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!)

Member Carol Hassell, who is a co-founder and the Executive Director of the Georgia Piedmont Land Trust, was our speaker for the March 15 Zoom meeting.  She described their mission which includes the preservation of open and green space in the northern portion of Georgia; the protection of water quality in area streams and rivers, habitat, working land, historical and archeological features; and education about the values of and tools for land conservation.   She clarified how a land trust is becoming increasingly necessary as 95 to 98% of land has been modified for human use.  These 2200 fragmented acres throughout the Piedmont area conserve our woodlands, birds, wildlife, and pollinators and she explained the importance of ”Protecting Land for Today and Tomorrow” in the land trust, but also in our own yards and community.  It was an informative hour.