The president, Barbara Paulsen called the meeting to order at 9:32 am.
She led the members in a Pledge of Allegiance.
There was an attendance of 41 members. Phyllis Godwin introduced 5 visitors present. Guests were Barbie Perry, Janet Newton, Lori Walker, Patsy Wilkins and Judi Bork. All were welcomed.
The speaker, Rachel Tipton from Harbourside Garden in Stonewall, gave members a wonderful demonstration on how to rearrange an outside planter with various late fall blooming plants, millet and other grasses. Everyone enjoyed her presentation and scrambled to be the first to be the one to buy the plants she had brought for her exhibit.
Yvonne Meissner reminded the members that the June General Meeting minutes had been posted on the web site and asked for approval of the minutes. There was a motion (Sharon Nash/Sandy Riggs) which was carried.
Correspondence Secretary, Kathy Hallquist reported that Dorothy Jones was doing well and that she had sent a condolence card to Pat Lepera-Manfredi upon the passing of her father.
She is putting together a day trip to the Eastern NC Garden Center in Newport. She plans to go there in the near future and will present her findings to the members at a future General Meeting.
Barbara Paulsen reported that there is a balance of $3104.18 as of August 31, 2024.
$4000.00 from a special fund has been transferred to a 4% FHGC savings account.
Barbara explained that the FHGC by laws were updated by the Board at their last meeting. She explained which articles had been revised and that according to the by-laws, that the members would be given a chance to vote upon the changes at the next General Meeting.
The October General Meeting is the Club’s Harvest Potluck. It will be held at Red Sail Park on October 14th and Eileen Wagner will present a Tupperware Fundraiser to benefit the Club. There were sign-up sheets for volunteers to assist at the event and another sign-up sheet for members with their food offerings.
Eileen raffled off a few small Tupperware items.
Barbara made an appeal for more members to enter the Scarecrow Contest which will be held on October 26th at the Craft Fair. This will benefit the FHGC Scholarship Fund. There were sign-up sheets for volunteers to assist on that day and a sign-up sheet to enter your team in the contest.
Linda Gregg and Janet Jonah will be handling the Raffle Baskets this year. Four themed baskets will be raffled off at the November 11th General Meeting. They are looking for donations for their baskets “Gardening Enthusiast”, “Wine-Lover”, “Bird Mania” and Dog Gone Cute”.
Barbara thanked all who fill various roles in order to keep the Club running well. She announced that Eileen Wagner had offered to fill the Treasurer’s position. There was a motion for approval (Sandy Riggs/Cheryl McAskill). There was a vote taken with the Ayes ruling.
There is still the position of assistant Treasurer to be filled.
Phyllis Godwin will chair the Christmas Parade for the Fairfield Harbor POA.
We will need a chair to organize FHGC marching in the parade.
There was a discussion as to the need for a Coffee Cart at the General Meetings. Jim Biondi offered to bring in a Keurig coffee machine and suggested members could make their own cup with that set up.
Lucill Durst raffled off two packages of 10 Yellow Daffodil bulbs for this month’s door prizes. The winners were: Sandy Riggs and Phyllis Godwin.
There was a “Seek and Find” contest to find a specific flower on the Website. Phyllis Godwin won the garden stake Sunflower.
There was a motion to adjourn at 10:42 am (Lucille Durst/Eileen Wagner) the Ayes carried the motion.
Respectfully submitted
Yvonne Meissner
Secretary