Submitted by Gretchen Bravacos

The Ashland Garden Club held our Annual Meeting at Dulce de Leche on Saturday, Sept. 12. The purpose of our Annual Meeting is to welcome members back from our summer break, to discuss old and new business while setting goals for the year, and to elect new officers if necessary. When I shared over a year ago that I wanted to step back from being President, we shared details of our proposed Shared Leadership Model at last year's Annual Meeting, in place of electing a new President. In this leadership model, Leadership Team members take turns sharing responsibility for preparing our monthly meetings by gathering information to create an agenda, then sending the agenda, the minutes from the previous meeting, and the monthly financial statement to all members, and conducting the meeting. I am pleased to share that our new model of leadership has been in place for a year now, and feedback has been positive. 

We began this year’s Annual Meeting by introducing ourselves and sharing how long we had been members, etc. I began by sharing that I joined AGC in 2005, shortly after I moved to town. During those years, I served nine years as Treasurer and eight years as President. I was surprised and honored to receive beautiful flowers from Dragon Flowers and a delicious cake from Dulce de Leche in recognition of my contributions to AGC over the years.  

Later, while reflecting on what I had shared at the meeting, I thought of the many contributions of previous members who had had a profound impact on AGC during my years as a member. I decided that I wanted to share information and contributions about two former members in this format.  

The first person who comes to mind is Diane Roberts. She was a bundle of energy, full of good ideas about how we could do what we do but better. I found out recently that while she was President of AGC, she was also president of her condo association! Diane was the secretary when I first joined AGC.  During that period of time, not only did Diane set the agenda, but she often also led the meeting. Several years later, I nominated her for President at one of our Annual Meetings. When the current treasurer moved out of town, Diane approached me about becoming the Treasurer. I agreed only if we could open a checking account for AGC. At this point in time, there wasn’t much money involved, but I was clear that I was not willing to keep AGC money in my own account, which had been the practice. That day, Diane and I left the meeting, met at the Middlesex Bank, and opened an account. I was also adamant about accountability, so Diane and I created a form that members still use today to document purchases made on behalf of the club when asking for reimbursement. To this day, no AGC money is expended without proof of purchase attached to this form.  Diane also created a colorful informational handout that we still use, listing basic information about our club and inviting people to join us at one of our monthly meetings and to attend our educational opportunities open to the public.

Diane and I worked together to gather or create the documents needed to apply for non-profit status (501 (c) (3)). One of the many documents needed was the bylaws, which I created using a model from another club. None of the financial information required came naturally to me, but somehow I got it all together. After a lot of work, we met the criteria and were granted non-profit status.

The second person I want to mention as having had a profound impact on AGC during my twenty years of membership is Lois Bennett. Lois served first as Vice-President while Diane Roberts was President and then assumed the role of President when Diane moved to Florida. Lois was a master gardener whose expertise was in using native plants and garden design. Lois designed both the Clock Tower Garden and the Post Office Garden. Lois’s commitment to providing pollinator gardens to support monarch butterflies is reflected in the two pollinator gardens dedicated to her memory in the Ashland Community Gardens. She and I participated in a multi-generational project that taught preschoolers about the role of bees in pollination.  The culminating project was to build a raised garden behind the Community Center and to plant native plants to attract butterflies. This garden was also dedicated to Lois.

We have always been a hard-working club committed to adding beauty to our town.  Another of Lois Bennett’s contributions was to alter the AGC meeting schedule so that we meet September through June. In recognition of how hard we work around town, she instituted what we called “Wine in the Garden” events during July and August. Each summer several members volunteer to host an event in their garden. These social events are open to AGC members only. 

When I think back over the many years that I have been an AGC member, I remember so many members who are no longer active but whose contributions laid the foundation for where we are today. In recent years, many new members have brought new energy and enthusiasm to our mission. I am proud of where we are as a club today.  

The Ashland Garden Club meets 10-11 a.m. on the second Saturday of each month, September through June. Meetings are held in the conference room in the lower level of the Ashland Library and are always open to the public. All meetings and events are open to the public.