PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Membership in our Society continued to grow in the year 2002, up to 157 from 139 in 2001 and this growth is expected to continue in 2003. Once again we were successful in presenting interesting, informative programs at our monthly meetings and that was partly reflected in the increase in our average attendance of about 20%. We changed the seating format at our monthly meetings, introducing round tables, to put more emphasis on the opportunity for social interchange between members that was more difficult to achieve using the theatre style seating arrangements used previously. Sharing our experiences and ideas with other dedicated gardeners is an important reason why many people belong to the Horticultural Society and our monthly meetings should facilitate that. We don’t have a garden just for ourselves. We have it to share, and in 2002 we took the first step towards putting that premise into action. Twenty four members of our Society graciously agreed to open their gardens, year round, to any member who would like to visit and share their gardening experiences. Although we did not monitor the activity of this programme, my sense is that not many people actually took advantage of this great opportunity to go on a “garden tour” at any time of the year. We are going to offer this programme again in 2003 and I would very much encourage all members, old and new, to take advantage of it. You will find a list of all the gardens open for viewing in this Year Book along with some general rules of etiquette. We resurrected the Garden Competition in 2002 and although we struggled, we did eventually get sufficient entries to actually hold a competition. There is a sense that unless people think they have a chance of winning the competition they will not enter. So this year the plan is to take a slightly different approach. Instead of trying to declare that one garden is better than another, we would like to seek out gardens that can truly be designated as one of the chosen “Beautiful Gardens of Uxbridge”, and there could be many. Construction on the Children’s Garden was completed this year, with the generous help of the Township, and it is now ready for planting in the Spring by our junior gardeners. The Children’s Garden is behind the Library in Uxbridge next to the rear entrance. Our Society has grown substantially in numbers over the last few years but by and large we have been involved in the same activities every year. In 2003 there is an opportunity to play a larger role in co-operation with the Township in the encouragement of the beautification of our town. We have spent a large portion of our cash reserve in 2002 on civic projects and will have to be now more concerned about raising funds than we have been in the past few years. Our activities in the past have largely been supported by our long serving members who keep coming back each year to generously offer their help and assistance. But, if we are going to grow in the future, in more than just terms of numbers, we will need the active participation of our “new blood”, especially if we want to get ambitious about expanding the scope of the Society’s presence in our community. So if there is a message for 2003, it would be to make a call on the executive and the directors to reach out to our newer members and get them involved. Let’s make membership in the Uxbridge Horticultural Society mean a lot more than just attending a monthly meeting. Bob Shepherd, President. |