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BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28. 2017

Present: Arthur Haskins, Patsy MacKenzie, Susan Hazelwood, Andrew Clinch, Pamela MacLean, Vicki Willis, Ann Jones, Dixie Cress, Kathy Harvie, Janet Simpson, Elsie Locke, Sue Gilmour, Sharon Bryson, Paul Despres, Valerie Despres,

Regrets: Debra Carey, Elizabeth Hill, Joanne Ford, Kathy d’Entremont, Eileen Pease Vicki called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone. 1. Review Minutes of Board of Directors April 29, 2017 Meeting • Moved by Pamela that the minutes be accepted as distributed. Seconded by Patsy. Motion

carried.

2. Old Business

a. Scholarship Article • Pamela will write a letter for the next newsletter providing information on scholarships. b. Letter to Clubs re Paper Newsletters • Ann again expressed concern about not sending the newsletter in paper form. • Arthur feels that we need to make a clear cut and deal with any problems that arise as a

result. • Pamela moved that Scotia Gardener go completely digital starting in 2018. Arthur

seconded. Motion carried. • Vicki will send a follow-up email to Ron Hall, Mahone Bay, who raised the issue at the

AGM. c. Evaluation of Convention PowerPoint • Very positive feedback was received after displaying the photo contest entries during

breaks, before the AGM, etc. • It was agreed that the agenda, concise financial statements and the Board members for the

upcoming year should also be shown. d. Convention 2017 • Joanne’s attached report was read by Patsy. e. Convention 2018 • The attached report was read by Sue. • Charles Berry also sent along the attached draft convention program. • Paul suggested that email addresses of convention attendees should be collected each year

and that the registration form for the current convention should be sent to those who registered in previous years.

f. Progress in Reducing Newsletter Printed Copies • This item was covered in 2 b. above. g. Halifax Garden Festival (HGF) vs Saltscapes • Pamela presented the attached report.

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• If we sell plants at the HGF, the cost would be $100 for 2 tables vs $1100 for Saltscapes. • As a result of being at the HGF, we had interest from the Beaverbank Garden Club to

possibly join NSAGC and an invitation to participate in an event at Stadacona. • Ann suggested that Saltscapes attracts people from across the province vs HGF which

attracts people mostly from HRM. Arthur suggested that more advertising in advance of the HGF would allow people from across the province to know about the event.

• Pamela moved that we participate in the 2018 HGF, expand on it and sell plants. Sharon seconded. Motion carried.

• It is thought that the HGF will take place on June 18, 2018. • Other events that we are participating in:

o October 14 – Sackville Harvest Celebration of Community Gardens o October 20 – Harvest Festival at Stadacona o October 30 – Halifax Food Policy Alliance.

• Pamela recommended that all Directors look for opportunities to participate in local events, community centers, universities and NSCC campuses.

• Vicki will send an email to clubs in HRM asking for brochures for the October 20 event. • Pamela purchased a tent for the 2017 HGF for $172. The tent can be loaned to clubs for

events. Arthur moved that NSAGC reimburse Pamela for the cost of the tent. Patsy seconded. Motion carried.

• Arthur moved that Vicki be able to spend up to $200 to develop posters for promotion at events, community centers, universities, NSCC campuses, etc. Pamela seconded. Motion carried.

• Ann reminded everyone that photos and articles about events should be posted in the newsletter.

h. Approval of Clubs & Societies Presidents Handbook • The handbook was previously distributed. Some feedback was received and incorporated

into the current version. • Susan moved that the handbook be sent to the Presidents via the Directors. Pamela

seconded. Motion carried. i. Digital Photo Contest Help • Vicki thanked Andrew for his significant contribution to the photo contest. • Someone has been found who will help move the contest into the digital world. Dixie has

offered to help the new person. j. Web Site HTML Documents • Paul gave Susan a thumb drive containing the latest version of the web site HTML

documents, as a backup. k. Judge’s Courses • Judge’s training is no longer available through the Dalhousie Faculty of Agriculture.

Therefore, if we want to train more judges, we have to do it ourselves. • It is not critical to get new judges now, but we may need to in the future. • Paul suggested putting the text of the course on the web site. Allison Magee could then

provide a one-day session and exam periodically around the province. NSAGC would have to develop the content since Dalhousie owns the current course.

• Patsy, Pamela and Arthur are all judges and have the text from NSAGC’s course. They will develop the new course.

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3. Planning for the Future Reports • All items for all Goals except Goal #1 are completed. • Goal #1, Work with Provincial Government Agencies to create awareness of NSAGC and

funding for rack cards: o There will soon be a new club in Claire. Thanks to Cathy d’Entremont on her work

with the club to make that happen. o Kathy Harvey has spoken with Beaverbank and she is attending their November

meeting. o Sharon will contact someone in Canso about a possible new club there. o There might be interest in starting a club in Baddeck. o Someone in Port Hawkesbury tried to start a club but there was no interest so she

joined Isle Madame’s. o Vicki has not received a good response from government agencies. However, she

had great responses from student unions. We should be targeting younger people in order to mover cubs forward. We could promote food safety and mental and physical health.

o Need to develop posters targeted at young people and provide to the cubs, along with a letter from Vicki explaining the approach. The posters need to be bright, engaging and what young people are interested in.

o Directors were asked to identify 1 or 2 community centers in their areas and to put posters up in those centers.

o The Mayflower Garden Club has changed its name to the Lower Sackville Garden Club.

o There is no longer a need to develop a rack card. 4. New Business a. Distribution of AGM Documents/Vote Cards to Clubs • Susan indicated that many club delegates are still not getting the AGM package or vote

cards prior to the AGM. After discussion, the following was decided upon: o Susan will send the AGM documents to the club Presidents on April 1 and ask for

the names and email addresses of the delegates. o Susan will take the vote cards to the AGM and distribute them there. o Susan will provide a box where delegates can return the vote cards to save printing

all of them each year. b. Travel Expenses • The current process of everyone filling their tanks before and after travel is not effective.

Several Board members do not live close to a gas station. • Janet suggested paying everyone $.25 per kilometer travelled instead. • Janet will modify the expense claim form to provide space to record kilometers. • Janet moved that we move to a per kilometer method of expensing travel, use $.25 per

kilometer, effective after today’s meeting. Pamela seconded. Motion carried. c. Review of Financial Reports by an Accountant • Daryl Usher is no longer going to review our financial statements. • Sharon suggested using Robert Cunningham, who might be an accountant. • Paul suggested that we could have the reports reviewed by Board members. Vicki verified

on the Access NS web site that 2 Board members can review financial statements.

