The Connecticut Dahlia Society

April 2005 Newsletter

Meeting Date: Saturday, April 19, 2005

(Third Saturday of April this month!)

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Place: Thomaston Savings Bank

985 Watertown Avenue

Waterbury, CT

Program: Discussion of May Program and 2^nd Root Auction

President's Message…

Our Root Auction held at Elizabeth Park's Pond House last month was quite successful. Some feared having it a month earlier than usually scheduled may have turned some folks away, but all turned out quite well.

Thanks to all who made the auction a success: Joe Jasonis, our auctioneer; Nick Paternostro, root runner; Donna Pasternostro, Marge Schnerr and the LaRochelle's for keeping records and collecting checks; and, Jessie Peterson and Larry Carlson for helping set up the root tables and providing support for Joe. All in all a great team effort in keeping the auction going smoothly. A big thank you of course to all dahlia root donators for their generous contributions of extra stock - with you there would be no auction!

Our meeting this month will be a brief one so that we can have a second root auction afterward. We still have a large number of excellent roots to auction and many different varieties. If you still have extra roots to donate please bring them in for the sale. I know I still have some to go through those that weren't showing eyes yet last month. Hopefully other members had the same problem. Please come and participate in this worthy cause, the money raised goes toward our annual show to help defray the various costs. Let your garden friends know about the sale as well.

Some of you may have heard already that there will be no plant sale in May. The folks in Rhode Island who usually sell plants to us aren't propagating this year. So, the problem is what should we do for May? I think the exposure we get at the plant sale at Elizabeth Park is important for the society and we need to have some suggestions for what we can do on that day. A mini-root sale? Plant the display garden? Years past members would bring other kinds of plant treasures from their gardens besides dahlia roots to auction off - should we try something like that? How about starting some dahlia roots in pots? We need to come up with a plan at the April meeting to have in place for May. Please come and give your valuable input.

Sincerely,

Kevin Wasilewski

C.D.S. President

Dates to remember…

April 9^th: NADC Meeting, Yankee Silversmith Restaurant, Wallingford, CT

Contact Marge Schnerr, (203) 758-4685 for information.

April 19^th: CDS Meeting, 7:30.

May 14^th: Perennial/Herb Sale, Elizabeth Park, 10:00-2:00 p.m.

PS: Get Well Wishes for Mikki Kurtz, who just underwent knee replacement surgery.