EIPS Newsletter
|
| |
| Download the December 2006 newsletter in it's original format! This file will take a few minutes to download.
December 2006 Newsletter (9 mb) You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open this file. | |
In This Issue:
|
December 2006 |
|
| |
|
January 20, 2007
Social gathering! More details in the January newsletter Good food, good talk, and good friends! | |
|
2006 Comes to a Close Over 40 members celebrated the close of a successful year at the November 18th meeting. Volunteers were recognized with awards and a writing pen engraved with Eastern Iowa Pond Society Inc. “Happy Pondering” for their participation in the Pond Expo, Pond Tour, Brucemore Garden Show, and the Photo, Baking, and Hat contests. Also for volunteering for many committees. Officers were elected. Saturday, November 18th Minutes Our last meeting of the year was a great banquet held at the Coopers Mill restaurant in Cedar Rapids. We filled up the banquet room with a whopping 45-50 members showing up! President, Monica Morley, opened the meeting by saying “thank you” to all the members for their support throughout the past year. She mentioned a special thanks to her sister Maria, her mother, Elena, and her husband, Gil for their help and support in the last year as she served as club president. She also gave special recognition to our newsletter editor, Carol Sindelar. Carol is stepping down from that position and Monica has agreed to take it over. Carol has done a fantastic job with our newsletter, hasn’t she? We all thank her for her time and dedication to the club. Minutes to the last meeting were approved as printed and Joe Olsen gave his last treasurer’s report as our 2006 club treasurer. Monica then turned to the task of electing new officers for the 2007 year. Monica and Maria have already volunteered to take Carol’s place as our new newsletter editors. I had agreed to continue writing the minutes, so that left president, vice president, and the treasurer’s position open to be “fought” over. Monica asked for volunteers……….nobody. We took turns asking people, begging people….nobody. We decided to move on and change the subject…let people think about it. Monica with the help of recognition committee chairman, Ron Rife handed out year-end awards for volunteerism during the year. Some of the very special awards went to Sharon Weiss, founder of our now 10-year old club! Our great editor, Carol Sindelar, received well earned mentioning for her work with the newsletter. Perhaps the most valuable member of our club, Josh Spece, was in attendance to receive a $100.00 gift certificate from the club to put towards a special hosta he’s been wanting. Josh tends to our ever changing web site and does a great job! Monica also presented me, Jackie, with a beautiful koi quilt for my help with organizing the Expo and various other projects. Certificates for volunteering throughout the year were also presented to almost everyone in attendance, which goes to show you how great the club members are at helping with our projects! Following the awards, we tried to shame a few more members into volunteering for an office. Didn’t work… we’ll try again later. On to the grand, year end door prizes. For every meeting you went to throughout the year you got one chance to enter the grand finale door prizes. This year we had 2 year-end prizes, both comprising of a biofilter with an UV light and a decorative filter with a stand. The winners of our grand prizes were Jo Hunerdosse and Mary Robinson. Sue and Josh donated a nice shirt for a door prize and Ron Rife won that. To close out the year and clean up our door prizes we had 22 other prizes that ranged from fish food to submersible lights. What a great variety of gifts we had to give away all year long. Thanks to Kacy for handling all them. As a reminder, please write a thank-you note to all our vendors that have been so nice to give us door prizes. Kacy put address labels on all the prizes. The vendors have supplied us with 100’s of gifts over the past few years. What great support we’ve had from them. After the door prizes, we boarded up the doors so no one could leave before we had settled on a president. Finally, Jo Hunerdosse, broke down and relented to our begging. She and her husband Gary will make great new presidents. As soon as Jo volunteered and seeing the great leadership she had to follow, Pam Moore volunteered to be our new Treasurer. We didn’t get a V. P. picked out, but believe we since have had a member step forward and agree to that position. More on that later when I have it confirmed. Regardless, we finally unlocked the doors and everyone got to go home. What a nice evening, we all got to eat a great meal. (At least, I didn’t hear any complaints.) I got to run around and visit with everyone, (which I always