By Carol Wong, President
At the August 15 membership meeting, formal thanks were given to Barry and Brian Johnson for their many years of planning, executing, and maintaining an exhibit at the San Mateo County Fair for the Peninsula Rose Society. Another thank you was given to Priya Kamath for her hosting of the PRS picnic at her home for the last three years. We owe a great deal to these members who have made our society successful and enjoyable. The speaker, Lakshmi Sridharan gave a detailed talk on how to dry and arrange roses that can last. She recommended using glycerin and a microwave as the easiest, fastest, and most satisfactory way of preserving color and form in the roses used to make dried arrangements.
Our September and October membership meetings will include a rose show that is judged, which will give everyone chances to practice prepping and exhibiting their roses. Actually, making and entering your roses or creating an arrangement on a theme is an invaluable experience. Everyone, bring us your roses!
Have you purchased garden materials from Lyngso Garden Materials, Inc. previously in Redwood City and now at 345 Shoreway Road in San Carlos? Our September speaker will be none other than Terry Lyngso, who will speak to us on “soil preparation.” This should be an exciting program so plan to come and bring a neighbor or friend. Roses love a well-prepared bed.
Barry Johnson also gave us an update on plans for the May 2018 Rose Show. The theme will be “Roses Make Us Happy”. The rose show itself will not be judged but arranged by color and classification of roses. Other activities being considered are speakers, arrangements, hands-on rose arranging, rose crafts and photography displays. Your ideas and help with the show are essential and welcome.
Nominations for the 2018 elective officers of the Board of Directors will be presented in October, elected in November, and installed at the December 12 potluck. A nominating committee has been formed and will be searching for a president and vice president who will serve for one year with option for a second year. A Director is also nominated for a 3-year term. The directors aid in the administrative functions of the board.
If you enjoy winning a gift certificate or a raffle prize at our monthly raffles, know that they are the result of a donation requested by someone in our society. We would love for you to take a letter from our society (I will bring some to our meetings) to a local business asking for a donation to support us. We in turn support our community through pruning demonstrations and pruning the Veteran’s Administration rose garden in Palo Alto and others.
In December or January, we will be asking our members to volunteer for teams to go out and prune rose gardens. Some rose societies raise a lot of money by hiring out such skills. With your help, we might obtain donations or simply give back to our communities by using our experience and expertise. On September 23, we expect several of us will attend the NCNH Fall Rose Show and Conference at the Greek Orthodox Church, 20104 Center Street in Castro Valley, CA. It costs $75 for breakfast, lunch, and award dinner, speakers, show and a fun day to find out how the district works and supports us. Check the NCNH website for the schedule of district challenge and horticultural show classes, arrangements, and themes for photography.
Last fall we met Ron Matsuzaki of the Honolulu Rose Society, as well as representatives from throughout the Northern California, Hawaii and Nevada District. It was instructive to see and meet Ted and Linda Burg, editors of the Criterion, officers of NCNH that we know such as Joan Goff and Jolene Adams, and friends of long-standing, such as Barbara Gordon. Go!