GROW OUR GARDEN GROUP
MONTHLY BOARD MEETING
April 22, 2025
Minutes
Mary called the meeting to order at 5:40pm.
Present: Mary Gollakner, Colleen Weinert, Bonnie Rochefort, Gordy Lownds, Polly Belcher
Secretary's Report March minutes had been approved as written and posted on the website.
Treasurer's Report No changes since the last meeting. Balance is $8496.07.
Old Business
1) Flowers, brackets, watering. We have the braces for the inserts, which will be attached when we do the staining on May 3rd. There is no stain left from the last painting. Mary will let Menards advise us re stain color when she takes the empty planters to Chenier’s next week. The group discussed ideas for flower selection. Mary will finalize the choices with Chenier’s. We will need to pick the flowers up May 29th at the latest.
Repairs for the watering trailer are estimated at a couple of thousand dollars. It is not clear who will pay for the repairs, and there was some discussion about whether we could do without the trailer. Since not everyone who volunteers for watering has a pickup truck, it was decided that having the trailer repaired would be the best option for now.
2) Brackets, signs, banners. Rich had texted an example of brackets we could use. At $20 each, 20 could be delivered in a couple of days. We have 14 hanging planters, but the 2 at the pavilion would not need brackets, so we would need a total of 12.
Mary needs to check with MDOT regarding putting a 2’X10’ Welcome to Garden ground sign downtown. We can check with Meiers re having the signs made.
Sue and Mark will be reporting on banners at the next meeting.
Other: Jeff LeFevre has said that the gazebo may get moved soon. The price for moving it was quoted at $400.00. Bonnie noted that we should schedule any repair/painting of the gazebo to go along with repair/painting of the shed.
3) Fall Festival Updates.
Colleen will check into the license renewal for prizes.
A suggestion was made to make the official name Harvest Festival Homecoming, but use Harvest Fest as a shorthand name.
4) Improvements to the children’s area in the park. This item is on hold for now.
5) Final cleanup of the Peninsula Pioneers' things in the township hall was completed prior to the meeting. Bonnie will dispose of most of the things. The refillable glass bottle Pepsi 8-packs (16 of them) were valued online at $20-35 per 8-pack. Polly will store them in her pole barn until the group decides what to do with them.
6) Float for GOGG in the 4th of July parade. No decision was made re having a float, since some members may not be available to assist.
7) Kayak-a-thon, Walk-a-thon. Roberta Hera wanted GOGG to advertise for the kayak-a-thon in order to get sponsors, but it was felt that it was not a good idea due to liability. Mary is looking into having GOGG tee shirts made for a fundraiser but it looks like there will not be a walk-a-thon.
New Business
Polly reported the Adopt-a-Highway Cleanup Schedule for 2025:
Spring May 10-18
Summer July 12-20
Fall Sept 20-28
She will email the group when it gets closer to the May date, and will probably schedule cleanup days May 12-15, weather permitting. Any volunteers will need to be taught regarding rules and safety issues. Some of the 2-mile route is flat but most of it has ditches that are 2-3 feet deep. Not for the faint of heart!
Polly is looking into applying for a WAM (Wildflower Association of Michigan) grant for up to $1250.00. She will consult with Sue Mueller when she comes back for the summer. Since GOGG’s primary reason for keeping its website was to apply for grants, she suggested that after this attempt we might want to discontinue the website.