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June, 2023 Newsletter
Volunteers Making New Canaan Beautiful
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Dear Members and Friends,
May and June are busy months for NCBL: Lee Garden hosted George Lee's nephew, Toby Winiarsky & four of our enthusiastic new members as we cut the ribbon to celebrate the beautiful new gate on May 7. On the 21st, we hosted an Open Garden for the public with tours given by our expert gardeners. The garden has enjoyed one of its most incredible seasons of bloom to date.
Our colorful touches can be seen all around town. 220+ hanging baskets went up on May 24 and are truly beautiful. The town hall planters are fully planted. Four Green Giants and one Viburnum were added to the mailbox drop-off on Pine Street to provide more screening from the parking lot above. What wonderful gifts to our town!
Sarah Magrino showed members how to create spring floral arrangements at Waveny. The bouquets were lovely and the event provided another opportunity for members to meet more members. There will be a summer workshop with Ty Tan and Faith Kerchoff in July. See below for details.
Jessica Havens still needs help with her triangle at the intersection of Rtes 106 & 123. The job takes about an hour per month and it is gratifying to see drivers wave, smile and call out their thanks while you work.
Don't miss the opportunity to hear three experts talk about fireflies at our Annual Meeting, 9:30 at the Nature Center on June 7. There will be a follow-up visit to a New Canaan firefly preserve on June 22nd. See below for details and to sign up.
The member garden visits have proved to be popular. There are 3 more opportunities coming this summer to view the work of your fellow gardeners. The New Canaan Garden Club's Members' Gardens visit is on June 8th. Information on how to buy tickets is below.
There will be a brief mid-summer letter and regular newsletters will begin again in September. Until then, we hope you have a healthy, happy summer.
Sincerely,
Robin Bates-Mason & Jill Ernst
co-Presidents
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Fireflies & the Annual Meeting | |
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Fireflies
with Chris Schipper, John Winter and Bill McDonald
Wednesday
June 7, 2023
9:30 - 11:30 am
New Canaan Nature Center
MEMBERS ONLY, please
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Representatives of the New Canaan Land Trust, John Winter, Chris Schipper and Bill McDonald, will hold a panel discussion and presentation devoted to our beloved fireflies. The life cycles of these insects, as well as their roles in ecosystems and our roles in protecting them will be covered. The speakers will also discuss the firefly sanctuaries maintained by the Land Trust and the history behind them.
John Winter, Executive Director of the New Canaan Land Trust, is a Connecticut native with experience in land conservation and stewardship. He holds a Masters Degree in Environmental Management from Duke University’s School of the Environment and has co-authored three books on the subject.
Chris Schipper served as President of the Land Trust until 2016 and currently Chairs the New Canaan Conservation Commission. He is active on the Waveny Conservancy Board and leads “Friends of Bristow” in the project to revitalize the bird sanctuary on Route 106.
Bill McDonald lives on a property adjoining one of the firefly sanctuaries and spearheaded the firefly preservation movement in town. Bill is considered the guru of all things firefly. He will share how he converted his property into a beautiful, healthy ecosystem for all sorts of native species and how he has worked with the Land Trust to devote space for firefly conservation.
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NCBL Members Only Firefly Sanctuary Tour
June 22, 2023
8:00 pm
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Members of NCBL are invited to sign up for an evening field trip to visit the Land Trust Firefly Sanctuary during peak firefly season on June 22. John Winter of the NCLT will lead the tour. Space is limited to 30 NCBL members only and you may sign up using the button below. Members are asked to park near the white Land Trust signs across from 33 Sleepy Hollow Road and to arrive around 8:00 pm. Introduction will begin at 8:30 pm, during which red flashlights will be handed out to the members. The tour will wrap up around 10:00 - 10:30 pm | |
A Note From the Programs Committee
Our committee is already working on next year's schedule and would greatly appreciate any connections and ideas members may have. We do not expect people to join the committee, but your connections can be quite helpful.
Thank you.
Janet Fonss, Angela Materna, Susan Foxworth
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NCBL was treated to a slide show and lecture showing the rewarding, but incredibly hard work it took to transform Pam Roman's Trumbull, CT garden from one of overgrowth and invasives to one of native plants. Pam's work is exquisite. Thank you, Hospitality Committee as always for supplying us with delicious treats and coffee. | |
Informal Member Garden Visits 2023 | |
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Register for our Informal Garden Visits
On June 15 we will visit three gardens which are as unique as their owners. Two owners have been working in their gardens for more than 30 years and one began her garden transformation 4 years ago. All are labors of love and works in progress. Look for woodland delights, ponds, stepping logs, bridges, ever-changing perennial flowers and shrubs. Listen for frogs, chickens, and birds of all sorts.