love to do) and I’m not sure, but everyone there looked like they went home with something, certificates of appreciation and/or a door prize. Although, we had difficulty in finding officers for next year, most members agreed they’d be willing to help in any project the club decided to do, which has always been the case. This club has always had some great volunteers. While every year we loose a few members; we also signed up 40-50 new members this year alone. I look forward to another Expo this coming spring and another marvelous pond tour in the summer. While we don’t have a regular meeting till February, club volunteers will have been working through the winter months planning the Spring Expo and laying out programs for next year. 2007 is shaping up to be another great year for the club. Again, a special thanks to all the 2006 officers, Monica, Pam, Joe, and Carol. Happy holidays everyone and I look forward to seeing everyone again in February. Respectfully submitted…Jackie Allsup Certificates of Award for Volunteerism (Those in attendance): Sharon Weiss, Carol & Dennis Sindelar, Josh Spece, Jackie and Harry Allsup, Pat & Wayne Beuter, Maria & Tom Hamilton, Robert Hollenbeck, Joe & Gary Hunerdosse, Rosie & Herman Michel, Jim & Rose Milden, Pam & Curt Moore, Erma & Larry Thompson, Roberta & Robert Ward, Gil Morley, Elena Murillo, Linda & Tim Nolan, Kacy & Quinn Novak, Joe & Judy Olsen, Edna & Ron Rife, Mary & Joe Robinson, Eileen & Clarence Serbousek, and Rita & Larry Tharp. Door prize winners: Shirt-Ron Rife Food-
Submersible lights-
Water conditioner-
Green & Grow-
Fungus Clear-
Sludge reducer-
Stress Coat-
Pineapple Spitting decoration-
| |
|
October 22—November 17, 2006 Starting Balance $4426.08 Income .00 Expenses: November Newsletter ($70.02)
Ending Balance $4156.06 | |
|
By Josh Spece Hosta 'Stained Glass' Ponds and gardens go hand in hand…a pond looks out of place without a garden surrounding it. I don’t know any ponder who does not enjoy gardening in general, so I hope you don’t mind a few non-aquatic articles in the newsletter. I know Hostas don’t appeal to some gardeners. After all, Hostas are just green leafy things with ugly purple flowers! But I think (hope!) most gardeners can develop at least a little appreciation for Hostas if they were more aware of the huge variety of shapes, sizes, and colors Hostas can bring to the shady parts of their gardens. With this Hosta of the Month feature, I hope to better acquaint you with the nearly endless variety of Hostas available today! Every year since 1996 the American Hosta Growers Association has chosen a Hosta as Hosta of the Year. The Hosta chosen is a variety that makes a good garden plant in most regions of the country, is widely available, and retails for about $15 or less the year it is selected. What better place to start than with the reigning Hosta of the Year? The Hosta of the Year for 2006 is ‘Stained Glass’. ‘Stained Glass’ is a sport (mutation) of ‘Guacamole’, which was Hosta of the Year itself in 2002. Given its background, it comes as no surprise that ‘Stained Glass’ is a great plant. It has glossy, rounded leaves of bright gold surrounded by a dark green margin. ‘Stained Glass’ has a good growth rate and will form a mound around three feet across. Contrary to popular misconception, Hostas do not grow well in deep shade. ‘Stained Glass’ is tolerant of quite a lot of sun and does not burn at all in my garden where it receives several hours of mid-day sun. In fact, the sun really makes the gold leaf centers glow brighter. ‘Stained Glass’ has a special surprise in store when it blooms. You won’t want to cut off the flower spikes (technically called scapes) when they appear in August or you will miss the big, white, fragrant flowers! If you have a spot that you thought was a little too sunny for a Hosta, ‘Stained Glass’ may be worth a try. The bright foliage will look good all season and the big, white flowers will fill the late summer air with their intoxicating scent. | |
|
Hospitality Committee Welcoming new members. Promote Library. Organizing scrap books and/or collecting pictures of club activities. Mentoring new members. Nametags and membership cards. Elena Murillo-Chairman
Gil Morley Community Service Committee Works with the Pond Tour committee on dispersing proceeds. Brings ideas to the club to help educate the public learning the pleasures of water gardening. Recognition Committee Puts together year-end recognition of volunteers and officers. Thank-you notes to speakers at club meetings. Gil Morley—Chairman