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• Pamela and Susan volunteered to review the statements at the next year end. d. Plant Giveaway Options • Covered under 5 b. Future Projects. e. AGM Agenda • The Executive reviewed the AGM agenda. There are reports being given at the AGM that

aren’t necessary. • Ann suggested that all Directors should be acknowledged at the convention, not at the

AGM. • It was proposed by Susan that the hosting Director give a report at the AGM. It was decided

that they often have a chance to speak during the convention so it is not necessary that they be on the AGM agenda.

• Susan moved that the AGM agenda be changed as follows: o Membership report will be covered in the Treasurer’s report, as it was this year. o Tags & Seals expenses will be covered in the Treasurer’s report. The Tags & Seals

reports will be eliminated. o The Awards presentations are part of the convention agenda and the report will be

eliminated from the AGM agenda. o The Historian and Web Master don’t have enough to report on at the AGM so will not

be added to the agenda. Andrew seconded. Motion carried.

5. Reports

a. Treasurer (Janet) • Report and financial statements are attached. • Paul noted that Tags & Seals has assets of over $1,500. Janet agreed to include that

amount under Other Assets. • There was a question about the Tags & Seals expense line. Janet clarified that it balances

out in the Income from Activities amount. • Janet moved that the Financial Statements be approved as amended (see attached).

Valerie seconded. Motion carried. b. Future Projects (Arthur) • Report is attached. • Arthur moved that we reimburse the 4 clubs with major plant problems this year with

cheques, instead of plants. Patsy seconded. Motion carried. • The Board agreed to proceed with Option 3 for the upcoming year. It was noted that the

clubs might be interested in ordering plants for their sales. • There was a vote for the 2018 Plant Giveaways: choice #1 was Astilbe ‘Visons’ and #2 was

Astilbe ‘Sister Theresa’. c. Web Manager (Paul) • Report is attached. • Vicki received an email from a Girl Scout group asking if we would put their link on our web

site. Paul expressed concern about including links to other sites that have ads or inappropriate materials. Vicki will send the site to the Board and ask for their opinion.

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d. Newsletter (Ann) • Report is attached. • Ann encouraged clubs to send articles and photos for publication in the newsletter. e. Facebook (Ann) • Report is attached. • There were 2,946 people on our Facebook site as of the meeting date. • Ann will add Kathy Harvey as an administrator, as per the April discussion. f. Tags and Seals (Valerie) • Report is attached. g. Awards • No report available. h. Photo Contest (Andrew) • Report is attached. • Vicki thanked Andrew again for his service to the Board. i. Historian (Dixie) • Dixie reported that she has received reports from Districts 6 and 7. • She asked Directors when they want to receive reminders about sending her their reports

and the response was after the District meetings/rallies. j. District Directors • Reports are attached. Directors were reminded to provide summary reports for the Board

meetings and not detailed club reports. • District 5 – no report available.

k. Past President • Report is attached. • Patsy will send an email about the Future Projects Chair position to Susan. Susan will

forward it to the clubs along with the position description.

6. Correspondence • Don Butler’s club would like to challenge the other clubs to donate to Hope Blooms. Vicki

will contact Don for more information. 7. Next Meeting – April 28th, 2018.

8. Adjournment • Patsy moved that the meeting be adjourned at 2:25 p.m.

Recorded by Susan Hazelwood

Final 2017 NSAGC Convention Report The NSAGC Convention was hosted by 4 Cape Breton garden clubs: Isle Madame, Inverness, North Sydney and Westmount. Although it was deemed a successful convention, these groups did not start actively planning until January; 5 short months before convention. It should be noted that any negatives (or positives) discussed in this final report are so that other districts may learn from our mistakes, as well as our successes, when planning the NSAGC Convention and AGM. We had 186 participants for the annual NSAGC convention and AGM. This was a record for Cape Breton. Our 7 guest speakers were either plant specialists, or horticulturists and we had one Master gardener. We feel that our speakers attracted members, as did our three must-see guided tours: One group of 17 hiked Uisge Bàn Falls, a group of 30 sailed on the Amoeba Schooner, and 48 went on a walking tour of Alexander Graham Bell's Beinn Bhreagh Estate. Only one person missed out on their scheduled tour. This was a result in last- minute confusion when the tour meeting place was moved due to crowding in front of the conference building. The guided tours were offered Friday afternoon and again Sunday morning, except for Uisge Bàn Falls. The 4 hosting garden clubs collected 35 desirable door prizes and over 30 silent auction items, and all items, as well as the guided tours, and Friday & Saturday entertainment were advertised to all the district directors & their clubs with several emails. One notice was placed in the Scotia Gardener, and several announcements were also placed in the NSAGC Face Book, as were the directions, exits and driving time to Cape Breton. We also had “Saturday-only” pricing which was advertised in several local newspapers which brought in 13 non-members. Over 130 vendor email invitations went out which brought in 22 vendors. Although vendors were notified twice that they would be housed in an outdoor tent supplied by the Inverary Inn, they complained nonetheless. One vendor dropped out but their spot was quickly filled because there was a waiting list to be a vendor. Vendors were given 2 vendor greeters Friday morning. However, one greeter was elsewhere preparing maps for the 5 self-guided garden tours; a job that ideally might have been completed earlier. Had 2 women greeted the vendors and assigned tables, vendor check-in confusion might have been avoided. There were also problems getting the vendor merchandise to the tent because one was not allowed to drive their vehicles to the tent and numerous trips had to be made to carry merchandise in. The vendor registration form requested vendors to donate a small item to be used as a door prize; this was not well received by many vendors who felt they were pressured to give an item, when they could not afford to do so. And although the Inverary informed us that this was an all-weather tent that was well suited for Cape Breton weather, they neglected to tell us that the tents flaps (or sides to the tent) would be located elsewhere (not on site) and some vendors merchandise was ruined during a severe rainstorm Friday afternoon. As a result, many vendors did not return Saturday. On a positive note, the 4 hosting garden clubs worked very hard to have a Cape Breton-themed convention. The Cape Breton Tartan was placed on the registration desk, and dining tables, as were 21 Chicken pin cushions made from 150thh Celebratory Fabric. The tartan centerpieces were adorned with a variety of plant centerpieces (succulents, and herbs). Inverness & Isle Madame were easily identified in club T-shirts, as was North Sydney & Westmount, who wore aprons made from Canada 150th Celebratory fabric. As members entered the MacAulay Centre, each was given a Nova Scotia Tartan lapel, with 4 pins (municipality of C.B., Inverness, Richmond, and Victoria) to symbolizes the district's clubs, and the hosting town of Baddeck. Name tags, floral competition voting ballots, and the convention program were also given out. During the “Welcomes”, Mr. Courtney MacPherson, retired Pipe Major of the CB Highlanders, played traditional Scottish music. Even the food was based on tradition, and two C.B. Teas served Scottish Oatcakes, and Cape Breton Pork Pies, to our guests.