In July we will view five gardens. Again the gardens are diverse and delightful. We will see native plants, pollinators, lovingly tended wildflowers, roses, dahlias, and so much more.
The four August gardens will feature mountain hydrangea and clematis in a small condo garden, a meadow garden, and others with panicle hydrangeas, and dahlias galore.
Spaces are limited to 35 members. Directions and descriptions of each garden will be emailed to you the day before the visit. We will persist rain or shine and carpooling is encouraged.
We hope some of you will volunteer to be Greeters. It is a great way to see everyone and enjoy the gardens too.
Visit dates are June 15, July 12, and August 16
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The gardens will be open from 9:30 to noon, to 35 registered NCBL members. Pre- register by clicking the green button below: | |
A GREAT WAY TO MEET FELLOW MEMBERS AND TO SEE GARDENS IS TO VOLUNTEER TO BE A GREETER!
Use the blue button below to sign up as a greeter.
Please contact Pam Yee if you have any questions:
pamyee6@gmail.com
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What a perfect day May 18th was for member garden visits! Thank you to all the volunteers who signed up to greet members and thank you to those who opened their gardens to us. | |
Karen Christie and Camilla Austin | |
Peggy Jansen and Juliane Livesay | |
Sleepy Cat Farm Field Trip | |
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Monday
June 12, 2023
For those signed up to go, Carol will send an email soon with more details.
To see if there are spaces left, email Carol Seldin: carol@seldins.net
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Flower Arranging 101 Workshop | |
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Flower Arranging Workshop 101
Thursday, July 6, 2023
Lapham Community Center
10-11:30 a.m.
Ty Tan and Faith Kerchoff will teach fellow members the steps to creating splendid floral arrangements for all occasions either with flowers from your own garden or purchased. Bring flowers and clippers. You can bring your own container or use one provided by NCBL.
Advance sign-up required.
RSVP by contacting Ty at: ty@tytandesigns.com
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Bouquets from last year's class. | |
Back Row: Carol Seldin, Yvonne Hunkeler, Kathy LaPolla; Front row: Joan Lupardo Faith Kerchoff, Toby Winiarsky; furry visitor | |
Toby Winiarsky, nephew of George Lee and his companion Joan Lupardo visited Lee Garden on May 7th and wrote the note, below, to Faith.
Hi Faith,
How can I begin to thank you for such a beautiful and amazing afternoon. It was just perfect! I can't tell you how happy I am to see how beautiful The Lee Memorial Garden is thanks to you and all the dedicated folks who make it more spectacular every year. Now that we have connected, I look forward to coming every year. Yes, I feel like we are all family. God willing, Joan and I will see you next year, same time same station!
Blessings to you all and please pass this message along to all the wonderful angels who work at the garden.
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On May 7th, we celebrated the ribbon-cutting for the new gate. | |
The Newcomers visited Lee Garden with some little ones in tow for a garden walk. It was put together by Julieanne Webb, who is also a new NCBL member.
The biggest hits of the tour were going into our tool shed to see all the tools and wagons, walking along the Gnome Hill stepping stone walk, seeing rocks older than dinosaurs on the rock crawl, and peaking inside a Jack in the Pulpit. See pictures below.
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May 22nd's 5 o'clock western sun made all the pink azaleas glow!
It was magical.
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Plein-Air painters visited Lee Garden again this year. This has been one of the best bloom years for the garden. | |
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The baskets were hung by 7:30 a.m. on May 24, thanks to our partners in Public Works.
Thank you to Pam Yee and Jessica Havens for arranging for the wonderful flower and color combinations.
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The last shrubs were added to the top of the mailbox hill this week. Ty Tan and her planting crew added four Green Giants and one Viburnum. Grasses were trimmed, weeds cut down and some plants added for fall interest. The color palette evolves weekly. | |
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above: Kathy Lapolla, Lois Himes and Yvonne Hunkeler
below: Faith Kerchoff and Kathy Kwiatkowski
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The town hall planters were planted with Senecio candicans (Angel Wings, large silvery leaves), Strobilanthes 'Purple Shield' (purple striped leaves),
Gomphrena (white, lavender and 'Fireworks'), Sunpatiens (lavender), Scaveola (pink and blue), Euphorbia 'Diamond Snow' (white small flowers), and Angelonia (pink and blue).
Thank you Kathy Kwiatkowski for gathering the materials and plants and organizing the planting. Thanks to those who planted that day, Kathy K, Kathy Lapolla, Yvonne Hunkeler, Lois Himes, and Stephanie Pineo. Thanks for making Town Hall look better ... and for weeding out the dandelions!
