May, 2022 Newsletter
Volunteers Making New Canaan Beautiful
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Dear New Canaan Beautification League Members and Friends,
Welcome the merry month of May by attending our Spring Buffet Luncheon on Wednesday, May 4 at Waveny House! Spend special time with friends and guests in a festive setting featuring culinary creations by our Beautification League members. Kindly rsvp without delay to organizer Gloria Simon: thesimons4949@gmail.com . Complete details are below.
We will vote on the slate for our New Board 2022-2023 via email mid May. Watch for the ballot coming soon. Our creative and dedicated committees are busy bees. They set up programs, arrange flowers for Waveny Care, organize weeding brigades, coordinate spring and fall luncheons, request food for meetings, assemble the directory, recruit volunteers for the 30+ triangles around town, maintain our website and Instagram accounts, produce the monthly newsletter, organize the holiday greens workshop, plan our hanging flower baskets, send out the annual appeal, write personal thank you and get well notes, monitor finances, record the monthly minutes, and execute the responsibilities of leadership as presidents and vice presidents. Whew! There’s so much that goes on behind the scenes and we are truly grateful for the many hours of fine service provided by our volunteers each month.
May is magnificent at Lee Garden! Calling all members to visit Lee Garden at 89 Chichester Road at least once this month. On May 15, our Lee Garden volunteers will be at the garden from noon - 4pm to answer questions. Be soothed and amazed by our exquisite garden so lovingly cared for by NCBL volunteers. Truly a breath-taking experience this time of year when azaleas and rhododendron are blooming brilliantly!
Warmly,
Carol & Karen
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If you can't find our monthly newsletters in your email, you can find them on our website. This 1 minute video shows you how. |
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RSVP by clicking the button above to email Gloria Simon by April 27.
You can also call Gloria at (203) 972-8069.
Please RSVP with your name (and guest name and email), and what you will be bringing from the following list:
2 dozen finger sandwiches
2 dozen sweets
a green salad
a fruit salad
deviled eggs
All attendees must be fully vaccinated.
If you would like to help set up or clean up that day, please contact
Gloria Simon, (203) 972-8069 or Sara Hunt (203/966-3313)
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If you have a tea pot you could loan to us for the event, please contact Jacqueline Harmody at jharmody@yahoo.com.
Thank you!
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NCBL's Annual Meeting
June 1
9:30 - 11:30
Stephen Mather: Conservationist and First Director of the National Park Service
Mather Homestead
19 Stephen Mather Rd.
Darien
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Please join us at this beautiful house, built in 1778 and raided by the Tories during the American Revolution. It later became the home of Stephen Mather - and six generations of his descendants. Heather Raker, Executive Director of the Mather Homestead Foundation will tell us the history of this house and its former inhabitants.
Coffee will be served on the terrace overlooking the garden and the presentation will be in the 'barn'.
House tours will be available afterwards.
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Farmers Market Help Needed |
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NCBL will be at the Farmers Market on May 28
We need volunteers to help at our booth at the following shifts:
10:00 am - noon
noon - 2:00 pm
We also need someone with a truck to help bring our table/small tent to the market and back again.
Please contact Ginny Dobbs if you can help:
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Come March With Us!
Anyone who is interested in marching in the Memorial Day Parade for NCBL, should contact Robin Bates-Mason at rbatesmason@gmail.com.
This is always a great time, so please march with us!
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Flower Arranging Help Needed |
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Flower Arrangement for Waveny Care
Help Needed
Help is needed to make flower arrangments at Waveny Care Center Monday mornings at 10:00 am on the following June dates:
June 6
June 13
June 20
June 27
Two supermarkets provide the flowers free of charge.
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If you can help, please contact:
Enikő Szatai
or
Betsy Bilus
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The Triangle Committee has two openings we are looking to fill.
Luke’s Wood Road and Oenoke Ridge Road
Route 123 and Route 106 (Jessica needs a second helper)
The work, which takes an hour or two per month, is fun, rewarding and your efforts will play a prominent role in making New Canaan even more beautiful.
Please consider taking a triangle with the knowledge that we are here to help you every step of the way in maintaining your new garden.
Let Claude know if you are interested. nccolabellla@hotmail.com
N. Claude Colabella
Barbara Wilson
Greg Brown
Co-Chairs of the Triangle Committee
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This beauty at Oenoke & Luke's Wood is in need of a volunteer. |
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Rosebrook Rd. & Brushy Rdg. early spring |
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Rosebrook Rd. & Brushy Rdg. mid-spring |
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Old Norwalk Rd. & Marvin Rdg. |
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Rebecca McMackin is the gardener at Brooklyn Bridge Park and offers information on mulching which you can find below. Also, an opportunity to sign up for her newsletter is here as well. |
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NCBL's Traveling Trowels care for:
The Gold Star walk and plaza at Mead Park on Richmond Hill Road
The mail box drop-off at the corner of Pine and Park Streets
Town Hall's pots and the garden running atop the wall along the driveway
The railroad station
Traveling Trowels, lead by Faith Kerchoff and Rob Carpenter, takes on the task and has a lot of fun in the process!