The official opening was delivered by Past-Chairperson Patsy MacKenzie who was also the MC. The Friday evening Key Note Speaker was Marian Whitcomb “Fascination of Plants”. After the presentation, a social time, cash bar, and a bonfire on the beach were enjoyed. Saturday morning started with the Annual General Meeting with reports of all the activities of the Association. The AGM was followed with presentations by Leonard Vassallo, Gordon Sampson, Maggie English, Tiffany Abbott, and Master Gardener Janet Elsie. The speakers were encouraged to email their presentations to Susan Hazlewood in advance, so that their talking points could be made available on the overhead projection screen. One speaker did not and their font size was too small and too blurry to be seen by members at the back of the room. The speakers were given the option of speaking at the podium with microphone, or they could use a lapel microphone which allowed the speakers to walk around but it didn’t amplify their voice as well. The photo chair, Andrew Clinch provided Susan Hazlewood with all the photos received for the contest, and Susan also had these projected on the overhead projector for all members to see. District 1 would like to thank Susan and Lis Jackson for all their hard work on the convention- it was much appreciated. 132 members stayed for the Saturday evening banquet, and they were entertained by Guitarist & keyboard player Lennon Jerrod, and singer Rebecca lewis. This young duo performed soft rock, rock and sang the blues and were applauded loudly by our members. After which District 1 Director Joanne Ford thanked everyone for coming to the 2017 Convention, the contribution of the hosting clubs was recognized, as were the volunteers, and vendors. Businesses, and municipalities were thanked for their financial support. After the banquet was over, our Saturday evening key Note speaker was NSAGC Board member (Future Projects) Arthur Haskins. In a slide presentation titled, “How to Grow Dahlias” Arthur showed us everything we needed to know to grow beautiful Dahlias. Arthur provided “Contest Logistics” Saturday morning, and in the afternoon, he did the “Quizzes”. This was a fun way to test your knowledge, and district 6 is very sharp! Arthur also provided the prizes for the winner (Sue Gilmour) and she received a H. F. Young Clematis hybrid, and a Variegated Jacob's Ladder. In closing the NSAGC banner was passed to Sue Gilmour of district 6. We wish her all the best in planning the 2018 NSAGC Convention and the AGM in Bridgewater. Respectfully submitted by Joanne Ford. District 1 Director

Convention 2018 – Update # 5 Theme: “Springing to Life”. Bridgewater Garden Club and Lunenburg & Area Garden Club will be co-chairing the 2018 convention. Meetings have been held with various venues to look at all the options available and the Days Inn, in Bridgewater has been chosen for the venue. Room rates at the Days Inn will be $99.00 for double occupancy, + $10.00 for any additional persons per room, per day. Rooms will be blocked until April 30th. A complimentary hot/cold buffet breakfast is served daily. At this point in the planning, the floral competition will be limited to club entries only. In keeping with the convention theme, entries will be based on a spring floral design/arrangement. The theme will be “Spring Tea”. A composition using a tea service set on a tray (teapot, cup& saucer, creamer & sugar). Tray not to exceed 18” in any dimension. Floral element to be displayed in the teapot There will be a tour on Friday afternoon of Freemans Forest - the forest is a private property park. It is approximately 8 acres and is mostly wooded. There is a storm water management system in place called Lil Brook, and approx. 2km of woodchip trails, as well as a woodland labyrinth. Other features are a 15' tall inuksuk, raised bed vegetable gardens, perennial/shrub beds. The septic field has been converted to a "wild" flower meadow. The whole property has become an art gallery of the owner Tim and Ann's inspirations of scrap metal artwork. The speakers have been confirmed at this point. (See draft program). Friday nights presentation by Erica Poole of Maritime Osteopathy will be an active presentation where members will be instructed on and can participate in some pre-gardening stretches. We will be limiting the number of delegates to 200 and closing date for registration will be April 30th, (postmarked by that date). Requests for registration after this time will be considered on a “phone contact only” basis. Vendor spaces have been filled. Looking forward to seeing you in 2018 Charles Berry Co-Chair NSAGC Convention 2018

2018 NSAGC Convention Program (Draft) Hosted by South Shore District

June 1st & 2nd, 2018 Days Inn, Bridgewater

Friday, 1st 1:30 – 5:00 Registration 1:30 – 5:00 Vendors open/Self guided tours of local attractions, nurseries & farm markets

(pamphlet/map in registration bag) 3:00 – 4:00 Tour of Freemans Forest – Details TBA 1:30 – 3:30 Floral Competition Arrangements in place (Judging on close of entries) 6:00 – 6:30 Opening ceremonies 6:30 -7:15 Speaker – Erica Poole – Maritime Osteopathy – “Stretching Into Spring” 7:15 Social Time, Cash Bar Saturday 2nd 8:00 – 12:00 Registration 8:00 – 4:00 Vendors open 8:45 – 9:45 NSAGC Annual Meeting and AGM Door Prize 9:45 – 10:15 Nutrition Break 10:15 – 10:45 Speaker – Charles Berry – Spring Preps for Your Garden Tools 11:00 – 11:45 Speaker – Chris Sanford – Yonder Hill Farm - Soil Preparations 11:45 – 1:15 Lunch, Door Prizes 1:15 – 1:45 Speaker – Chris Sanford – Bridgewater Community Gardens Coordinator -

Planting for Pollinators 1:45 – 2:15 Nutrition Break/Raffle Draws 2:15 – 3:00 Speaker – Greg Sutcliff – Chestnut Hill Farm - Beekeeping 3:15 – 4:00 Speaker – Mersey Tobiatic Research Institute – Monarch Butterfly 4:00 - 5:30 Free time to explore the area 5:30 Meet & Greet in Foyer, Cash Bar Open 6:00 Banquet/Awards Speaker – Rosmarie Lohnes – Helping Nature Heal - Ecological Restoration Sunday, 3rd 10:00 - 2:00 Garden Tours (Handout in Registration Bag) Floral Contest: The floral contest will be club entries only. The theme will be “Spring Tea”, a composition using a tea service set on a tray (Teapot, Cup & Saucer, Sugar & Creamer). Tray not to exceed 18” in any dimension. Floral element to be displayed in the teapot.

