Ann, Jennifer and Nancy enjoyed a walk around Wehrspan Lake after attending an NRD update.
On the beautiful night of August 19th, we celebrated Michael Forsberg’s winning of the Garden Club of America’s J. Sherwood Chalmere Medallion for Conservation and Photography. It was a lovely gathering of our club’s members and spouses at the home of Sharon Larmore.
President, Ann Hosford, welcomed the group, Babs Weinberrg recapped the nomination process and praise Forsberg’s artistry. Michael spoke by highlighting his career and the challenges of our natural world. He introduced his wife and two daughters who were present.
The delicious buffet was served in Larimore’s exceptional wine room. Members proceeded to picnic themed tables decorated by the flower arranging committee using flowers from their own gardens. Pastel checked linen completed the table décor.
Our first meeting of the 2021-2022 session was held on Tuesday, June 22, 2021, at the home of Bill and Jennifer Pospichal’s. I don’t think we all knew what a special treat was in store for us! Our meeting began with a tour of their amazing gardens and incredible grounds, along with Bill, Jennifer’s husband and a master gardener, giving us a program on raised bed vegetable gardening.
Bill is a civil engineer by degree and purchased 40+ acres back in the early 1990’s. This land used to be an old mink farm, yes, that is correct mink, as in fur. Bill and Jennifer have created a beautiful oasis lush with gardens galore from native plants, pollinators, quiet streams and loads of amazing vegetable beds. Over 2,000 shrubs and trees are planted on their property. Raised vegetable beds include cauliflower, broccoli, chick peas, strawberries just to name a few. Thank you to Jennifer and Bill for sharing your paradise with us!
“Every empty bottle is filled with a great story”
In 2020, the Horticulture Committee challenged the club to save our wine corks. With the pandemic, this challenged continued on till May of 2021, when we were finally able to gather for our Annual Meeting. Our club was busy over Covid, we collected over 8 pounds of wine corks! Anne Hall, Horticulture Chair, delivered the wine corks to WineStyles, at 10076 South 74th Plaza, who recycles them. Thank you to WineStyles for recycling and being good to Mother Earth! Another tidbit of information is that they also recycle wine bottles by giving them to the Smash Room. Evidently, people will pay to smash bottle and the broken glass is given to Metropolitan Community College Arts for projects. So if you are looking for a place to take your wine bottles or corks, along with purchasing wine, please keep WineStyles in mind. Thank you Anne for collecting the corks, finding a place that recycles them and delivering them for our group!
We were so excited that we were finally able to gather “in person” for our Annual meeting which was held on Tuesday, May 25, 2021 at Happy Hollow Club. The theme was entitled Honoring Our Roots. Thank you to the Social Committee for planning such a wonderful event!
Sandy Douglas from the The Crane Trust delivered a presentation to us viz Zoom on “A Place for Cranes.” Sandy opened with a video showing the Sandhill cranes in their habitat. The trust was formed in 1978, after an environmental crisis of the river habitat degraded: channels deepened, invasive species were present, gravel mining and agriculture greatly affected the environment. She also spoke about conservation strategies, science and research done on the the cranes, Sandhill & Whooping Crane facts and behavior. Due to the pandemic, a virtual crane experience for 2021 can be found at cranetrust.org.
The Horticulture Committee went to the Lauritzen Gardens on March 26, 2021 to view the thousands of daffodils beginning to bloom.
Daffodils galore at the gardens 
Horticulture Outing
On March 10th of this year, we lost Fran Dowd, a founding member of the Loveland Garden Club (LGC).
She was a tireless worker, organizer, supporter and cheerleader for our garden club and Lauritzen Gardens. Fran was one of the driving forces for the club’s growth and its commitment to stimulating the love of gardening both at a private and public level.
In 1983-84 Fran was one of seven enthusiastic gardeners who founded the Loveland Garden Club. One of the original goals of the club was to become a member of the Garden Club of America (GCA). Through Fran’s leadership, that goal was achieved in 1996.
The GCA tasks it’s member clubs to offer ongoing educational programs with minimal cost to the general public. With that in mind, Fran, in 2005, organized a LGC committee to discuss with the Executive Director of Lauritzen Gardens, the establishment of an ongoing project for LGC at the Gardens.
In 2007, the Loveland Garden Club Endowed Lecture Series became that ongoing project with a small start-up pledge of $25,000.
The creation of the Lecture series was a way for the Gardens to generously recognize and honor Loveland Garden Club’s many years of involvement and steadfast support in the development of the Garden.
The club ensures the long life and future development of the LGC Lecture Series Endowment with a yearly contribution. Donations to this endowed lecture series have also been designated by individuals and memorials.
Fran loved our club, she will always be remembered as a steadfast supporter of our Club & Lauritzen Gardens.
Her presence & friendship will be truly missed.