The Connecticut Dahlia Society

                                             www.connecticutdahlia.com

 

                            January 2008 Newsletter

 

Meeting Date:  Sunday, January 13, 2008        

Time:                2:00 pm

Place:              Thomaston Savings Bank

                         985 Thomaston Avenue, Waterbury

Program:   

 

President’s Message: 

 

Barbara and I enjoyed seeing many of you at the Christmas party at our residence in early December.  As usual, the appetizers and deserts were great, with several main course selections. We hope everyone had good memories from the continuous

projection of dahlia photos from the four major regional shows last summer, including CDS, Rhode Island, Long Island and Mid Island.

 

We just received our 2007 handbook of dahlias along with the fourth quarter Bulletin and will be looking at how various varieties did last year.

 

This year has an event filled calendar for our members.  We will be holding the 50th anniversary show for CDS and hope to make it our best show ever.  We will be discussing preparations for the show at our January 13 meeting.

 

In addition, the ADS National Show will be at Longwood Gardens this year hosted by the Philadelphia Dahlia Society.  We just got back from our annual winter trip to Longwood to see their Christmas exhibition of hundreds of mature trees covered to the top with colored lights, perhaps the best greenhouse complex in the world, water fountains dancing to music, a world class skating show, and more.  It’s only three hours from here so we should have many members displaying flowers there.

 

It is also time to start planning for our annual root auction and sale, our primary fundraiser for the year.  Each year it seems we still have some rough edges, but a lot of progress has been made in streamlining the auction and giving participants multiple  options to pick up lots of dahlia roots at reasonable prices.

 

Our topic that should be discussed at the meeting is how to expose more people to dahlias and how to increase our membership.  Everything we do would be easier and better with more members so we hope to hear suggestions about how to increase our reach.

 

Jon Wooten

jwwooten@optonline.net

Meeting Cancellation in the Event of Bad Weather:

 

If weather conditions may cause a cancellation of the meeting, call either, Jon (203) 259-8359, or Donna (203) 574-3945 to determine the status of the meeting.  Our decision will be made by 12:00 noon if we decide to cancel the meeting.

 

 

Meeting Dates for 2008:

 

February 17    Sunday, 2:00 pm, Thomaston Bank, Waterbury

March 16         Sunday, 2:00 pm, Thomaston Bank, Waterbury

April 20           Annual Root Auction, Pond House, Elizabeth Park, West Hartford,

                        Set-up 10:00 am12:00 Noon, Auction 12:00 Noon4:00 pm

May 18            Sunday, 2:00 pm Thomaston Bank, Waterbury

June 22           Sunday, 2:00 pm Thomaston Bank, Waterbury

July 13            Sunday, Annual Picnic at the Wooten’s, Fairfield

August 10       Sunday, 2:00 pm Thomaston Bank, Waterbury

Aug. 23 & 24  50th Anniversary Show of the CDS & 48th. Annual NADC Show,

                        Elizabeth Park

September      No Meeting-Show Month

October 12      Sunday 2:00 pm, Thomaston Bank, Waterbury

November 9    Sunday 2:00 pm, Thomaston Bank, Waterbury

Dec.                Christmas Party, date to be decided

 

 

William G. Neckerman Award at our 2008 Show:

 


By hosting the NADC Conference Show along with our 50th. Anniversary Show, our society has selected the variety “Embrace” as the Neckerman Class variety.  Entry is

limited to one bloom per exhibitor, 1st Prize is $60.00, 2nd is $25.00 and 3rd. is $15.00.

 

 

 

                                       History of the

                       Connecticut Dahlia Society, Inc.

 

On February 21, 1959, the following eleven men met in Waterbury Connecticut to form the Connecticut Dahlia Society:

 

                                                 Harry Allyn, Terryville, CT

                                                 Lester Andrew, Waterbury, CT

                                                 Fred Calkins, Waterbury, CT

                                                 Franklin Dressel, Mildale, CT

                                                 Walter Hardisty, Watertown, CT

                                                 Charles Hobbs, Watertown, CT

                                                 Clarence Johnson, Watertown, CT

                                                 Thomas McNulty, Brookfield, CT

                                                 Ernest Miller, Plantsville, CT

                                                 Frank Seaman, Danbury, CT

                                                 Paul Smith, Waterbury, CT

 

Paul Smith was the founder of the Connecticut Dahlia Society and he was also elected    as its’ first President. The first show of the society was held on September 9 & 10 of 1959 in the Shopping Plaza, on Chase Avenue, in Waterbury. 

 

The society then held its’ second and third shows in Waterbury, before moving to the Pond House in Elizabeth Park in Hartford for two years.  Following shows were held in Fairfield, Wolcott, Prospect, Windsor Locks, Cheshire, and for the past 10 years annual shows have again been held at the Pond House in Elizabeth Park in Hartford. The CDS has hosted the National Shows of the American Dahlia Society in both 1982 and 1989 in Windsor Locks.

 

The Connecticut Dahlia Society is an affiliated society of the American Dahlia Society and has its’ judges credentialed according to the standards of the ADS. The CDS is also a member of the North Atlantic Dahlia Conference that consists of six other societies from the states of New York, Rhode Island and New Jersey.

 

For the past nine years, the Connecticut Dahlia Society has been maintaining a Display Garden in Elizabeth Park in Hartford for park visitors to enjoy.   Annual Root Auctions are held in the spring and monthly meetings are usually held on Sundays of most months in the Waterbury area.

 

The Annual Show of the CDS is always held on the fourth Saturday in August.  The 50th. Anniversary Show of the CDS will be held on August 23 & 24, 2008, at the Pond House in Elizabeth Park. Admission for the public is free and exhibitors from many states will display their blooms at this show.

 

The mission of the CDS is to stimulate interest in, and promote the culture and development of the dahlia; to conduct and promote public exhibition of dahlias in Connecticut; to assist its members in learning the most effective ways of dahlia culture; to promote good fellowship; and to devote all profits accruing to the society to the above purposes.

 

 

                      Marge Schnerr, Editor

                      mrschnerr@sbcglobal.net