Monica Morley Commercial Relations Responsible for making contact & maintaining our relationships with area retailers. Establish club discounts. Conduct drawing for prizes at club meetings. Distribute club information to dealers to give to customers. Send thank-you notes to all retailers donating products. Pam Moore - diverpug@yahoo.com Writing Committee Write articles for newsletter. Assist the secretary at her request. Jackie Allsup - cedarserviceja@aol.com Curt Moore Tim Nolan: June & August Publicity Committee Organizes & gets publicity for meetings & activities. Works closely with Pond Tour group to get advertising everywhere. Develops & maintains our club informational brochures and sees that they get to the dispersed. Organizes booth at area events. Monica Morley - mespringcove@aol.com Jackie Allsup - cedarserviceja@aol.com 2007 Pond Expo Committee Chairman—
| |
|
The year is almost over and I want to thank you, the membership, for your support and participation in the many events during this year. It has been a privilege to act as your President. My goal for the year was to keep it fresh and exciting for the members. It was a challenge getting the Incorporation and By-Laws in place but with the support from many members we were successful... We had an excellent program committee finding informative speakers, some of them from our own membership, which proves we have many talented members in our own club. I hope more of you will come forward with your talents to share with us. I will start a new challenge volunteering for the club’s editor position. My sister, Maria Hamilton, has volunteered to act as the coeditor. The year 2007 will be another exciting year to come. The members have come up with many new ideas. Again, it has been a positive and personal accomplishment being the president for the E.I.P.S. Monica Morley | |
|
Whew — our first issue has been finished and is in the hands of our readers. Check out the new feature: “Hosta of the Month” by Josh Spece. I am always up for a challenge and look forward to working on the newsletter with Maria Hamilton, co-editor . Our mission is to provide you with a newsletter that is informative as well as enter taining. “Beneath the Surface” is a group effort and it would be great to include tips, tidbits, or photos from our members. You can send your email to me at mespringcove@aol.com or slip us a note at the next meeting. Have a great New Year!
Happy Holidays!
| |
|
Pond Debris – Remove plant debris and other organic matter. Depending on your climate, excess organic matter can contribute to increased gas buildup under the ice or increased algae growth. The foliage of marginal plants will add interest throughout the winter and will give you some fun gardening when spring comes. Fish – When water temperature dips below 50 to 55°F, stop feeding your fish. At this temperature, their metabolism slows down and eating can make them sick, or even cause death. Winter Beauty – Leaving your waterfall running all winter can result in some great winter ice sculptures. Keep an eye out for the formation of ice dams, which could cause your pond to lose excessive amounts of water. Bubble, Bubble – Oxygenating the pond water is important if you choose to shut your waterfall down. Although fish are dormant, they still need the oxygen that a supplemental pump can create. Just add a small pump so that it bubbles at the water’s surface. Healthy Fish – To allow the escape of gas build-up, keep a hole open in the ice. These harmful gasses are poisonous to your fish and can suffocate them. This can be accomplished by using the above-mentioned pump. In very cold climates, a pond de-icer can help keep that hole open. Never use the de-icer alone, as it doesn’t oxygenate the water. No Bacteria – Discontinue bacteria treatments when the water temperature is less than 50 to 55° F. The bacterium doesn’t work at these temperatures and using it would be a waste of money. Permission given to use article from Aquascapes’s Lifestyles Magazine | |
|
In The Country Garden & Gifts. E.I.P.S. members receive a 10% discount. Must show your current membership card at time of purchase. Congratulations to Curt Moore. His “Fall Reflections” photo was pictured in the Cedar Rapids Gazette November 23, 2006. Curt was one of the winners in the Gazette’s 12th annual “Call of the Colors” photography contest. Congratulations to Robert Hollenbeck for placing 2nd place in the Linn Photo Contest. The winning pictures were taken at Linda & Tim Nolans’ pond during the Pond Tour. | |
|
December Rita Tharp - December 3
If you would like your birthday printed in the newsletter, email us at mespringcove@aol.com or sign in with the Hospitality Committee: Elena Murillo or Gil Morley | |
|
Eastern Iowa Pond Society Membership Application | |
|
February 24
March 24
April 12
April 28
May 10
May 26
June 14
June 23
July 8
July 28
August 9
August 25
September 15
September 22
October 27
November 17
Agenda: Business Meeting: 30-40 minutes
All locations and topics are subject to change. Read your monthly newsletter for details and updates. | |