Chipley Garden Club met on Wednesday, March 1st at Piney Grove Freewill Baptist Church. The meeting was hosted by Secretary Dania Barnes and directed by President Gail Exum.
In the business portion of the meeting, Youth Chair Linda Pigott reported Kate Smith Elementary students’ entries in the Washington County 4-H Youth Fair looked great this year. She reminded everyone to begin collecting dried materials and mugs for next year’s activities and thanked Kirby Holt for his donation of fresh flowers. Wildflower Chair Glenda Wilson reported the Falling Waters Butterfly Garden is beginning to sprout out and the memorial tree planted in February is doing well. Community Outreach Chair Pam Morzos reported she would deliver our donations of food and funds to the Food Pantry following the meeting and that we would also collect food items at the April meeting.
President Gail Exum discussed plans for the upcoming Florida Federation of Garden Clubs Inc. District II Spring Meeting to be held in Chipley at the Washington County Agricultural Center on May 10th. All the garden clubs of District II will join us at a tea party to celebrate our Emerald 70th anniversary with FFGC. Wausau Garden Club will be assisting us in hosting the event.
Matthew Orwat with UF/IFAS presented a program on “Friend or Foe? Beneficial and Pest Insects in the Landscape”. He began with, “You know, not all bugs are bad bugs!” The group was surprised to find some of those irritating insects actually have important jobs in nature. He emphasized No Mow March which allows our native bees to thrive. Club members Pamela and Rebecca Ferguson shared their bug collection with the group following the program.
The next meeting of the club will be on Wednesday, April 5, 2023. If you are interested in attending, or would like more information on club activities, please contact President Gail Exum at 850-638-0950. The club welcomes visitors and new members at any time.
News members with the bug collection and Pam Morzos presenting a check for $250 and a carload of food to Betty Faircloth, volunteer at the Food Pantry.