We Did It!!
/We did it!!
Since we first launched our canoes last September we’ve explored some interesting destinations along the “trail”. During our first year as a club we studied native plants, Fernandina Main Street civic beautification, US Forestry Service, floral design, Florida Friendly Landscaping, roses, plant leaf manipulation and the vital impact bees have on agriculture. The year culminated with the installation of officers and a shared meal during our closing meeting May 11th.
Fourteen members, two guests and our district director attended. We hosted a salad bar extravaganza. Club officers provided the greens and members contributed a variety of salad toppings. A custom designed cake was enjoyed in celebration of the successful completion of our first year as an organization. “The Bartram Garden Club. We did it!!”
Jan Litchfield, FFGC District IV Director, installed our incoming officers, which were also our outgoing officers. I wish to extend my personal thanks to officers Kathleen, Kathye and Reha for supporting me and our objectives as we “blazed the trail together”. We intensely trudged through writing bylaws and standing rules, and wrote our first budget. Vice-president Kathleen dazzled us with her creative art skills, initiating the eye-catching “Along the Bartram Trail” educational exhibit for general meetings. Kathye, recording secretary, faithfully kept track of attendance and minutes, and served as membership chairman, a daunting job as we enrolled 26 charter members and added 14 new members during the year! Treasurer, Reha London kept track of our funds and learned that plant raffles are extremely popular and can be overwhelming to manage. All good problems to have!
Many thanks to those who served on committees, bought T-shirts and ways and means items, attended Gardenfest and the district meeting and, in general, supported every project this president initiated!
Special recognition goes out to our webmaster, Marc Williams, who created our FFGC award winning website, which was chosen the best website among state applicants and garnered a certificate and a $50.00 award!
We are especially proud of the landscaping we designed and implemented surrounding the newly erected state historic marker at the historic post office on Centre Street in historic Fernandina Beach.
I wish everyone a fun and safe summer!
See you the 2nd Thursday in September at our new meeting location — the Woman’s Club of Fernandina Beach.