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LEE GARDEN LIBRARY
Lee Garden's Library has a good collection of books available to borrow. We are usually there Mondays and Thursdays. Email if you'd like another time to look at or borrow them.
Now that the growing season is in full swing, do you notice problems that need solving? Would you like to read about Roy Diblik's methods for achieving a beautiful garden with less work? Or perhaps you are interested in starting herbs in pots this year? There is something for everyone at the Lee Garden Library.
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To volunteer at Lee Garden, contact Faith Kerchoff. We can always use more people and no expertise is required!
faithkerchoff@hotmail.com
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If these belong to you, please get in touch with Faith. They were left behind in April. | |
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The town is adding new “Welcome to New Canaan" signs and creating corresponding traffic triangles/gardens for them. We are looking for volunteers to help maintain and possibly water these new projects located at:
Rt 124 & NY line
Rt. 123 & NY line.
Jessica Havens needs someone to help her with the triangle at Rt. 123 and Rt. 106. Please contact her if you can help: jessicahavens@gmail.com.
Teams of volunteers are welcome to adopt the new garden spaces.
Care for the triangles takes about an hour - or less - per month, depending on the size of the garden.
Please contact Claude Colabella if you can help: nccolabella@hotmail.com.
And THANK YOU, Karen Christie, for taking on a triangle!
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A note from the triangle chairs
Spring is almost over and summer will soon be upon us. With summer will come the weeds. Now is the time for Triangle Volunteers to set a schedule to check for weeds bi-weekly or monthly as needed. Also remove any trash and report any issues with dead or damaged plants that will need replacement to the Triangle co-Chair, Barbara Wilson. Thanks for all your hard work!
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Waveny Flower Arranging Orientation | |
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Thank you so much to the 15 volunteers who signed up to tour Waveny Care Center and attend our information session: Simin Zendehrouh, Kathleen Murphy, Susan Donaldson, Jackie Alexander, Gloria Flook, Liz Kunz, Lauren McCusker, Lois Sandberg, Pam Yee, Ann Flinn, Lucille Dunkin, Ruth Laird, Sara Hunt, Angela Materna, Jill Ernst, Peggy Dannemann, Amy Sorensen, Eniko Szatai, Betsy Bilus, and Amy Reid.
Cheerful, fresh flowers make an enormous difference to the daily lives of the residents. June dates are filled, but we'll need volunteers for September. Thank you everyone! To join this group, contact: Amy Sorensen: ac_sorensen@yahoo.com or Amy Reid: areid1010@gmail.com
Please see the note below from our Waveny contact, Stella.
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Hi Betsy, Eniko, Amy and Amy,
Thank you so much for gathering such a wonderful group together to learn about the Waveny flower arranging role. I am glad the orientation helped to fill your sign ups!
Here are a few photos from the morning. I believe that our Marketing Director posted on Facebook and tagged the Beautification League.
Thank you all outgoing and incoming liaisons. So grateful for the work that goes in to organizing and recruiting and planning!
We had a nice donation of flowers yesterday so that is a good start to the week!
Warmly
Stella
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It was a gorgeous day for the parade! Many thanks to Ginny Dobbs for once again, organizing our League to march. There were rumors that our float was one of the best in the parade! | |
Slate of NCBL Board of Directors | |
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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR BOARD MEMBERS
AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE
New Canaan Beautification League Board 2023 – 2024
President – Robin Bates-Mason, Jill Ernst
Vice President – Debbie Raymond
Recording Secretary - Nancy Jordan
Treasurer - Dave Hunt
Vice President Beautification - Faith Kerchoff
Triangles - Greg Brown, Claude Colabella, Barbara Wilson
Holiday Decorations – Kathleen/Peter Murphy, Barbara O’Shea/Robert Strong
Hanging Baskets - Jessica Havens, Pam Yee
Flower Arranging for Meetings and Events - Susan Bergen, Anne Tropeano
Flower Arranging for Waveny Care - Amy Sorensen, Amy Weber Reid
PR Publicity – Ginny Dobbs
PR Marketing – Laura Ault
Pollinator Pathway Representative – Angela Materna
Photography - Peter Hanson, Nora Fay
Programs - Janet Fonss, Angela Materna, Susan Foxworth, Nancy Malling (visits to private gardens), Zoom Host - Patricia Spugani
Webmaster - Lisa Ferrante
Newsletter - Fanny Moran, Betsy Sammarco
Fundraising or Annual Appeal – Patricia Spugani, Lisa Ferrante, Karen Ferguson, Mary Ann Henry, Kathleen Murphy, AA Treasurer – Karen Hanson
Hospitality – Cindy Bamatter, Robin Miner, Anne Tropeano
Hospitality Special Events - Sara Hunt
Corresponding Secretary – Libby Butterworth
Membership – Sara Hunt, Sarina Vetterli, Wendy Fog
Lee Garden – Yvonne Hunkeler, Faith Kerchoff, Lois Himes, Kathy Lapolla (advisor)
Nominating Committee – Janet Fonss, Fanny Moran, Pam Yee
Thanks to Sara Hunt, Barb Achenbaum, Cindy Bamatter, Karen Hanson, Faith Kerchoff and Robin Miner for their nominating efforts.
