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Official Newsletter of Marathon Garden Club Marathon, Florida

The President’s Letter

Dear Members,

We kicked off our

holiday season with our

holiday bazaar. What an

incredible event. We all

thank Mary Ann Wor-

thington and her team for coordinating a very

successful day. Nursery sales were tremen-

dous $833, the scholarship raffle table has

never looked more beautiful and exciting

$893, rummage sale combined with the bake

sale, boutique and grab bag table produced

$1677.50, vendor rentals added $1000 to

the total. So a total of $4403.50 resulted

from the day. A job well done by all!!!! The

day produced lots of laughter and holiday

cheer. A special thanks to Germaine for don-

ning her Christmas tree costume. As I

stood back and observed all of you working

in harmony, I was proud to be a member of

th is great organizat ion.

All members are invited to attend our

club HOLIDAY COCKTAIL PARTY ON DEC.

8th. If you haven't made your reservation,

please call me immediately. A $10.00 grab

bag will add to the fun this year. Don't miss

this opportunity to MINGLE AND JINGLE.

Next month is very busy at the club

with preparations for the January Jamboree.

Lots of helpers will be needed, so plan to

sign up. The date is Jan. 21st, earlier than

last year, so start setting aside your GENTLY

USED items. (Please don't bring them

until the week of the sale.)

We are desperately looking for homes

for the HOUSE AND GARDEN TOUR. We

need your help !!!!! CALL ME WITH ANY

IDEAS YOU MIGHT HAVE.

I WISH EACH OF YOU AND YOUR

FAMILIES THE MERRIEST OF

CHRISTMASES AND A WONDERFUL

NEW YEAR.

-SEE YOU NEXT YEAR-

Sande Club Theme

“Inspire Community Awareness”

MARK YOUR CALENDAR (see p 6 for a snapshot of the Dec. Yearbook

for details)

Wed., Dec. 7, 9 am MGC Board Meeting

Thurs., Dec. 8, 6 - 8 pm Holiday Party

Sat., Dec. 17, 9 - noon, UF/IFAS Plant Clinic at Home Depot garden center by MGC Master Gardeners.

Note: There is no membership meeting this month

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Table of Contents Calendar of Events ...................................... 1 December Calendar .................................... 6 Holiday Bazaar ........................................ 2-3 Horticulture Tip ............................................ 5 MGC Board ................................................. 5

December, 2016 Volume 19 No. 9

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Membership

Report ......................................................... 5 Minutes ....................................................... 4 President’s Letter ........................................ 1 Scholarship Update .................................... 5 Tropical Short Course ................................. 5

By

Shown Above L→R:

Arlene

Keeney, Sande Neiditz, Mary Ann Gorlitz

Note: Many of our volunteers were working behind the scenes for many days in advance. Ed.

Holiday Bazaar Kudos What a wonderful day for the Marathon

Garden Club and what a wonderful way to kick off the holiday season! My sincere thanks to all of our amazing members who donated their time, rummage sale items, plants, liquor & wine, baked goods, nuts and

candy and to those who work so hard in the nursery and gardens helping to make our club so beautiful. Scholar-ship raf-fle income was record breaking

A R L E N E

K E E N E

Mary Ann Donna Virginia Toni Linnea Worthington Barnes Leier Appell Cunningham

Suzy Curry

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These elves, shown L→R, include Jay Carvotta, Rosemary Thomas, Dale Chorebanian and Sandy Swantek.

