October Update

The end of the season is here and no one on the island seems to know how it happened so fast! Sad, but true, it’s time for the Garden Club to take down the flower baskets in DeRivera Park. If you are still on the island and looking for a good time with good company, please join us on Tuesday morning, September 30. . There may even be a reward involved for participants, but you will have to be there to find out more about that.  

Ed and Dustin Heineman gave a very informative overview of grape growing and harvesting at our September 11th Garden Club meeting.  The discussion was held in the Heineman Vineyard on Mitchell Road, so participants were able to get up close and personal with the vines and the grapes and to ask questions throughout the presentation.  A big thank you to our presenters who did such an excellent job of sharing their expertise!  

The last Garden Club meeting of the year will be held Thursday, October 9 at 5:30 when we will be learning about Monarch Butterflies and their amazing migration. Please check the Garden Club website for further details about the evening. (www.putinbaygardenclub.com)  

We’re embarrassed to say that we may have opened Pandora’s Box when we placed our Thank You ad in last month’s Gazette, attempting to remember every name of every person in the village who helped us make this year’s Garden Club activities so successful. Human frailty prevailed, and we forgot some very important names on that list. We would like to apologize for the oversight and mention a few more today. If there are still others that we have missed, please forgive us. We do appreciate you all so much! If you let us know who you are, we would love to put your name on the website for recognition.  

A sincere thank you goes out to Bill Boag, Bob Frimel, Joan French, Cathy Peter, Richard Gump, Eric Booker, Bob (from the DeRivera Park), Richie Meyers, Paula Garsteck, Beth Queto, George Hirkala, and Mark (from the Forge). We would also like to give a special thank you to Chan Stevens for equipping us with the watering golf cart for the fifth year in a row! There are so many generous people on the island and we are so blessed to be associated with them! Thank you one and all!  

October is a great month to plant bulbs, pull out and compost dead annuals, cut back perennials, and clean dead and diseased materials from your beds. Continue to water, when necessary, and don’t forget to bring in some firewood for those cold days ahead.

Susan Hildebrandt, Co-President, Put-in-Bay Garden Club