Garden Club of Windham
Board of Directors Meeting
Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 4-6  pm
Library, Windham Senior/Community Center

Minutes

Call to Order: Secretary Barbara Wright called the meeting to order at 4:05.

Attendees: Barbara Wright (secretary), Faith Kenton, Amy Marwood, Jean de Smet, Debbie Stoloff

Approval of minutes: Faith moved approval of the minutes of February 11, Debbie seconded, and the minutes were approved unanimously.

Treasurer’s report: Barbara presented the report in Patty Spruance’s absence. She reported on transactions of the Friends of the Garden on the Bridge and Garden Club; there have been no transactions in other classes since the February 11 meeting. Current account balances are:

• Garden Club checking:           $16,508.83
• Garden Club savings:              $8,215.07
• Friends’ checking:                  $14,802.74
• Friends’ CD:                            $16,287.72
• PayPal account: 435.00; $400 > GC checking

Ongoing Business:

1. Committee reports:

1. Public Spaces: Faith reported that a work party planned for the High Street Hillside had to be cancelled because of snow cover and bad weather.. It is rescheduled for March 28. The Mill Museum gardens on Main and Union Streets will be tended by Patty St. Louis, with assistance from Amy Marwood and possibly Elaine Brown, when she returns from California at the end of March. The new museum director, Charles Olsen, is interested in installing a dye garden.
2. Wildlife Habitat: Ursula has not yet found anyone to take on maintenance of the  National Wildlife Federation certification of the town as a national wildlife community. She continues to explore possibilities. Jean reported that Willimantic Whitewater Partnership will host a groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday, March 14, to mark the begin of work on improvements.
3. Friends of the Garden on the Bridge: Barbara reported that the Garden on the Bridge does not appear in the town’s Capital Improvement Plan in the 2026-27 Windham budget. Finance director Christian Johnson may be able to correct this. Kathleen Mangiafico has been working on procurement of new benches for the Bridge and is close to placing an order. The semi-annual report to DEEP was submitted in February; the Friends are due a $2,200 reimbursement for expenditures covered by the DEEP grant. The Friends plan to consult with state representative Susan Johnson and senator Mae Flexer about potential sources of state funding for development of the Threadway and Plaza. Jean reported that snow cover led to cancellation of a work party at the Garden on the Bridge;  it has been rescheduled for March 28.
4. Membership: Faith reported that the mail campaign had yielded 53 renewals so far, with a reminder going out at the end of the week. The campaign has grossed $1,735 and 3-4 new members thus far. Fred Loxsom has been helping to update the Excel mailing list. Barbara mentioned publicity efforts to promote the pollinator pathway talk on March 19 and the positive response from neighboring garden clubs and other organizations. Chris Beaudry will be handling most of the publicity for the film—The Little Things That Run the World – that will show at the River Room on April 17. Thickets will cost $12, with $8 going to Chris and $4 to the Garden Club.
5. Website: Barbara reported that the website will go live on Tuesday, March 17.  It is basically a replica of the old website, which is now outdated. Once the site is live, Barbara will do extensive editing of text and ask Board members to review it for updates and improvements. We have a new URL: www.gardenclubwindhamct.org; and a new email address: gardenclubwindhamct@gmail.com. Barbara and Briana have set up a “backdoor” using Barbara’s credentials, so that in future we can regain access if anything goes awry. Wix will take down the old Garden Club website when the subscription expires this month; the old URL may then become available after a waiting period of 30-60 days.
6. Annual Meeting: Barbara noted that the Annual Meeting is just a few weeks away and we still do not have a full slate of officers. She distributed alternative models for dealing with this problem. They were briefly discussed before Faith announced that Steve Kenton would be willing to serve as president and she would be willing to serve as secretary, with that job to rotating to another member in an unspecified period of time.
   
   This produced the following slate. It will be presented to the membership for a vote of approval on April 8:
   President: Steve Kenton
   Treasurer: Patty Spruance
   Secretary: Barbara Wright (rotating)
   Faith Kenton: Chair, Public Spaces:
   Jean de Smet: Chair, Wildlife Habitat:
   Barbara Wright: chair, Friends of the Garden on the Bridge
   Barbara Wright: Chair, Membership
   Board member at large: Fred Loxsom

We agreed that we will actively solicit additional at-large Board members. We expressed gratitude to Ursula, Debbie, and Amy, all of whom are ending their service on the Board.

• Updates and Discussion
  • Plant sale: Faith confirmed that the plant sale will take place on Saturday, May 16, at 246 North Street from 9 am to 2 pm, and continue at the Food Coop on Sunday, May 17, from 10 am to 1 pm. She emphasized the importance of publicity, especially signs and flyers posted around town. Barbara agreed to write a press release and submit a notice for the town’s electronic billboard. We will also use Facebook to get the word out. Faith said that there would be other garden-related things for sale besides plants.
• • Brochure: Barbara will look at feedback on the draft brochure and get something to Gulemo as soon as possible. The goal: a brochure possibly for the Annual Meeting but no later than the film on April 17. Faith suggested we also needed an updated membership form and agreed to draft something.
• • Map: The map project ended with us deciding that we would go with the existing map of 12 public gardens. IMO has sent an invoice for $98.19 for the time they put in working on a more artistic alternative.
• • Instagram: Opinion about whether we should use Instagram remains divided, and for the moment we are not moving forward. Barbara proposed revisiting the issue in six months, when we might have a new member willing to take it on. Amy suggested we combine the Garden Club and Garden on the Bridge Facebook pages, and there was general agreement.
• Events:
  • Barbara reminded everyone of the pollinator pathway talk on Thursday, March 19. Claire Lary will open the doors at 6 pm and help with set-up.
• • For the Annual Meeting, we talked about bringing snacks and drinks and putting out sign-up sheets and membership forms.
• • For the film on April 17, Chris Beaudry is assuming major responsibility for publicity and is providing the venue.
  • There are two Earth Day events (Eastern, Food Coop) for which we need volunteers to staff tables. We decided we will not participate in the river festival on May 2.

• Adjournment: Amy moved and Debbie seconded that we adjourn. The vote was unanimous and the meeting ended at 5:30.

Respectfully submitted, Barbara Wright, Secretary