Halifax Garden Festival

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Put on by Niki Jabbour, Iian Jack, Crystal Godfrey and Jane Rostick

June 17th, 2017

This is the first time a large event like this was held by this sponsoring group. They all have expertise in the area of gardening and are all well known throughout the province. There were a few kinks and some of those were being worked out at the last second. This made things difficult for us as vendors.

Issue 1: The TENT. Because this is an outdoor event, we are exposed to the elements which could mean rain, cold, snow or heat. As a result, some preparation is required. There were requirements put on the tent which meant renting a very heavy nonflammable tent was necessary if we wanted to be out of the weather. Because rain was forecast and the event was a rain or shine event, I personally purchased a tent that met the requirements that were finally changed on the day before the event. (Any fire retardant tent was now acceptable.) This was the easiest route as I was not able to lift the heavy tent we booked, and we were required to pick it up on Friday and return it on Monday. All setup was our responsibility.

Issue 2: Getting volunteers to work just a few hours. I suspect the benefit of working Saltscapes is free admission. Admission for this event was free, therefore there was no incentive. A Huge Thank you to the ones who did volunteer. Manning the table: Caron Taylor, Eileen Pease, Margaret Moody, Janet Simpson, and Susan Hazelwood. Set up and take down: Doug MacLean

I picked up borrowed tables from the Dartmouth Club, I used planters of my own for decoration, and borrowed signs recently made up by the Bedford Horticultural Society for Provincial Gardening week. I also printed clubs for each district, a sheet made up by Susan for this purpose. I also used some flyers produced by a couple of clubs in the district to hand out to those interested in joining those clubs.

Traffic was very heavy early in the day despite the light rain and mist. As the day went on, the rain got heavier and the temperature went down making it a cold, wet, damp day, particularly for sitting in an open tent. Traffic slowed to a few folks here and there toward the end of the day.

The speakers were great, although we didn’t have opportunity to sit and listen as we were busy manning our tables.

We do not have results as to how many new members this would have generated as most clubs don’t start back up with meetings until fall. There is no way to know unless we canvassed the clubs as to where any new members are coming from.

I would highly recommend this as a project again, now that some kinks are worked out, for instance the tent issue, and hope for a day of pleasant weather. Some additional decoration and better flyer type handouts would be beneficial for sure. Awareness is key for garden clubs. Another option would be to sell some plants. The vendors with plants were swamped. This would help us to recoup monies spent to attend the event. I would also recommend having a nicer layout containing flowers and or plants that would attract people and a nice sign indicating

Halifax Garden Festival

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who we are (Nova Scotia Association of Garden Clubs) as people do not know who NSAGC is or what it stands for. When they approach they ask, who are you or what is this? Now that we know what to expect, we will be better able to prepare.

Expenses:

• Vendor Table: $25 • Printing (handouts): $20.24 • Tent (one time purchase): 172.47

Respectfully submitted by

Pamela MacLean

Treasurer’s Report Balance Sheet Notes

Our balance sheet looks good for this year. The only items on it are the 2 deposits with the Royal Bank and the Atlantic Baptist Foundation. Our total balance is just over $14,000.

Profit & Loss Notes We made $200 in advertising. Last year we had no advertising revenue. Tags & Seals brought is virtually the same income as last year. Total income from activities is down more than $200 from last year mainly due to the sale of

fewer plants, from both Saltscapes and the sale of surplus plants. Revenue from dues is up slightly due to a small increase in membership. Interest income is down, mostly because of our lower deposit with the Atlantic Baptist

Foundation. The plant give-away cost less than last year but Saltscapes cost more so they balance out. The newsletter cost is down compared to last year but it’s not a fair comparison. There is

only 1 issue on this year’s books compared to 2 last year. However, if we double this year’s expense it is still lower than the 2 issues from last year.

Most other expenses are close to what they were last year for the same period so spending is consistent.

So far, this year we are up $3671.17. Overall, we look to be in a good position.

2017-08-31Account Balance

ASSETS Cash and Bank Accounts

Atlantic Baptist Foundation 9,000.00

Chequing 5,036.80

TOTAL Cash and Bank Accounts 14,036.80

Other Assets

Convention Loan to Host District 0.00

Prepaid Future Projects Expenses 0.00 Prepaid Insurance 0.00

Prepaid Tags & Seals 0.00

TOTAL Other Assets 0.00

TOTAL ASSETS 14,036.80

LIABILITIES & EQUITY

LIABILITIES

Other Liabilities

Newsletter Bills 0.00

Unearned Dues-Affiliates 0.00 Unearned Dues-Garden Clubs 0.00

Unearned Surplus Plant Sales 0.00

TOTAL Other Liabilities 0.00

TOTAL LIABILITIES 0.00

EQUITY 14,036.80

TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY 14,036.80

Balance Sheet - As of 2017-08-31 (in Canadian Dollars) (Cash Basis)

2017-09-27 Page 1

2017-08-31Account Balance

ASSETS Cash and Bank Accounts

Atlantic Baptist Foundation 9,000.00

Chequing 5,036.80

TOTAL Cash and Bank Accounts 14,036.80

Other Assets

Convention Loan to Host District 0.00

Prepaid Future Projects Expenses 0.00 Prepaid Insurance 0.00

Prepaid Tags & Seals 0.00

Tags & Seals Inventory 1,564.20

TOTAL Other Assets 1,564.20

TOTAL ASSETS 15,601.00

LIABILITIES & EQUITY

LIABILITIES

Other Liabilities

Newsletter Bills 0.00 Unearned Dues-Affiliates 0.00

Unearned Dues-Garden Clubs 0.00

Unearned Surplus Plant Sales 0.00

TOTAL Other Liabilities 0.00

TOTAL LIABILITIES 0.00

EQUITY 15,601.00

TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY 15,601.00

Balance Sheet - As of 2017-08-31 (in Canadian Dollars) (Cash Basis)

2017-10-02 Page 1

Category

Last Year2016-04-01 to

2016-08-31

Current Year2017-04-01 to

2017-08-31

INCOMEIncome from Activities

Newsletter Advertising - 200.00 Sales of Surplus Plants 2,432.00 2,152.67 Sales of Tags & Seals 197.56 197.86 Saltscapes Plant Sales 2,434.00 2,269.00 TOTAL Income from Activities 5,063.56 4,819.53

Other Income Affiliated Garden Club Dues 300.00 300.00 Garden Club Dues 6,608.00 6,676.00 Interest (Atlantic Baptist Foundation) 179.02 118.87 TOTAL Other Income 7,087.02 7,094.87

