Oakland Garden Club News

Fifteen members of the Oakland Garden Club met in the Rosen room at the Oakland auditorium at 2:00 p.m., on Thursday June 11, 2015.

Lois Schneekloth was hostess. Members gave pledge to the American flag and read the Garden Club Creed from their handbooks. Each member answered roll call by answering what rhubarb food she or he had brought.

Cathi McMurtry read the minutes of the May meeting.

Audrey Unwin gave the treasury balance and reported that the city wants the Garden Club to submit their bills to the city for their $450.00 rather than giving a check for the total to the Garden Club.

Nell Stanley attended and joined the Garden Club.

In old business, Julie Easton reported that Brian had had to pick up downed trees and branches this week, so he did not get the dirt and splintered RR ties picked up from the bed south of the gazebo. While we had hoped the bed would be ready by Swedish Festival June 19–21, it probably would not be.

Audrey Unwin suggested that we have the July brunch at the auditorium. She added that we would have to discuss the Fair, but that the Fair books were not out on-line yet.

Julie Easton reported that the tea roses at the park did not survive the winter. May Taylor gave back the rose bush we had given her after her husband Bill’s death, and Julie Easton planted it in the rose bed at the park. Julie bought a red rose from Sue’s Flower Shoppe and planted it in the bed in honor of Doris Anderson. Geraldine Peterson said she had sent a card to Doris Anderson’s family.

Marie Daubert reported on the American flag. The 200-year-old flag that inspired the song “The Star Spangled Banner” dates back to the war of 1812 when Francis Scott Key wrote the poem when he saw the American flag still flying above Ft. McHenry after a night of British bombardment. That flag, larger than half a tennis court now rests in the Smithsonian.

In 1812 Confederate troops shelled the U.S. Ft. Sumpter in Charleston. The flag flying there is now displayed at Ft. Sumpter’s National Monument.

When Lincoln lay dying in Ford’s theater, someone took the flag flying in front of his theater box and crumpled it under his head. That flag is now in the Columns Museum of Pike Co. Historical Society, Milford, PA.

The flag raised at Iwo Jima in WWII is displayed in the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

The flag raised by three NY City fireman over Ground Zero has disappeared, but the 2-by-3 foot flag workers found in the rubble from the World Trade Center is now in exhibits at the National Museum of American History.

Deet: mosquitoes must hate the stuff because it works. Follow directions carefully when using. Bug zappers may work, but they tend to attract more insects than they kill—and many of those insects may be ones that eat pests. It’s better to use citronella candles, yellow bug lights, wear light-colored clothing, and have a fan blowing since they are not strong fliers—fly only 1.5 mph. Also empty all standing water and dispose of decaying vegetation.

Birds are attracted to lights and are often killed by flying into windows. Individuals and other businesses can do what Union Pacific and OPPD are doing. They have put up posters asking employees to turn off unnecessary lights and keep shades lowered till 10 a.m.

            Protect honeybees which pollinate 130 types of fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Culprits for their die-off include pesticides, mites, harsh winters, cell phone towers, and keepers who feed bees high fructose corn syrup instead of honey. Don’t spray gardens during hours bees are pollinating.

            In Japan, prone to earthquakes, after some people were trapped in elevators, Japan plans to put water and toilet facilities in its 620,000 elevators. In India, the government, trying for a “clean India,” is installing thousands of toilets. Poor sanitation and infected water cause 80% of morbidity, and diarrhea is a leading killer of children younger than 5. People, especially in rural areas, are reluctant to give up their practice of going in open fields, do not want toilets close to their houses, and are using them for storing grain or clothes or tethering goats.

            Members read the Garden Club Benediction. The topic for June was rhubarb, and rather than a regular lesson, each member was to bring something made with rhubarb and tell about it. Members enjoyed each others contributions.

Cathi McMurtry, Secretary