We need members who are willing to pitch in when garden help is needed.
If you'd like to be part of the group, meet more members and learn a lot about the plants we grow, the history of the town and laugh while you're doing it, please email Faith at
faithkerchoff@hotmail.com
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NCBL GREEN FLEECE VESTS
Spring is here, and who doesn't want a green NCBL vest, with our logo stitched on it?!
It's perfect for iffy spring weather, in your garden, helping with Traveling Trowels or as a statement piece to your wardrobe!
Support NCBL with a vest by sending $45.00 to NCBL, PO Box 4, New Canaan, CT 06840. Call or email Faith with your order.
SIZES ARE UNISEX, S- M-L-XL-XXL.
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AN INVITATION TO ALL MEMBERS
Come to Lee Garden
Open Garden Day
MAY 15
12:00 to 4:00 pm
Refreshments
Come see New Canaan's Secret Garden, a prime example of a woodland shade garden with an extensive collection of azaleas, rhododendron and wildflowers.
We are pleased to own and care for this labor of love started by George Lee in the 1940s and passed on to us in 1978.
This garden is now being cared for by NCBL volunteers under these four members:
Kathy Lapolla, Yvonne Hunkeler,
Faith Kerchoff, and Lois Himes
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Bloodroot, in its second week of bloom |
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Trout Lily, Erythronium americanum, is a native perennial which blooms just as fishing season starts. The leaves are colored like trout. You can find them in many places in Lee Garden.
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We thank Nancy Weilenmann for her donation of a hand hewn wooden bench to sit on near the Little Free Library. Nancy and her husband Thomas, used to own the Roger Sherman, and are friends of the garden. |
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Alex and his dad, Max Scherr, neighbors of Lee Garden, came all ready to help the SLOBS spread chips on the trails on a recent April Saturday.
Thanks for the help Alex!
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A very special visitor to Lee Garden in April
Stan Pollander rented George Lee's house many years ago with his wife and young family. As part of his rental agreement, he did work around the garden. He told us he put is "heart and soul" into Lee Garden for the four years he was there because he loved the garden so much and always put in more hours than required. He built the bench near the garden entrance, among other things. He came to visit with a friend one day in April.
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A thank you note from the Simsbury Garden Club whose members visited Lee Garden in April:
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Lee Memorial Garden today. It’s a beautiful place. Faith, you and Lois shared so much information. It’s wonderful to be able to get answers to the endless questions that come to mind! I hope to be able to see the azaleas and rhododendrons at some point, but we all loved seeing so many new-to-us varieties of epimediums, hellebores, trout-lilies, anemones, etc.
Thank you for making the arrangements and being part of our visit!
Joanne Pomerantz,
Simsbury Garden Club
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Thanks to the organization of Betsy Bilus and Robin Bates-Mason, Waveny Care Center received a spring clean up. The tulips that popped up this spring were the tulips from last year's Town Hall containers and the plants were recycled from the library before construction. The photo below shows one of the sections that were done. |
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The Gold Star Bridge area of Mead Park got a spring clean up on 4/29/22.
Thanks to Lois Himes, Yvonne Hunkeler, Sandy Seigel, Kathy Lapolla, Cindy Bamatter, Lisa Carpenter, Stephanie Hutter, and Jackie Alexander and her daughter for a great clean up of the Mead Park Plaza and Patriotic Garden at the Gold Star bridge.
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NCBL members will be receiving an email mid May to vote on our slate of Officers for 2022-23
Please take a look at the list of those who have graciously agreed to serve. Thank you to the nominating committee for their hard work:
Sara Hunt, Faith Kerchoff, Cindy Bamatter, Rose Bauersfeld, Barbara Beall,
and Robin Miner.
