was one of the winners in that class.
• I was asked to rule whether a plant was a vine or a flowering shrub for a plant variety
that could be either. There was no simple answer.
Progress towards a digital contest.
Progress has been slow. If I cannot make any significant progress in the next 12 months, I
will resign. The lack of progress rests solely with me; I have two excellent volunteers but I
have failed to make use of their skills due to geographical distance and too many other
commitments on my part.
Stats
Break down by class
Class
Class 1
Class 2
Class 3
Class 4
Class 5
Class 6
Class 7
Class 8
Class 9
Class 10
Class 11
Class 12
Description of class
Number who entered this class
Spring Flowers
Life in the Summer Garden
Autumn Splendour
Nature’s Winter Art
Garden Landscapes
Food from or in the garden
Flowering Shrubs/trees in Bloom
Woodland Beauty
Garden Art
Single Flower
Along the Roadside
NSAGC Plant Give-Away
TOTAL
27
30
23
29
22
16
23
22
19
32
21
5
269
Comparisons:
2013
2014
2015
220 pictures were submitted.
130 pictures were submitted.
269 pictures were submitted.
2014
2015
22 people entered one or more classes.
33 people entered one or more classes.
2014
2015
15 clubs/affiliates had at least one member enter.
16 clubs/affiliates had at least one member enter.
Clubs who had members enter:
Bedford
Biblle Hill
Charingcross
NS Day Lilly Soc
Eastern Shore
Great Village
Hants N.L.B.
Lunenburg
Nicholsville
N.Sydney
Stewiacke
Valley
Westmount
Wilmot
Weymouth
Yarmouth
3
3
1
1
4
1
5
1
2
2
1
2
1
2
1
3
Total 16 clubs/affiliates; 33 members
Report of the NSAGC Facebook Group
September 2015
As of this writing, we have 882 members of the NSAGC Facebook group. There have
been 5501 photos posted. We have received very positive feedback about the
information available about events, activities and general information useful to gardeners.
Questions have been posed and answered and there has been much discussion on the site.
The group is very active. Here are some typical posts:
“Thank-you for posting a message a few weeks ago about Heather Lawson's stone
carving workshop in Parrsboro this past weekend. I took part and had a great time
learning how to create some of my own stone garden art. Mary and I also enjoyed seeing
Parrsboro and Advocate (the forgotten shore) and plan to visit again.”
“Planted some green onions last night, around a small clementine tree I'm growing, it had
little / tiny bugs flying around it. Bugs are all gone this morning.”
“Need some advise. I have two grafted winterberry bushes, new this year, they are
separated by about 20 feet. They established well, put them in around mid July. I have
noticed though they have black leaves, it makes the leaves crumble. One plant is worse
than the other and it has not formed berries, while the other one has berries and only a
few leaves with black which I picked off. When we were away the weather was hot here
and one which is the worse was droopy when we got back and while I watered constantly
and it did livened up, the black became. Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks”
Answer: not sure the above is exactly your problem. These plants prefer soils
which are moist at all times. When we can't provide these conditions, and the plants
become stressed, the plant becomes more susceptible to fungal and insect attacks.
“Met a lady today who had a very bad meeting with this plant yesterday. She was in a
whole lot of hurt. This is stinging nettle, know what to do if you encounter it, it might
save you a lot of grief. This is a commonly found plant, know it when you see it.”
This is a very active site and I think the NSAGC Facebook Group is providing a valuable
service to our members and to all gardeners and a lot of pleasure.
Ann Jones, Administrator, NSAGC Facebook Group
DISTRICT 2 SEPTEMBER 2015 REPORT
All seven clubs remain active.
Lismore, Pictou, St Mary’s, and Westville each
maintain flowerbeds in their communities.
All clubs hold plant or bulb sales, contributing
to the many lovely properties in our district.
Each club makes monetary donations, through
scholarships, prizes for their local exhibitions,
and contributions to many organizations in our
district.
We are eagerly awaiting our fall rally hosted by
the Lismore club.
Plans are well underway for the NSAGC
convention in June of 2016.
Respectfully submitted
Evie Fraser
CENTRAL DISTRICT 3 SOUTH DIRECTOR’S REPORT
For Sept 26th, 2015 NSAGC Provincial Board Meeting
This has been a very quiet summer in my district. I did not get any invitations to
visit any of the five other garden clubs or to attend any special events they might
have had. I guess I will have to invite myself.
I would like to see the garden clubs involve their director more because I believe
that we are a great communication connector between the provincial
organization and the individual clubs.
Our District Council meeting will be held on Thursday Oct 15th at 3:00 pm at the
Bible Hill Fire Hall.
Our District Meeting will be held on Saturday Oct 17th in the Economy Recreation
Center in Economy hosted by the Cobequid Garden Club. Guest speaker to be
Elizabeth Peirce, author of several books on organic gardening and preserving,
speaking on canning and preserving.
Hopefully the fall season will be a little busier visiting the other garden clubs in my
district to deliver information from the provincial organization and collect
information and ideas to share within the clubs.