TOTAL INCOME 12,150.58 11,914.40

EXPENSESGeneral Expenses

Awards 185.19 30.00 Future Projects

Halifax Garden Festival - 25.00 Plant Give Away 3,220.00 2,576.00 Saltscapes 1,170.04 1,739.39 TOTAL Future Projects 4,390.04 4,340.39

National Plant a Tree Day 20.00 - Newsletter 1,312.00 479.50 Photo Contest 240.80 232.20 Tags & Seals 14.49 12.56 TOTAL General Expenses 6,162.52 5,094.65

Meeting ExpensesBoard Meetings 1,522.80 1,577.30 Executive Expenses (printing, postage, gas, handbook) - - TOTAL Meeting Expenses 1,522.80 1,577.30

Office ExpensesBank Charges 23.85 28.95 Directors' Expenses for District Business 91.92 111.08 Financial Statements Review Expense 100.00 100.00 Incidentals (printing, postage, etc.) 76.01 38.10 Insurance 1,250.00 1,262.00 Joint Stock 31.15 31.15 Website Expense - - TOTAL Office Expenses 1,572.93 1,571.28

TOTAL EXPENSES 9,258.25 8,243.23

PROFIT (LOSS) 2,892.33 3,671.17

Profit & Loss Comparison

FUTURE PROJECTS REPORT

September 29/30, 2007

The Future Projects Committee of Don Butler and myself have for the last few years discussed the merits of the plant giveaway. There is no doubt most club members like to receive a free plant, but the failure of some of these to grow the past two years has concerned us. The Ligularia last year had major problems due primarily to storage issues and this year’s hosta failures perhaps due to the smaller size plant we ordered, to keep our cost to around a dollar per plant, or our delivery system through the Convention which is an ideal way to distribute to all parts of the province, but leaves live plants in plastic bags for several days that created quality problems. A major concern we have, are the additional plants that clubs order that don’t grow. I think we have three options for the future as out lined below.

Option 1 – Continue to purchase bare root plants but larger sizes and give them away free as the plant giveaway, and discontinue selling extra plants to avoid having to reimburse clubs for rotted plants. This would mean a cost to the NSAGC of approximately $1,800.00 rather then $800.00 when we sold extra plants.

Option 2 – Give each club member a packet or two of seed chosen by the Directors. The seed could be purchased in bulk and divided up into small packets of say 10 or more seed per packet and distributed in early spring after clubs pay their dues. Club orders could be mailed in bulk to Directors for distribution to clubs in their area. The cost of packaging, mailing and purchase of seed would in most cases not exceed $1,000.00 a year.

As an example: Enough seed of Amaranthus ‘Autumn’s Touch’ for every member to receive at least 10 seed would cost less then $100.00 . Depending on what seed we get the cost would vary, one of the fancy Cosmos just for the seed would cost $320.00 . Still cheaper then option 2 though. We could also give vegetable seed as well as flowers.

Option 3 - This was proposed by Sharon Bryson. Make our plants available for the Board Meeting in April. If additional help could be obtained the unpacking, counting and repackaging could be perhaps done in two days, delivered to directors who would head home on the fourth day, and distributed the next day, (5 days in total). Currently it takes eight days. The other thing we need to look at is purchasing a larger plant, so survival should be better. With more helpers perhaps the plants that are frozen in many cases when unpacked and are wet when thawed could be spread out and allowed to dry somewhat to cut down on moisture content.

My initial e-mail to the Board gave only options one and two and the responses I received was that clubs wanted the plants rather than seeds. Option three might be a better route to follow at least for the coming year and see how things go.

Web Master Report To the NSAGC Board Meeting, 30 Sep 2017 Truro, Nova Scotia This brief report covers activities from Apr 2017 through to Sep 2017 The site has only had minor alteration done to it over the reporting period. No major issues have taken place and the site continues to get thousands of daily/monthly visitors. If there are any errors, changes and/or additions you would like to see, send email with details. Respectfully Submitted by Paul Despres NSAGC Web-Master

Report of the Editor Scotia Gardener/NSAGC Facebook Group

September 30, 2017

The dates of publication are now October, December, April and July. This has worked out very well for me and I have heard no issues from clubs. The July edition contained many articles about the AGM with pictures. The current volume #17 has had one edition, July, 2017.

Volume 17 No 1, July, 2017 362 copies were mailed, 391 were e-mailed for distribution

Sunrise Printing, 375 copies, 8 pages $319.13 362 copies were mailed - Mailing $160.37 Total $479.50 With new assessments, the number printed for the October edition will be 350 as clubs asked for fewer copies as more are received via e-mail. The edition in July, 2016 cost $707.28 so e-mailing has reduced the cost by $227.78. Thanks to all the Directors for working with the club Presidents to receive the Scotia Gardener via e-mail. It has really helped the bottom line. There were 2 paid ads in the July edition. If there are nurseries or other gardening related businesses in your area who you think would be interested in advertising, please pass along a copy of the Scotia Gardener and if interested in an ad, please ask them to contact Don Butler. I was very pleased with the contributions made by Clubs and members to the Scotia Gardener. There was a good balance between articles for information and articles about activities of clubs and the Association.

NSAGC Facebook Group In May, 2013, over 4 years ago, we started and I took responsibility for managing an NSAGC Facebook Group. This has been highly successful with multiple posts, comments and “likes” each day. There has been an exchange of photos, advice, events with many comments amongst the members. To date we have 2,939 members. That is an increase over the year of 1,366, almost double the 1,593 members we had in September, 2016.. The membership comes from all over the country and the world. I think we can call this a success! The posts are amazing. I have taken down 5 posts this year because they were advertising, irrelevant or offensive.

Respectfully Submitted, Ann Jones, Editor, Scotia Gardener/NSAGC Facebook group.

NSAGC Tags and Seals Report as of September 30, 2017

Since April 2017, I have received 6 orders for tags and seals from 6 garden clubs and 3 of those orders had to be mailed.

Items sold were:

1000 entry tags, 362 - 1st place seals, 252 - 2nd place seals, 227 - 3rd place seals, 7 honorable mention seals and 15 best in show seals.

Inventory as of Sept 30, 2017 is as follows:

Entry tags = 6,594

1st place seals = 1,186

2nd place seals = 1,187

3rd place seals = 1,332

Honourable mention seals = 1,062

Best in show seals = 4,281

Total items = 15,642

Inventory value @ .10 = $1,564.20

I have included best in show seals in this inventory because 15 seals were sold in the last 5 months. Previous reports did not include best in show seals in the inventory because they were not a big seller.

However, they are slowly selling now.

Respectively submitted

Valerie Despres

Report” Photo Contest September 2017.

1. The competition was completed successfully in May and a report was submitted at the AGM inJune. As a result, there is very little new to report.