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Annual Appeal/Development | |
The Annual Appeal (now 'DEVELOPMENT') and Marketing committees have mailed the colorful 2023 appeal letter and bookmark. Once again, Laura Ault designed it for us, ensuring the message is consistent with NCBL’s overall brand image, while highlighting the volunteers behind our organization. Many thanks to Laura and everyone who has contributed to another successful launch.
This year, you can donate online by going to our website or clicking the button below:
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The new Development Committee, previously the Annual Appeal Committee, is looking for additional committee support to assist them with the following:
- writing thank you notes to new donors (we will provide a draft; about 4-5 notes per volunteer)
- planning a special event to thank donors, hopefully this spring
- data management of donor database within new donor platform, including some spreadsheet management
Our goal is to welcome new donors and to offer special thanks to those who support NCBL (to keep donors and hopefully attract new members).
Committee: Karen Hanson (Treasurer), Lisa Ferrante, Karen Ferguson, Mary Ann Henry, Kathleen Murphy
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Renew your Membership by June 15 | |
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Thank you for being a member! It's time to renew your annual dues!
Anyone who joined after December 31, 2022 does not have to pay dues for the coming year, 2023 – 2024.
PLEASE RENEW ONLINE through our website by clicking the button below:
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...or send in your membership form with your check for dues to: NCBL Membership, PO Box 1244, New Canaan, CT 06840. To download the membership, click the button below. | |
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September 13: Welcome Back Coffee
Mead Park Colonnade
(rain date is the 14th)
10:00 a.m.
October 4th: Annual Luncheon
Country Club of New Canaan
11:30 -2:30
April 3, 2024: Victorian Tea
Waveny House,
11:30 AM – 2:00 PM
April 10, 2024: Joint program with NC Garden Club
Location and time to be announced
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Welcome to our newest members!
Erin Gaudreau
Anne Snyder
Marie-Ange Masters
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Wally Meyer and Agneta Aspinwall put together holiday greens, 2009. | |
With sadness, we report the passing of Wally Meyer, a long-time member of NCBL.
For all she did for NCBL, Wally was the recipient of the Golden Trowel award in 2004, . She was responsible for publicity, the newsletter, and single-handedly procured prizes for a raffle during Festival of Trees (that included a trip with airfare, and 5 other prizes). She also did all the paperwork to get approval from the state gaming commission for the raffle. Her obituary link is below.
https://patch.com/connecticut/newcanaan/obituary-wally-p-meyer-97-new-canaan
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If you have changed any of your contact information (home address, email address, or phone number), please let membership know. | | |
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Please let me know if a member of our NCBL family needs some cheering up in the form of a card, or perhaps, some flowers.
to provide me with the appropriate information.
Many thanks for your thoughtfulness!
Libby
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Gardens in Bloom
Thursday, June 8
10am - 3pm
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The New Canaan Garden Club is offering a self-guided tour of 4 of their members' gardens and Waveny Walled Garden, Peony Walk, and the Parterre Garden.
Tickets are available below and at the Farmer's Market prior to the tour.
NCBL, the NC Pollinator Pathway and other local conservation groups will be represented at The Community Conservation Corner
in the parking lot between the Powerhouse Theater and the walled garden.
Ticket will be available at Waveny House.
Please stop by and say hello!
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Looking for 'Blooms'
We have new members joining us each month and we need volunteers to be 'blooms' to help us welcome our 'buds'. Just share your enthusiasm and alert them to upcoming events.
For more information or to volunteer, please contact Sara Hunt: skhminky@optonline.net.
We want to be sure everyone feels welcome.
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Our NCBL Newsletter is used to distribute information regarding NCBL activities and announcements that pertain directly to our stated mission. The newsletter shall not be used for political issues, or for the promotion of merchandise or services unless such merchandise or services are part of a joint venture with NCBL. | |
visit our website:
New Canaan Beautification League
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