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Slate of NCBL Officers for 2022 – 2023
President – Robin Bates-Mason, Jill Ernst
Vice President – Debbie Raymond
Recording Secretary - Nancy Jordan
Treasurer - Dave Hunt
Vice President Beautification - Rob Carpenter, Faith Kerchoff
Triangles - Greg Brown, Claude Colabella, Barbara Wilson
Flower Arranging for Meeting and Events - Jacqueline Harmody, Anne Tropeano
Flower Arranging for Waveny Care - Betsy Bilus, Eniko Szatai
Hanging Baskets - Jessica Havens, Pam Yee
Holiday Decorations – Kathleen/Peter Murphy, Barbara O’Shea/Robert Strong
PR Publicity – Ginny Dobbs
PR Marketing Events – Laura Ault
Pollinator Pathway Rep. – Betsy Sammarco
Photos - Peter Hanson, Nora Fay
Webmaster - Lisa Ferrante
Newsletter - Fanny Moran, Betsy Sammarco
Programs - Kirsten Gregorio, Aoife Maynard, Janet Fonss, Angela Materna, Steve Zatz
Zoom Host – Patricia Spugani
Annual Appeal – Patricia Spugani, Richard Duffee, Lisa Ferrante, Jennifer Bergen, Karen Ferguson, Barbara Achenbaum, Annual Appeal Treasurer – Karen Hanson
Corresponding Secretary - Libby Butterworth
Membership – Rose Bauersfeld, Christina Fagerstal, Krystie Inman, Sara Hunt
Hospitality for Meetings - Cindy Bamatter, Robin Miner, Anne Tropeano
Hospitality Special Events - Gloria Simon, Sara Hunt
Executive Counsel – Carol Seldin, Karen Hanson
Lee Garden – Yvonne Hunkeler, Faith Kerchoff, Kathy Lapolla
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Thank you to our hospitality team for organizing a wonderful spread for our April program and thanks to all our wonderful members who contributed delicious goodies. Special thanks to Jacqueline Harmody for providing the lovely flowers! |
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Blueberry Buckle
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup of whole milk
2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and dried
Topping:
½ cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup butter softened
Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg and beat well. Sift together next three ingredients and add alternately with milk. Beat until smooth. Fold in berries. Spread batter into a greased 9x9 or 8x8 inch pan.
Prepare topping – combine all the ingredients, mix with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle over the top of the batter and bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes.
Do not overbake. Cool in pan and cut into squares to serve.
Submitted by Anne Tropeano
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A wonderful time was had at our April joint program with the New Canaan Garden Club.
Our hospitality chairs, Cindy Bamatter, Robin Miner, and Anne Tropeano went all out making the 200th birthday of Frederick Law Olmsted extra special.
Thank you to our Programs committee, led by Kirsten Gregorio, for organizing this amazing and very interesting event!
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above left to right: Kirk's wife Sara, Kirsten Gregorio, Kirk Brown as Frederick Law Olmsted, Faith Kerchoff, and Karen Hanson. |
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Kirk Brown was entertaining and informative! |
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At the end of the presentation, a cake (made of cupcakes) was wheeled out as "Happy Birthday" was sung. |
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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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Looking for 'Blooms'
We want to be sure everyone feels welcome.
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 Jill Ernst.
203-972-0320.
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The following letter from a fan, was written to the editor of the NewCanaanite:
Editor, New Canaanite:
When I sit down at the small memorial plaza in Mead Park, I am surrounded by beautiful flower beds along the memorial walk. While enjoying them, I also think of the more than two hundred (200) hanging flower baskets along Elm Street and the big planters at the entrance to Town Hall. Then I remember seeing the ladies in the yellow shirts weeding and planting at thirty-three (33) triangles at intersections.
Who are those dedicated hard workers who never tell us who they are?
The display window of the Chamber of Commerce next to the movie theater identifies them as the more than two hundred (200!) devoted volunteers of the New Canaan Beautification League. They are the ones who leave their mark all over town, everywhere from the Waveny Care Center to the Lee Garden.
Many thanks to these angels without whom New Canaan would be more drab and dreary —certainly less colorful. Their work should be recognized and appreciated by all.
Laszlo Papp
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Planet New Canaan is holding the native plant sale with Copia again this Spring. Buy $75 worth of natives plants (perennials, shrubs and trees) and Copia will donate $10 of native plants to New Canaan Nature Center. Sale ends June 30th. Please mention Planet New Canaan when making your purchase to ensure credit. |
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Gardener, horticultural professional, garden writer and photographer Karen Bussolini, spoke in New Canaan in April. She was a wealth of knowledge. Her handout from the presentation contains a lot of information on planting for pollinators and can be downloaded from her website or by clicking the button below: |
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Karen asked us, to ask ourselves:
"What is your yard feeding?"
She encouraged us to ask this question when adding new plants or scouting out our garden beds and reminded us that we can do this best with native plants.
For a list of native plant nurseries in CT, click this button:
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You can also find native plants at these local nurseries:
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The Garden Conservancy Open Days has begun! Click on the logo left to find a garden to visit near you. |
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Learn about Native Gardening
Westchester Community College (30 minutes from NC) is offering some really great native gardening classes. Check out their website by clicking the logo.
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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. |
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visit our website:
New Canaan Beautification League
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