“There were three crows”
It is the time for me to crow…to crow first; about the marvelous work of the Tri-County Branch and their festive, accomplished 80th birthday party in Hartford, NY, home finally of our beloved Mrs. E. Frances King. Audrey Ehrler and Betty Monahan waited in the warm sunshine at the local firehouse for us to arrive. Within the branch and mounted several articles and clippings from their 80 years of work that included photos of Henry Ford, awarding a Ford tractor to the winner of a horse pulling and plowing contest, and Mrs. King along with Mrs. Ford, helping with a flower show. They are, I believe, the only branch still mounting a flower show, annually. And behold, on a table was a collection of rocks, for our Ambler project. As you remember, each branch is asked to furnish a local rock to go into the rock garden or path, at the Headhouse / Ambler project. Members shared recollections of branch history.
After the meeting, presided over by Janie Thomas, we visited the home of Mrs. King on Route 40. The young couple, a Mr. and Mrs. Waring are struggling to keep it going but her gardens have all but disappeared. Mr. Waring greeted us most hospitably and gave us a rock for the Ambler project from the grounds, and a white rose bush from what remains on a slope. He promised that the bush would thrive and the fragrance divine. I’ll report to you if it survives the New England winter.
Crow number two; I’ve just returned from the “Bee-Fest” at the Ambler Branch a huge crowd had paid $35 each to attend the lecture, displays and lunch along the garden tours at Temple / Ambler, our official home. It was a most successful fun-raiser which had been painstakingly planned by Mrs. Jenny Rose Carey, our Vise-President, Linda Lowe, our liaison and development at Temple Ambler, Grace Chapman, staff there and all in partnership with the Montgomery County bee association. Part of this effort is to re-establish a bee keeping course there. Every Booth had a T-shirts with a bee-keeping themes, and all kinds of honey, tulip and iris bulbs, displays with live bees in conjunction with 4-H. Not only was this great financial, but a lasting gift to the community.
Crow number three; Mary Bertolini has come up with a final and favorable reckoning of our June, Natick meeting and is well advanced toward next June in the Niagara Falls area. Michigan, as usual has been doing its wonderful things. Now sorry I was to miss the International Tea, which was such a grand success. The up coming, the Greens Market, just past, a Pumpkin Festival. Soon you will be getting your magazine, filled with good information edited by our talented Kathy Beveridge, and with an orchard cover from Jean Ehlinger’s collection of Orchidae.
And now, like those three crows, I shall flap my verbal wings, and fly away.
FAITH