The Flower Lover’s Garden Club had their first meeting of 2026 on March 4 at Whitlock Hall of St. John’s Church, 212 S. Green St., with 35 members in attendance. A delicious lunch was provided by the hostesses; Terri Trinkle, Ruth Hallett, Diane Fairfield and Dee Frazee. Fresh flowers and antique tablecloths decorated the tables. Yearbooks for 2026 were distributed at the door.
President Denise Ducharme convened the meeting and thanked the executive committee for their work in planning the events and creating the yearbook for 2026. Those people included; Lana Presslor, Belinda Grimble, ML Dawald, Kezia Blackwell, Karen Cook, Donna Walton and Shari Patton. Denise also thanked Karen McCloud and Lana Presslor for auditing the books. Denise recognized Shari Patton for starting the process of rejuvenating the Face Book page.
President Ducharme reviewed the yearbook with the members and passed the coin jar for donations.
Items of discussion during the review of the yearbook were as follows:
1. The “Garden of the Month” for June, July and August will need a committee of volunteers to find and contact potential garden owners. This event is traditionally held during the year when there is no garden walk. There seemed to be some issue about where the sign for this event is located. The sign is placed in the yard of the featured garden. Sharri Patton offered to create a new sign if the original one does not appear. A “sign up” sheet will be available in April for those wishing to volunteer for this cause.
2. The Garden Walk of 2027 needs co-chairs. The committee will be tasked with finding 8 or 9 gardens to be featured.
3. Eventually we will need policies and procedures for the Face Book page. Also an email for the organization as well as a P.O. box will be forthcoming. Watch for further information. Once the FB page is up and running, these contacts can be posted on FB.
4. For hostesses, the key to St. John’s can be obtained by contacting the treasurer, Belinda Grimble. If this is not possible, there is a doorbell that contacts the church administrator in the basement and she will come up and let the hostesses in the building.
5. There was some discussion of those people who currently do not pay dues, (25 or more years of membership). There was a suggestion of having them pay dues but at a reduced rate. This will be discussed further at the April meeting.
6. Past treasurer, Nancy Bowes, reminded the membership that our organization is not tax exempt. In the past some members have made purchases and given her the receipt with no tax charged.
7. Fundraising and ideas for options were discussed. Of relevance was the feeling that what our organization offers for sale should not be in competition with local schools or philanthropic community entities. Emily Toomey suggested Plant Bingo, which seemed to spark the interest of the group. This will be discussed further at the April meeting.
Downtown Planters update by Terri Trinkle (committee members include Diane Fairfield and Shari Patton)
1. Terri reported that plants may be picked up on March 16 at ProGreen’s Garden Center.
2. This will include 2 Dusty Millers and 10 Pansies.
3. Members should sign off when they pick up their flowers. A clipboard will be at ProGreen’s Garden Center 1000 Lafayette Ave., Crawfordsville.
The next meeting will be April 1 with a speaker from Ryan’s nursery. The topic will be container gardening. The hostesses will be; Pricilla Zachary, Donna Walton, Karen McFall and Beth Gillan.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:50 p.m.
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