Scarlett Duffy & Judy Shaw assisted customers with plants grown in the MGC nursery. Scarlett also made & sold the adorable ornaments that look like an octopus, using

Raffle proceeds →

benefit the MGC

Carol Gross, Donna Barnes & Virginia Leier

Nancy

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Minutes November 18, 2016 Membership Meeting

The general membership meeting of the Marathon Garden Club was called to order by the President, Sande Neiditz at 1 P.M. An inspirational reading entitled WORDS was given by the Chaplin, Janie Byland. Sande led the membership in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Donna Barnes recognized 11 guests and introduced 4 new members. Sande thanked Susan and Jim Bankard for their generous gift of $1000.00 to the club. Sande recognized the head hostess for the meeting Phyllis Schewe, who also designed a beautiful floral arrangement. A second floral arrangement designed by Ann McLaughlin was also on display. Sande recognized Linnea Cunningham and Barbara Cowen at the registration table and Joan Bergstrom at the raffle table. Sarah Lytle, recording secretary, was not present but a motion to approve the October minutes as they appeared in the Seeds for Thought was made by Anne Reams with a second by Germaine Main and membership approval. Bonnie Eldridge, gift shop chairman, invited members to view the gift shop with its grand opening for the season. She thanked all the members that volunteered to work in the gift shop. Sande thanked the gift shop for providing three items in the raffle. Mary Ann Worthington reported on the status of the Holiday Bazaar that is November 26th from 9 A.M.-2 P.M. Mary Ann stated the gift shop will be open, and Linnea will have plants from the nursery. Mary Ann described several of the venders and requested the membership volunteer to bring in holiday gourmet goodies. A sign-up sheet was provided. Food items are to be brought to the club November 25th f from 9-2 and gently used holiday items can be brought to the club Monday, Nov. 21st and Tuesday Nov. 22nd from 9-2. Sande encouraged members to come to the club to help with the venders on Saturday between 7:30 to 9:00.

Sande encouraged members to come to the Holiday garden club cocktail party Thursday, December 8th from 6-8 P.M. There will be a wide variety of appetizers. A sign-up sheet was available. Janet Oechsle was not present, but Sande reported on the January Jamboree. Janet has several venders, but requested if members knew of venders to please pass their card on to her. Sande again made an urgent plea for

suggestions for houses for the House Tour in March. There is still only one house thus far for the tour when five are needed. She asks each member to think about the tour and call her with suggestions and ideas to add homes for the tour. With regard to publicity, Susie Ley has been in charge of the publicity for the Holliday Bazaar and will have information about the bazaar in three newspapers. Sande recognized Dick Cunningham and his committee, who have put flyers up throughout the town. The next order of business was a request by Sande for volunteers to serve on the nominating committee that will be compiling suggestions for a slate of officers elected in the month of March and taking office in April. The Committee is comprised of two board members and four volunteers from the membership at large to compile the slate. New to this meeting is a plant exchange, suggested by Sande’s husband, Charlie, and held after the meeting. Sande thanked everyone who brought the more than 50 plants for the exchange. Sande announced an invitation from Coral Pines Garden Club that is sponsoring a boat tour to an island in Biscayne Bay on January 9th. Persons interested should see Sande. Sande stated that a large almond tree, an invasive plant near the front gate, will be removed December 1

st. The club continues with

capital improvement of which the tree removal is one. The Garden Club received a thank you letter from KAIR for the club’s food drive and on-going activities that benefit KAIR. Linnea and Judy presented the White Heron award to the Wolf Center on Route 1. Linnea read a thank you note from the Wolf family thanking the Garden Club for the reward and recognition was noted in the local newspapers. Sande recognized Alene Teynor who will be continuing as the librarian. As there was no further business, Anne Reams moved with a second by Germaine Main to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was followed by a raffle and an excellent program entitled “Rare Birds of the Florida Keys” presented by Janice Duquesnel, Florida Park Services Biological Scientist. Respectfully submitted,

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Membership Report We are off to a great start with new members signing on and guests visiting the club! Barb & Tim Heitman, shown below, joined after the October Meeting. They live in Key Colony Beach and Whitefish Bay, WI. They are especially interested in the nursery a n d na t ive

plants.

