Council Joint Meeting Celebrates with a Call to Bees and Blooms

Beekeeping and a passion for all things bees filled St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Durham for the March 3, 2015, Joint Meeting of the Durham Council of Garden Clubs. The hall was abuzz with more than 60 garden club members representing all ten member garden clubs of the Council.

Tables were laden with yellow and black décor featuring homemade soaps of honey, marigold and oatmeal made by Council President Marcia Loudon; a bee trivia board game; scrolls of fascinating bee facts; as well as breaded bee hives decorated with forced Forsythia branches and bees made by Marcia, incoming Treasurer Martha Sanderford and a wildly creative crew of Heritage Garden club members. The most prominent decoration of all was undeniably 2nd Vice President Jean Gurtner who sported a white beekeeper suit and helmet festooned with whimsical bee slogans. The suit was later raffled and won by Garden Makers GC member Mary Jo Muzzey, who then donated it to guest-speaking nonprofit organization BeeDowntown.
 
The Joint Meeting's first order of business was the presentation of the slate of the 2015-2017 term officers and its vote for approval. New officers will be installed at the May 6, 2015 Council meeting. The 2015-2017 officers will be: President - Ardith Pugh (Heritage GC); 1st VP - Karen Bordeaux (Croasdaile GC); 2nd VP - Marcia Loudon (Heritage GC); Secretary - Bonna Robbins (Daylily GC); Treasurer - Martha Sanderford (Heritage GC).

Honors were given to two Council members whose service has always exceeded Council needs. Laurie Renard (Homestead Heights GC) was presented a Life Member to the Garden Club of North Carolina for her years of service to the Durham Council, and she was most recently recognized for her service award from the Maple Court Residence for Veterans. Not present, but also honored was Pat Cashwell (Heritage GC) with National Pin for her work on Blue Star Memorial the Council erected in front of the Durham Veterans Affairs hospital http://goo.gl/PmDEcM.

 
The Joint Meeting's educational program featured dynamic beekeeping presenters Leigh-Kathryn Bonner, a third-generation beekeeper, senior at NC State and prime mover in the development of BeeDowntown (www.BeeCityUSA.org) on the American Tobacco Campus, and Lynn Wilson, Journeyman Beekeeper, Secretary for the Person County Beekeepers Association and volunteer interpreter at the NC Zoo Bee Exhibit. (Several of Leigh-Kathryn's and Lynn's bee topics will be featured on the Council's Blog and Facebook pages in days to come, so please refer back. See the Durham Beekeepers website for certification programs and other classes on beekeeping (www.durhambeekeepers.org.)