Connecticut Dahlia Society

March 2008 Newsletter

Meeting Date: Sunday, March 16, 2008

Time: 2:00 pm

Place: Thomaston Savings Bank, 985 Thomaston Ave. Waterbury

Program: Planning for our Root Auction

Finance Committee Meeting at 1:00 pm

President’s Message:

The annual Root Auction is coming up in only six weeks on April 20th. This meeting on Sunday, March 16th. is our last chance before it to plan and prepare for it so I hope most of you can make it.

As we discussed at our February Meeting, I think the Root Auction is one of our two biggest opportunities to forward our goal to advance interest in and culture of the dahlia. Our Annual Show gives people an opportunity to see the beauty of hundreds of great dahlia varieties, but people cannot turn that interest into actually growing them without an adequate supply of roots. Most people don’t know about specialized commercial dahlia growers, and are unable to get great varieties at traditional garden outlets. We need to distribute as many roots as possible so more people can share in growing dahlias. The Auction is not just a fund raiser. It is our one chance to put our precious cache of top show winning dahlia roots in the hands of potential new CDS members.. I hope everyone will try to bring as many roots as possible. Next year we should try to maximize the root yield during the digging season.

The next few weeks are a good time to inspect the roots and see how they handled the winter. It’s a good idea to pull out any which have rotted to protect the others and repack the remainder so they will survive the two or three months before they are flatted or planted. Please put aside all the roots you don’t expect to plant so they can be sold at the Auction. Don’t worry about the numbers, because our bin sales have proven to be able to sell any number of roots at reasonable prices. In fact, we have had disappointed buyers every year we have had bin sales as the roots ran out.

See you on March 16th!

Jon Wooten,

jwwooten@optonline.net

CDS ROOT AUCTION:

Sunday, April 20, 2004, Pond House, Set-up members and those donating roots, 10-12:00 Noon. Open to everyone else when sale begins at 12:00 Noon.

Connecticut Dahlia Society, Inc.

Past Presidents

1^st 1959 Paul Smith, Waterbury 41^st 1999 Joseph Jasonis,Winsted

2^nd 1960 Paul Smith, Waterbury 42^nd 2000 Bob Preuss, Cheshire

3^rd 1961 Harry Allyn, Terryville 43^rd 2001 Bob Preuss, Cheshire

4^th 1962 Daniel Dearborn, Bristol 44^th 2002 Jesse Peterson, Harwinton,

5^th 1963 Daniel Dearborn, Bristol 45^th 2003 Jesse Peterson, Harwinton

6^th 1964 Walter Wengell, Bridgeport 46^th 2004 Kevin Wasilewski, Wallingford

7^th 1965 Walter Wengell, Bridgeport 47^th 2005 Kevin Wasilewski, Wallingford

8^th 1966 Joseph Gentile, Wolcott 48^th2006 Marjorie Schnerr, Prospect

9^th 1967 Walter Wengell, Bridgeport 49^th2007 Marjorie Schnerr, Prospect

10^th 1968 Paul Smith, Waterbury

11^th 1969 Adolph Birkenberger, Wolcott

12^th 1970 William Sperber, West Hartford

13^th 1971 Michael Kantor, Watertown This Newsletter concludes the listing of

14^th 1972 Lester Andrew, Waterbury the History of the CDS:

15^th 1973 P. Sheldon Remington,

16^th 1974 Earle Emmons, Milford Connecticut Originations- December 2007

17^th 1975 Thomas McNulty, Brookfield History of the CDS – January 2008

18^th 1976 Stanley Hickman, Ansonia Show Sites - February - 2008

19^th 1977 Marjorie Schnerr, Prospect

20^th 1978 Marjorie Schnerr, Prospect

21^st 1979 Michael Pryor, Woodbridge

22^nd 1980 Michael Pryor, Woodbridge

23^rd 1981 Derek Tyler, Cheshire Dues Reminder:

24^th 1982 Derek Tyler, Cheshire Please mail in your dues to our Treasurer,

25^th 1983 John Yarwood, Madison Donna Paternostro

26^th 1984 John Yarwood, Madison 262 Windy Drive

27^th 1985 Barry Wight, Plantsville Waterbury, CT 06705

28^th 1986 Barry Wight, Plantsville

29^th 1987 Marjorie Schnerr, Prospect

30^th 1988 Marjorie Schnerr, Prospect

31^st 1989 Michael Pryor, Woodbridge

32^nd1990 Michael Pryor, Woodbridge

33^rd1991 Frank Webber, Wolcott

34^th 1992 Frank Webber, Wolcott

35^th 1993 Marjorie Schnerr, Prospect

36^th 1994 Marjorie Schnerr, Prospect

37^th 1995 Kevin Wasilewski, Wallingford

38^th 1996 Kevin Wasilewski, Wallingford Marge Schnerr, Editor

39^th 1997 Kevin Wasilewski, Wallingford mrschnerr@sbcglobal.net

40^th 1998 Joseph Jasonis, Winsted