2. One new item, already referred to by both Patti and Susan, was, at the NSAGC Convention, the successful convention screening, via a digital projector, of all the contest submissions. Whatwas not mentioned about this was that it was Susan who made this work.

3. Dixie Cress has volunteered to assist with future NSAGC competitions..

4. The first of the Scotia Gardener advertisements, for the 2018 competition, has already beensubmitted. This advertisement has been submitted for the December edition.

5. I am in the process of producing a handbook outlining the process/rules/dates for running thecontest. ( update: as, at the same meeting, I was informed a replacement for me had probablybeen found and that this replacement would be able to organize a digital contest, I submitted areport, rather than a manual, for the attention of my replacement via Dixie Cress and BrendaMacLean. The slight change was because there was a limited need for a manual if the 2018contest was going to be a new format. See attachment).

6. I will in October contact all previous entrants to ask them if they wish to remain on the contestmailing list. ( update: in view of the handover of responsibility for the contest I felt this shouldnot be my responsibility as I cannot say whether my replacement will want to keep a mailing list.Instead I have emailed everyone on the list to let them know that there is a new chair and that thiswill be an opportunity to review the format of the competition. In my report for my replacement Ihave included a list of all the email addresses).

7.I proposed, that in 2017/18, I would to contact directly those organizaions which areAssociated members of the NSAGC in order to make them aware of the competition. ( As I amnow retired, I have passed this recommendation to my replacement for consideration).

District 1 Club Reports, May - September 2017:

Inverness, Isle Madame, North Sydney and Westmount clubs worked many projects and had many meetings prior to the NSAGC June 2-4th Convention. We believe it was a successful convention. The individual club activities are as follows:

Inverness Garden Club: • Met every 2 weeks over the summer except in July, as members were away on vacation. • Held a fundraiser in May at the local Co-op. • Held a plant sale the first week of June. Also put 50, 18 inch hanging baskets, and 50 barrels of flowers

along Main Street. A student was hired over the summer to water the flowers. • Inverness Club put a float in the July “Gathering” Town parade, and A Vimy Ridge Oak Tree was

donated to the Inverness legion (see photo below). • The club did landscaping work around the Information Centre, and the Allen J. MacEachern memorial,

and they planted and maintained 4 new big containers that were provided by the Facade Committee. • Travelled to isle Madame to attend the district meeting in August • Had a get-together and dinner at the Glenoa Distillery in September.

Report Submitted by Betty Anne Cameron, President.

Isle Madame Garden Club: Membership of this new club is up to 23 members. May: Held a Magnolia tree dedication service for Mary Lou Daniels, in conjunction with a plant sale, and outdoor work day at the Rocky Bay Irish Club, which is the meeting place of the IMGC. June: A perennial plant exchange was planned among members, but exams, prom and graduation postponed this event indefinitely. I instead brought 32 Echinacea plants to the members in July. July: Members (George & Clair Kehoe, Lillian O’Hearn) and area residents Glyn & Anne Bright, opened their gardens so we spent the day touring and socializing. August: Hosted our first Flower Show, Dinner and district meeting. For first-timers we feel it was a big hit: 60 people enjoyed great food, and a wonderful speaker (Sharon Bryson) who gave a talk “Getting to know Azaleas”. Sharon’s husband Bill was a big hit as well. IMGC gave away upwards of $557 in prizes for the floral show where 35 floral arrangements, and 66 perennial specimens were entered. Reporter Grant McDaniel wrote an article titled “Gardeners get to Work” to promote the IMGC. This link can be viewed at http://porthawkesburyreporter.com/garden-club-gets-work/ September: Held an auction, and “High Tea” where members worn fancy hats, and they donated garden related items. $150 was raised for the Saint Anne Community Centre and Nursing Home. On that day, we presented the “Outstanding member” award to Lillian O’Hearn, 84 years young.

Our secretary and treasurer resigned due to a serious health condition. For the time being the role of secretary will rotate from member to member until a permanent volunteer can be found. The job of treasurer will be shared between myself and Claire Doyle. Report submitted by Joanne Ford, President. North Sydney Garden Club: Our membership has increased to 32 members. We hold meetings the last Thursday of each month at member’s homes, or the North Sydney Guest home. Provincial Gardening week was marked with a display of gardening books and information at the local library, and June 8th a plant sale was held at the Cape Breton Exhibition grounds. In July, we held the 50th Rose and Flower Show at the North Sydney Legion. North Sydney continues to prepare small flower arrangements for palliative care patients in the Northside General Hospital, averaging about 8 each week. We also maintain a garden at the field of Hope, at the entrance to the town and assist others when possible. In August members volunteered time during Exhibition week to man the flower display booth, and offered materials on gardening and answered garden-related questions. A large number of members travelled to Isle Madame for the district meeting. Report submitted by Dona Benac, President.

Westmount Garden Club: May: Janet Elsie was presented with a certificate for Outstanding member, as well as a miniature orchid. June: Members went on a greenhouse-tour day and St. Peters, Elsworthy, and Mabou greenhouses were visited. our plant sale was held at the Dance Sync Hall in Coxheath; it was well attended and $1217 dollars was raised. July: Went on 2 garden tours at the home of Bob Munroe, and Lee & Shirley Price, and planted annuals at our community project which is the Skyway Senior Citizens Residence. August: Members attended Lorna Williams garden tour, and we held another garden tour at the home of Bibiane Lessard. The club took home the 1st prize for the club-arrangement at the Cape Breton Exhibition, and we attended the district meeting in Isle Madame (beautiful arrangements, delicious food, lovely prizes, truly enjoyable). Note: The WGC did not meet in July or August as too many members were planning vacations, and several members lost close family members over the summer. We met through garden tours and the district meeting. September: Guest speaker Catherine Shepard spoke to the club. Report submitted by Bibiane Lessard, President.

Director’s Report September, 2017

Sharon Bryson, Director District 2

I had made contact via email with the Presidents and Secretaries (communication persons) to request a small synopsis of the clubs activities for my information and for this report.

I made a visit to the Pictou Garden Club in May and plan to attend Westville Club this fall. I have had several bits of correspondence with both Guysborough and St. Mary’s.

Guysborough and District Garden Club

• Still no president, their secretary is stepping down soon, so hopefully a new one will be announced.

• They are planning to host our District#2 Fall Rally in 2018 • They have done their Food Bank garden again this year with good success. • They put together items related to the Garden Club for a Canada 150 Time Capsule to

be opened in 2167

St. Mary’s District Garden Club

• Officers are in limbo, and membership very low. No fall meetings planned until Dec. 12. Contact person has agreed to remain as such.