Respectively Submitted,
Elizabeth Hill, Director
Central District 3 South
Directors Report, Halifax District 4
September 26, 2015
Halifax District clubs have been busy as usual. There were plant sales, garden tours, meetings and
outings. Mayflower's president was stepping down, however has agreed to stay on for now. Fall
River Garden Club hosted a public garden tour in June where they charge a fee and show several
gardens to promote gardening, naturalizing, invite members to join, publicize their garden club
and make some money. Our District Meeting in May was hosted for the first time by the Fall
River Garden Club and was an excellent event with a turnout of 104 attendees. There were 4
guest speakers, Nikki Jabbour, Dr. Suzanne Blatt, Sherry Chaisson and Jenny Costelo. The theme
was Gardening: It is in our Nature. St Margaret's Bay Club is hosting our District Meeting for
the first time in May 2016 and plans are well underway already. St Margaret's Bay Club has a
garden bed that they now also plant vegetables in and are getting lots of feedback from the
community. It is located at the crossroads near the turnoff to Peggy's Cove. Dartmouth hosted
their annual bus tour this year to the South Shore, visiting nurseries along the way. They had a
record number of people this year, with over 50 on the bus. The nurseries offered thank-you for
stopping by – discounts, draws for plants or planters, free autumn Mums, etc. They developed a
partnership with the HRM garden staff when they decided to help Audrey Moir maintain the
garden that she and her late husband developed at Sullivan’s Pond. Bedford Horticultural Society
held a Victorian Tea in May, and did community plantings at the Cemetery and Fish Hatchery Park.
Various outings were held throughout the summer and one of Bedford's members, Duff and Donna
Evers hosted the Pictou Garden Club for a garden visit while they were in the area.
The Eastern Shore Club visited Lavender Farm at Seafoam, Pictou, then went on to Angie
Burrell's house who had invited them to have their picnic lunch in her garden. Much to their
surprise many of the Pictou Garden Club members were there to greet and feed them. They look
forward to meeting them again at the Convention. They finished the day visiting more gardens and
West River Greenhouse.
A recurring issue amongst the clubs this year is obtaining speakers for their meetings. There
seems to be some difficulty as speakers have already been used and our area is not finding new
speakers to keep up with the demand. Most of our clubs have speakers at each meeting, and
usually meet monthly. I am working on this by collecting speakers from each club and we will
share that list among our clubs when it is complete.
Respectfully Submitted by
Pamela MacLean
Halifax District 4 Director
1
NSAGC Board Meeting
September 26, 2015
District 5 has seven clubs and one affiliate (the Annapolis Valley African Violet Society).
Membership within each of these clubs, are ranging from 5 or 6 to 100.
All are quite busy with activities and all have regular monthly meetings and all are
actively seeking new members. Six clubs had flower shows this summer; All reported of
having activities such as: quest speakers, caring for various community gardens and/or hanging
baskets, potlucks, workshops, seed exchanges, supplying gardening books to libraries, student
bursaries, tours and even bus tours, plant sales, and scrap books, and BBQ’s.
The Valley Gardeners Club does not have a Program Committee by design. I quote
Cinda Kalkman, Secretary: “...instead we have a signup sheet where members volunteer to find
a speaker for the month they signed up for. This is overseen by a coordinator.”
The Wilmot Garden Club has a mentoring program where the more seasoned gardeners
take on the younger gardeners and mentor them along the way. This is working well.
The Haliburton Club is struggling. They have lost many members due to illness,
accidents, death, or moving away. They only recently voted not to join with The Mount Denson
Club and are now busy seeking new members with advertising. I was told that getting quest
speakers and paying from limited funds, seems to be difficult.
Less than half of the clubs have internet presence (ie a websites and/or Facebook page or
group). Of those without, I asked why and the main reason being the executive were either not
on the internet or do not have enough desire/knowledge to create anything on the internet.
The common theme throughout all clubs seems to be low numbers of active volunteers
due to lack of time or aging members. Any changes within clubs to appeal to a more younger
member seems to be a mystery as how to effectively recruit them.
I have only visited the Mount Denson Garden Club to date but look forward to visiting
each one within District 5. So far, members all seem enthusiastic, friendly, highly
knowledgeable and always willing to share with others.
Respectfully submitted by:
Debra Carey
Director District 5
(902) 825-9035
Report of the Director
District 7
September 2015
Clubs of District 7 received much positive feedback from their hosting of the 2015
Annual General Meeting and Conference for NSAGC. I have attached the final report
and evaluation report of the chair of the committee, Vivian Kennedy. What we found
most enjoyable was getting to know members of the other clubs in our area. Almost all
clubs were active participants. Each club contributed monies to the event and the
proceeds were divided and given back to the clubs. The event brought together the clubs
of District 7.
Many of the Clubs in District 7 do not meet in the summer but they do have activities
such as garden tours and garden parties. I hope to visit all of their clubs this fall, winter
and spring and we are beginning planning for our District meeting. I have put out a call
for a club that would like to hold this event this year.
Ann Jones, Director, District 7