Englewood Sun - 03/22/2018

Copyright Sun Coast Media Group, Inc, Edition 03/22/2018March 23, 2018 10:53 am (GMT +4:00) Powered by TECNAVIA

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Page 20 E/N/C www.yoursun.com The Sun /Thursday, March 22, 20186 OUR TOWN OUTDOOR LIVING

The Englewood Shell Club was honored to have award-winning authors Blair and Dawn Witherington as the speakers at the club’s last general meeting of the season.

Blair and his wife, Dawn, are very familiar to southwest Florida residents as they have authored numerous book on seashells, sea life, sea turtles and Florida. Blair is the

conservation programs manager for Disney’s Animals, Science and Environment. Dawn is a graphic artist and scientific illustrator trained at the Art Institutes of Colorado and Fort Lauderdale.

Blair and Dawn have merged their art, writing, photography and design within a number of projects, including “Our Sea Turtles” (Pineapple Press), which won Foreword Reviews 2015 Book of the Year gold medal

for nature. Their other books include “Florida’s Living Beaches,” “Living Beaches of Georgia and the Carolinas,” “Florida’s Seashells” and “Seashells of Georgia and the Carolinas.”

The Englewood Shell Club hosted the couple, and was both educated and entertained by Blair’s lecture entitled “Provenance of Seashells.” The Witheringtons also offered their books for sale and were happy to autograph copies.

The Englewood Shell Club will resume general meetings in October 2018. For more information, see our website, englewoodshell.club, or contact President Colleen Fosnough at housedressinginc@gmail.

Shell Club finishes year with author talkBy LINDA POWERS

ENGLEWOOD SHELL CLUB

PHOTO PROVIDED

Blair and Dawn Witherington, authors of “Our Sea Turtles,” “Florida’s Living Beaches,” “Florida’s Seashells” and other books, were guest speakers at the Englewood Shell Club recently.

ENGLEWOOD — Valerie Ollinger, a University of Florida Master Gardener for Sarasota County, will be the guest speaker at the Family Garden Club of Englewood’s next meeting, set for 10 a.m. April 10 at the Elsie Quirk Library, 100 W. Dearborn St., Englewood.

The meeting will be held in the library’s second floor conference room.

Val’s topic will be “Pruning and Propagating: How to Grow Your Garden.” She will discuss the proper way to trim your garden plants to keep them looking their best. Additionally, she will cover ways to grow new plants from cuttings to give to family and friends.

Val started gardening in England when she was 5, helping her dad in his garden. After moving to America in 1957, she took her love of gardening

wherever she went in the northern United States.

After moving to Florida in 1964, she had to learn a whole new way of doing things. In 1996, Val and her husband moved from an old house in historic Punta Gorda to three wooded acres in North Port. In 2001 she finally had the time to qualify as a University of Florida Master Gardener for Sarasota County. She loves helping newcomers deal with the challenges of our semi tropical climate.

Val volunteers at the Extension Service Plant Clinics, working with the Florida Friendly Landscape Advisors group. She also spends a lot of her time propagating plants for their big Master Gardener Plant sale which is held

every year in October. She is the director

of People for Trees, an advocacy group in North Port, and also belongs to the Arbor Day Foundation, the Native Plant Society, and the Sierra Club. Val was president of the Allamanda Garden Club of North Port for 10 years. Please join us to hear this wonderful presentation on “Pruning and Propagating: How to Grow Your Garden.”

A coffee social will follow this meeting and you will have the opportunity to meet other attendees and club members. Please feel free to joins us. Everyone is welcome. When you attend our meetings you will get to meet our members and have the opportunity to ask them

gardening questions related to Southwest Florida gardening.

Please check www.fgcefl.com for more details on this event and other scheduled club activities.

As always, membership is not required to attend but membership does have some benefits that you may enjoy. As a member, you will be kept up to date on all of the events planned. You may also be part of the selection activity and planning of the events that we have. This includes the suggestion for speakers and field trips that are arranged. You may also attend the business meetings and be part of the process that chooses and votes on community projects that we participate in. Our membership ranges from the very inexperienced gardener, who has just moved to Florida, to the experienced long-time resident. You will also find that there is

something for everyone at the meetings. Join today and start mastering gardening in Southwest Florida.

Many more benefits

of membership may be found on our website at www.fgcefl.com. We look forward to having you as a member of the Family Garden Club.

Val Ollinger will be guest speaker at the Family Garden ClubBy JIM SCIARELLO

SPECIAL TO THE SUN

SUN FILE PHOTO

Valerie Ollinger, a University of Florida Master Gardener for Sarasota County, will be guest speaker at the Family Garden Club of Englewood’s meeting April 10. Her topic will be “Pruning and Propagating: How to Grow Your Garden.”

‘PRUNING AND PROPAGATING’The Family Garden Club of Englewood will meet at 10 a.m. April 10 at Elsie Quirk Library, 100 W. Dearborn St., Englewood. Guest speaker Valerie Ollinger will talk about “Pruning and Propagating: How to Grow Your Garden.” All are welcome. Visit www.fgcefl.com for more information.

Play Pickleball! Courts open at Boca Royale

Boca Royale resident Pam Merkle tries out the new pick-leball courts on opening day.

Phil Nickerson takes a swipe on the new Boca Royale pickleball courts.

PHOTOS PROVIDED

Boca Royale Golf & Country Club in Englewood held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the club’s four new pickleball courts March 15. Pictured are, from left, Dick Crossland, pickleball liaison to Boca Royale’s Racquet Committee, Jorge Aguilar, the USA Pickleball Ambassador from Venice, Boca Royale general manager Ian Fetigan, Mark Sochar of Neal Communities, Raquets Committee chair Lori Ellsworth-Galasso, and Boca Royale racquets professional Pancho Williams.

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