EMC Lifestyle - The next meeting of the Smiths Falls Horticultural Society is Tuesday, Jan. 19 at 7:15 p.m. at the Smiths Falls Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 95. The society is continuing to hold meetings on the third Tuesday of each month through to November with the exception of July and August.
Now is the ideal time to come out and join us for the beginning of our sixth year. Single membership is only $10 with family being $15. You can help chase away the winter blahs by attending our meetings where you will meet our members and share in the knowledge of gardening. We have some very experienced gardeners as well as novices and the goal is to increase everyone's enjoyment of gardening, both indoors and out.
Your membership entitles you to discounts at some local nurseries, a year book showing our schedule of events and much more, an award winning monthly newsletter (available both by e-mail or hard copy), free attendance to other local society meetings and the chance to contribute to horticulture in a number of ways. These include simply sharing your ideas with fellow members, assisting with designing, planting and maintaining our community flower beds or assisting at our annual May plant sale both by contributing plants for the sale or helping out on the sale day. There are other opportunities which you can discover by coming to a meeting. A small fee of $3 is collected from non-members.
Our society is in District 2 under the umbrella of the Ontario Horticultural Association. There is an annual general meeting for our district which you can attend and can participate in a number of events. There are links to our District site and the OHA web-site through our local society site: http://www.gardenontario.org/site.php/smithsfalls.
Our monthly meetings run around two hours with an opening address from the president highlighting business, upcoming events and workshops. We then have a guest speaker who presents a topic of interest to everyone. A good number of door prizes are drawn for. This is followed by light snacks and beverages provided on a voluntary basis by members.
At this time one can chat, seek more information from the speaker or visit Larry's famous 'read and seed' table where seeds and magazines can be had at a small cost. There is also a monthly photo contest with the winning photo being the people's choice. Members can peruse the photos and vote for their favourite one. We have seen some very striking photos and our shutter bugs enjoy the "challenge for the cup" by accumulating the most points for the year. Next two themes are: January - Ice, February - Blanket. Please get your pictures in (must be taken by you and be a scene from Ontario). Label your photo with your name on the back. A prepared template will be available to mount your photo.
Corporate membership is available for $10 as well and these members can send representatives to our monthly meetings. You also receive some publicity for your business or organization, which results in shopping dollars from our members. Corporate members are also contributing to the community with their membership fees and often-times donate door prizes for our meetings.
Overall, the experience is rewarding and enjoyable for our 80+ members so you are encouraged to consider membership for yourself, your family or friends. |