• Canada 150 Planting was successful • Annual plant sale and August Flower Show were successfully held.

Lismore & Area (note from Don Butler)

• The Lismore Club met recently with 24 members in attendance. A potluck vegetarian meal was enjoyed.

• Reports were given on the club tour to a vegetable farm in July and to Allan Bank's in August

• We have lots of interest in attending the District Rally in October

Pictou Club

• Canada 150 Project- red & white annuals were planted at Veteran’s Wing, Scammell Garden, Market Square and the de Coste Entertainment Centre

• Garden Tours in June & July. Annual Potluck in August • Members participated in the Pictou North Colchester Exhibition, both as exhibitors

and as Judges.

• 53rd Jr Gardener Program for grades 2,3,4 and 5 was judges and awards given. September meeting has invited the winners of the Jr. Gardener Program, to receive a certificate and a plant, donated by Sobey’s Store.

• A Monarch Butterfly Workshop presented by Emma Beaton, summer research assistant, with the Mersey Tobeatic Research Centre was hosted September 24.

• A new secretary is to be hopefully appointed at the September meeting. • Good interest in attending the Fall Rally Oct. 14th.

Antigonish Garden Club

• The NSAGC Convention in Baddeck was well attended by our members • Further work on the H. M. MacDonald school garden was a pleasant result. The bed is

colorful and looking well looked after. • Several field trips and our usual June Potluck were held late May through August. The

highlight being a trip to Harbour Breezes Daylily Nursery in Jeddore. • September Meeting had Darwin Carr from the DalAg Campus as speaker. • A contingent are planning to attend the Fall Rally in Westville.

New Glasgow and Area Highland Garden Club (via John Carter)

• New Officers with three members co-chairing. • Two projects for Provincial Gardening Week, donations were made- to the New

Glasgow Library for their garden project and another to Roots for Youth for their garden and greenhouse project.

• Summer Garden tours were planned (no specifics given)

The Westville and Area Garden Club

• Planning for the 2017 Fall Rally St Andrews Hall on Westville on Saturday, October 14th • Plans to erect a new structure in Acadia Park as our Canada 150 Project. Unveiling will

be at the time of the Fall Rally • The Town beds were planted by members.

From District 3 North The gardeners in District 3 North enjoyed a lovely summer, as we all did. Our clubs enjoyed visiting other gardens - in Truro and also around. Lloyd Maple beck was a speaker on Pollinators, Deer resistant gardens, and where our plants come from. All very interesting. One club visited a winery and bus tours were a favorite - especially stops at plant shops. 150 year gardens were planted all over the District with red and white the theme. As usual summer went by too quickly and, as gardeners, we look forward to next year. Elsie Locke

Central District 3 South Report For

Board Meeting being held Saturday Sept 30th, 2017

• This is my third year as director for the Southern part of Central District 3 and during the last three years my biggest challenge is trying to communicate with the garden clubs in my district. I find it is just like pulling eye teeth to get responses from a couple of the clubs. I am not even sure that they receive the e-mails I send.

• I distributed the annual plant giveaway to the various clubs this spring. • I attended the annual convention which was held in Baddeck this year. • I contacted all the clubs in my district about the 2018 giveaway. Heard back from 4 of

the 6 clubs. I passed this information onto Art Haskins. • I passed on information to the clubs that was forwarded to me from the Provincial

secretary. • I contacted the clubs about reducing the number of printed copies of the newsletter.

My club, Hants North Late Bloomers, is now down to two printed copies. • District 3 will be having their District Council meeting on Thursday, October the 19th at

3pm in the Bible Hill fire hall. • District 3 Fall Rally will be held on Saturday, October the 21st in Great Village with guest

speaker Sharon Bryson talking about Magnolias. Clubs will be giving a two minute report of their clubs activities for the past year and these I will forward to the Historian.

• Have not visited many of the clubs in my area. Still waiting for an invitation to join their meetings.

• My three year term is up as Director but I will stay on until a new Director can be found or maybe I could stay on for another three years but I do not want to interfere with anyone else who might like to have this position. Respectfully submitted, Elizabeth Hill, Director Central District 3 South.

September District 4 Director’s Report Bedford Horticultural Society combined their AGM in May with a celebration of Canada 150. A successful plant sale was held the Saturday of the long weekend in May. Several members opened their gardens to district club members during Provincial Gardening Week. The away tour in July took us to the Truro area. Members toured 2 gardens in Dartmouth in August, as well as one in Hammonds Plains. The Ena Fenton Memorial Scholarship was awarded to a student in the second year horticulture program at NSCC Kingstec. Dartmouth Horticultural Society The annual ‘Gaggle of Gardeners’ bus trip was to 5 nurseries in the Truro area. Frances Howard hosted the annual summer potluck at her home in August. Members continued to maintain the Moir garden at Sullivan’s Pond and the gardens at the Cole Harbour Farm Museum. Nine members opened their gardens for summer tours. Members gave 2 talks at the Alderney Gate Library during Provincial Gardening Week. Hammonds Plains Area Garden Club They hosted their first annual plant sale in June and toured the garden of James Henderson in September. Mayflower Garden Club is now the Lower Sackville Garden Club. St Margarets Bay Gardening Club In May, the club presented a workshop to the Bay Seniors Association on Container Gardening. The club maintains the gardens at the Hubbards Barn and at the Crossroads in Tantallon. A successful plant sale was held. Club members hosted a hypertufa workshop. They toured the gardens of Iain Jack of Fernwood Nursery. I attended a meeting at the Hammonds Plains Garden Club in May and found them to be a friendly group, they have a speaker at their meetings as well as a members presentation. At the Halifax Garden Festival in June, a member of a garden club in Beaverbank made contact at the NSAGC booth with a question about insurance. Currently they are not part of the NSAGC, and I will attend one of their meetings in November, they meet the second Thursday in the morning.

SOUTH SHORE DISTRICT 6 YEARLY REPORT FOR 2017

I enjoyed being District Director for the last year. The big kickoff for the summer for me was the Convention at Baddeck in Cape Breton. I went with two members from the Bridgewater Garden Club. What a wonderful place to have a convention. Everything within walking distance. The speakers and snacks were also enjoyed. We picked up both hostas for the plant of the year and the replacement for last year's extra plants. All were delivered or picked up by the clubs within 3 days. I did get a few reports of the plants not doing well but mine just grew slowly.

I attended Mahone Bay's Garden Club meeting on March 9th, at 2pm at the Mahone Bay Centre. A great time to have meetings in the darker days of winter. Iain Jack from Fernwood Nursery gave a talk on ferns for your garden. Wonderful ideas. They do not have a meeting as such after the talks, they have an executive who meet monthly that make all the decisions for the club. There was a social time afterward with tea and snacks to meet members.

