Our Zoom meeting for May featured the much anticipated presentation of the Annual Photo Contest entries. Jenny Burdette is our judge this year and we’re delighted to have her. A self-taught nature and wildlife photographer, Jenny lives in Dacula, GA. A retired educator, she has combined her love of nature with her interest in photography to create a second career. Her work has appeared on the covers and pages of Georgia’s Great Places magazine, and her images are featured in the Visitor Centers at Red Top Mountain State Park in Cartersville, GA, and Providence Canyon State Park near Lumpkin, GA, as well as on postcards and promotional materials for Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites. Pictures will be up in the gallery soon.

Our presenter for February 15 monthly Zoom meeting was Fred Conrad who is the Senior Manager of Community Gardens for the Food Well Alliance in Atlanta.

Fred’s presentation was an overview and tour of the Community Garden movement in metropolitan Atlanta and about how many community gardens are organized, how they function and the many ways they serve neighborhoods.  It is the story of food bringing people together. 

On April 19^th member Shirley Bohm gave a talk about “Vines Garden Park – A Learning Garden“.  Vines Park near Loganville is one of the three heritage parks in Gwinnett County.  Previously a private botanical garden, it was donated to Gwinnett County by Bo and Myrna Adams in 1990. 

Shirley’s presentation educated attendees on some little-known facts about this lovely heritage green space. For example, the property is a passive park which means there are no sports courts of any kind on the property. However, the park has walking trails and a mansion that are beautifully graced by theme-based gardens which are maintained by a team of Master Gardener Extension Volunteers (MGEVs) and friends. The mansion offers a traditional Christmas buffet from Thanksgiving through December 25 that features appearances by Santa.  Shirley also shared that the Vines Railroad is scheduled to reopen in May and that the county is considering building pavillions, playgrounds and a dog park on the park’s grounds.

Thank you for an informative presentation and for your 10 years of volunteer service at Vines Garden Park, Shirley.

Our November meeting is usually a holiday celebration and a chance to visit and talk with other members. Covid-19 changed all that. February was our last in-person meeting and, as many of us are seniors, we were mandated to stay at home until June. But the pandemic didn’t stop us gardening and doing. We masked up, keep social distancing and discovered Zoom meetings.

Following tradition, our historian Freda Steward put together a wonderful presentation of our year. Enjoy!

End of Year Review

(note that this file is huge with lots of pictures and will take a short time to load, please be patient!)