YORKTON - The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be holding their next regular meeting in March 2024. That sounds like a long way away, doesn’t it, but it will be here before we know it!
The group held our Christmas Social and AGM in November, and before we chat about anything else, I’ll recap some news from that event.
First of all, a bouquet of thanks goes to our out-going president Liz, who worked so diligently for the group for an amazing 16 years! We think that might be a record in the history of the group! Liz always put so much effort into whatever event we had going on, and certainly did her best with all our projects and meetings. We thank you for all you did for the YDHS, Liz, and you have truly earned your chance to just sit back and enjoy the meetings! You did a great job as president!
Another bouquet of thanks goes to our faithful secretary Vicky, who kept detailed and thorough records of our meetings and correspondence. Her efforts were so important in recording our activities, because these become part of our club’s history. Her minutes reminded us of what happened in past meetings; it is so easy to forget and the minutes were a solid reminder. Thank you for a job very well done, Vicky!
We had a delicious banquet as part of our meeting: Thank you to Stan and Vicky at St. Mary’s Cultural Centre for making such a terrific meal for us, we all enjoyed it immensely! And after supper we had a beautiful presentation by Sharon and John about their trip earlier this year to Australia and New Zealand: thank you for sharing those wonderful travel adventures with all of us! The photos were just great, and we learned so much…like about a dance called haka, usually performed by Maori males, but can be performed by females, such as the Black Ferns, New Zealand's premier women's rugby team. If you’re wondering how that fits in with horticulture, the silver fern is a tree fern found only in New Zealand. The underside of the leaves reflect moonlight, and they can be used to find one’s way along bush pathways at night. To the Maori people, the silver fern’s long stems stand for strength and enduring power. To other people from New Zealand, the fern represents a connection to their homeland. Meanwhile, the black tree fern, mamaku, is New Zealand’s tallest tree fern. So…travel, plants, sports…we learned about all of it!
And of course, thank you to everyone who attended, and those who brought door prizes or silent auction items. All those things together made the evening sparkle even more!
Now, I would like to extend congratulations to our new executive: Ed, John, Louise, and Melody. We know you will do fine work as a team when you begin your duties in 2024. Thank you very much for stepping up to the challenge and offering us your time and talents!
I found two great quotes for all of us: “Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up." Oliver Wendell Holmes…and “No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it." H.E. Luccock. In other words, everyone together will make a great team! You’ll be interested to know that at the Saskatchewan Horticultural Association convention this fall, the Yorkton society received a certificate for being a group for 90 years. It is actually longer than that, but the 90 years award recognizes the group in its present form. Amazing, isn’t it.
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Thank you to our friends at YTW for their fine work every week. Have a happy week!