We had 15 guests at our November 18 meeting and 4 of them became new members. I would like to welcome all who signed up! Our new members for November

are: Judy Durant (and her husband, Griff,) spend time in Key Colony Beach and Mechanicsville, VA. She is an Accredited Flower Show Judge, Landscape Design Consultant, Master

Gardener and the Piedmont, VA District Di-rector. Dawn Richitt of Marathon, is a friend and neighbor of Trish McGrath. Her interests include Floral Design, our House & Garden Tour and Flower Shows. (no photo yet) Jackie Sauer of Marathon (whose photo the editor can view, but can’t copy) is full time. She is interested in the January Jamboree, House & Garden Tour and helping with our rental program. Rita Rivenbark (and her husband, Mike,) live in Big Pine Key year round. She is interested in helping with the nursery and grounds and Floral design workshops.

Donna Barnes, Chair

Horticulture Tip - Cut Back Basil

Basil is one of the most productive herbs, but keep an eye on it. Don’t let it start to bloom, or the leaves will fade and lose flavor. Cut back the stems by six inches to

force new growth.

Pat Greeley Scholarship Update

This is the first year Marathon Garden Club has ever given a four-year college scholarship to a graduate of Marathon High School to attend university. This year, your Club has committed $6,500 to scholarships supporting local high school graduates who are working on college degrees. That’s four students who will receive our support all four years of undergraduate studies. We are currently nearing the end of a six month long matching gift challenge for our scholarship fund. From June 1 through December 30, all scholarship income will be matched dollar for dollar. So far, we have received $1,025 from members, and a bit over $1,000 from Club raffles. So we are collecting around $4,000 for future scholarship payments so far this Club fiscal year. If any of you have it in your heart to support this cause, please get your checks to the Marathon Garden Club, P.O. Box 500826 before the end of December. We would like to see this match challenge double it’s income by Christmas. Indicate on your checks, “Scholarship Fund”.

PLEASE HELP NOW!

******************************* A REMINDER

Tropical Short Course is sponsored by District X on January 25-26 at Mounts

MGC ‘15 - ‘17 Board of Directors

Sande Neiditz, President Sandy Bourgeois, 1

st Vice President

Anne Reams, 2nd

Vice President Dale Chorebanian, 3

rd Vice President

Sarah Lytle, Recording Secretary To be appointed/Corresponding Secretary Loyal Eldridge/Carl Miller, Treasurers Directors: Scarlett Duffy, Janet Oechsle, Sally Wood & 1 to be appointed Past President, Rosemary Thomas

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MARATHON GARDEN CLUB

www.MarathonGardenClub.org

Mailing Address: P. O. Box 500826

Marathon, FL 33050-0826

Phone: 305-743-4971

Member of

December 2016 DAY DATE TIME ACTIVITY

Wednesday 7th 9:00 am MGC Board Meeting at the Garden Club

5270 Overseas Hwy.

Phone: 305 743-4971 *************************

Thursday 8th 6 - 8 pm Holiday Cocktail Party at the Garden Club

5270 Overseas Hwy.

Phone: 305 743-4971

Our holiday cocktail party will feature a wide variety of hors d’oeuvres.

A server will circulate and offer hot preparations as you help yourselves to a

number of cold delights. Everyone enjoyed the social aspect of last year’s party, so

please visit with everyone.

A mystery gift table will be filled with grab bags of varying sizes. THE

PRICE PER BAG is $10.00. (So many to choose from – all items valued from $10

to $30). Have fun choosing one for yourself - share

the contents with friends - perhaps even trade with

them. Mark your calendars for Thursday, Dec. 8th

from 6-8 pm. $25 per person; deadline Dec. 1st

Co-Chairs: Sandie Neiditz & Janie Byland

Greeters: Leona Anderson & Sandy Swantek

COME JINGLE AND MINGLE!

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Note: There is no Membership Meeting this month.

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Saturday 17th 9:00 - noon Plant Clinic by UF/IFAS Master Gardeners

at Home Depot by garden center