I attended a Lunenberg Garden Club meeting on May 4th at 7 pm at Harbour View Manor. The president, Kathie Kirkpatrick was away so the meeting was run by the secretary, Cheryl Lamerson. She informed the members of the upcoming events. This club is run by the president and secretary, they have no committees

. The speaker was Meredith Bell who sells low sugar condiments at the Lunenberg Market. She was an excellent speaker who told of her journey to making condiments. She of course had samples which were very tasty.

I had Chester Basin's Garden Club over to my home for a garden tour on May 25th. Many spring bulbs were in bloom along with the magnolias and spring perennials.

I visited the garden of Jenny Sandison(president of the Mahone Bay Club) with the Lunenberg Garden Club for their June meeting on the 6th at 6pm. They had a great turnout and I met more of their members.

I joined Mahone Bay Garden Club for their annual garden visiting day on June 28th. We visited 3 gardens at Boutlier's Point in the morning then had lunch at Trellis café. In the afternoon we visited Jane Blackburn's garden(President of Chester Garden Club). It was a wonderful day.

I attended and entered Bridgewater Garden Club's Flower Show and Tea on July 11th at the the Baptist Church. This year's theme was Celebrating Canada 150 "From Sea To Sea". Lots of

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entries and a wonderful tea. They also had a silent auction of many flower arrangements in unusual containers. Great idea for a fund raiser.

I attended and entered Chester Garden Club's Flower Show and Tea at the Chester Legion on July 27th. The theme was Celebrating Canada 150. I arrived early to enter my arrangements and specimens so stayed to help out in the kitchen as it is a 45 minute drive. I even won Best in Show for my specimen lily and a few firsts for my arrangements. It was a great opportunity to talk to the members. One of them, she was 94, wondered if there was a way to make Flower Shows more fair. I told her the only way I could think of was each club that had flower shows exchange schedules. She didn't seem to like this idea. Usually it is just a few that organize this and it's a lot of work! They also had a silent auction of items to raise funds.

The District Meeting was held in Shelburne this year at the Lighthouse Community Center hosted by the Shelburne Country Garden Club on July 29th at 9:30 am. The club secretary, Marilyn Johnston and her committee did an amazing job organizing the meeting. Greg Sutcliffe, the president of the club was a very entertaining MC. The first presentation was the head gardener of White Point Beach Lodge, Wendy Coolen. She spoke on the gardens at the lodge and how they use an old tennis court to grow greens for the restaurant. She has a greenhouse there and grows all the annuals for pots around the lodge and maintains the existing gardens. Quite a feat as if you've ever visited White Point they have rabbits running everywhere. The next speaker was Peggy-Anne Pineau and the topic was roses. Peggy-Anne used to run Heirloom Roses in Hammonds Plains and was very passionate about roses with lots of excellent advice. The luncheon was fantastic with chowder, sandwiches, salad and strawberry shortcake. The club also provided a list of all the Garden Centers in the area to visit and 4 gardens of members to see.

I attended a meeting for the upcoming convention on Sept 9. Charles Berry had printed off copies for each of us of all the preparations thus far including the program. It was a very informative meeting.

Susan Gilmour

South Shore District Director

Sept 24, 2017

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District 7 Report – September 2017

In spite of all my best intentions, I failed to pay a visit to each club within my district during the first five months as Director of District 7. I have resolved to make this a priority in the next six months. Over the summer months, I was in contact with Lisa Doucette who wanted to re-establish a garden club in the Clare area of Digby County. Lisa took a few pointers from me and then did all the legwork with advertising and spreading the word throughout her community. The initial meeting was held at the Little Brook Fire Hall on Wednesday, September 13th. Attendance wasn’t quite as high as expected (only 12 people), but when put in perspective, it was also “Chase the Ace” night and the jackpot was over $500k. No firm decisions were made at this meeting. I essentially went through the guide for starting a new club and added some general rules on how to conduct a meeting. Those interested in joining were asked to consider such things as a name for their club and a reasonable amount for membership fees. All these items will be on the agenda of their next meeting in October. Good luck to our newest garden club! Of the six other clubs in my district, I received reports from three. Pubnico & Area, Clements and Bridgetown Area Garden Clubs did not respond to my request for a summary report. Full versions of the following paraphrased reports have been submitted to the NSAGC Historian. The Champlain Garden Club in Annapolis Royal, with 80 members has had a very active year. Programs have included informational sessions, tours, potlucks and parties. Their annual Plant Sale in May included a diverse collection of plant material provided by members and donations from the Historic Gardens. July’s Flower Show and Tea saw over 300 entries for competition and one member held a flower arrangement workshop for children. Highlights of a bus tour to the Liverpool area in August included garden tours, a luncheon and a shopping opportunity at Cosby’s Garden Centre. In addition to club functions, members are also actively supportive of many community endeavours. The Weymouth Garden Club has 34 members. Although they find it challenging to get speakers for their meetings, programs have included a plant/seed exchange, flower arrangements by a professional and a session on bee keeping. Two garden tours were well attended. They are involved in community beautification projects and support the Weymouth Village Gardens and The Historic Gardens in Annapolis Royal with generous monetary donations. A festive Christmas event, in conjunction with the Weymouth Historical Society, is planned for November. Cash and food donations will be collected for the local food bank. The Yarmouth Garden Club, with over 80 members, has had an eventful year. Along with Canada 150 celebrations, they have also marked 25 years as a successful garden club. To mark this milestone, a bench with an engraved plaque was placed, with much fanfare, at the Cape Forchu Lightstation

amongst the gardens which club members help to maintain. The club’s major fundraising event, its May Plant Sale, was one of the most successful, to date. In lieu of regular meetings in July and August, the club organizes a schedule of garden tours comprised of both member and non-member gardens that are open to the public. This summer there were 22 tours which were well attended and, as usual, attracted a few new members. Respectfully submitted, Kathy d’Entremont Director, District 7

NSAGC Board Report September 23,2017 At the present time, our Board has all positions filled. Our Future Projects Board Member & Photo Chair Board Member, have both expressed a desire to retire . During the next year, I will ask the District Directors to let heir area know that these positions are available. I will also ask Ann Jones to post these upcoming vacancies in the Scotia Gardener in an effort to gain interest in joining our Board. As Past President, I Chaired our Annual General Meeting ( AGM ) in Baddeck, as both the Chair & Vice Chair were unable to attend. Respectfully submitted, Patsy MacKenzie Past President NSAGC