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By Melinda Szeliga

and Sue Whittaker

BRGC

The members of the Bermuda Run Garden Club were all smiles at their 39th Anniversary Luncheon at the Bermuda Run Country Club.

Hostesses Peggy Schuppert and Diana Kaylor made the event memorable with thoughtful gifts at each place setting of custom printed matchboxes and whimsical sticker art pages.

President Amy Bridges opened the meeting by recognizing longstanding members: though unable to attend, Ann Cromwell is still an active member having served as the club’s first president in 1984.

Fundraising Co-Chair Linda Ernst lead the invocation prior to a light lunch served by the country club staff, ending with a slice of Key Lime pie.

VP of Programs Donna Lamonds introduced Jimmy Speas of Clemmons.

He grew up in King, growing tobacco, grain, and vegetables. Farm life cultivated a love for gardening and Speas is an active member of the Winston-Salem Rose Society, president and co-founder of the Central Carolina Dahlia Society, and the editor of the Herbal Friends Newsletter as well as the NC Gourd Society Triad Patch Newsletter. He exhibits horticulture at several North Carolina fairs including those in Stokes and Davidson counties, The Carolina Classic Fair and the N.C. State Fair.

He also enjoys growing orchids in water, the topic he shared with the club members. He kept the members engaged and laughing. He demonstrated his method of repotting an orchid by selectively pruning the plant, and using water, potting mix, and orchid food.

Members brought donations of food, paper goods, and diapers to benefit A Storehouse for Jesus. The club also sponsored a community collection point for donations at the Bermuda Run Town Hall. As a result, members delivered 174 pounds of shelf-stable food and personal items to help needy families in Davie County.

On Sept. 12, nine members met ato assemble 154 small bouquets for recipients of Meals on Wheels. This month’s bouquets were plum, yellow, and rust-colored mums wrapped in sunflower fabric by Debbie Mumm, tied in a gold ribbon.

This project began in 2008 and provides members a way to share their love of flowers with people who are generally not able to get outside or have fresh flowers in their homes. With more and more of the area’s senior citizens needing assistance from Meals on Wheels, members put together 150 or more bouquets four times during the year. The volunteer drivers always report these bouquets are greatly appreciated by their clients.

Many other local non-profits are impacted as well, including organizations through Davie Community Foundation, such as Pearls and the Children’s Reading Fund, and Davie County Public Schools.

All this wouldn’t be possible without community support through theclub’s fund-raising projects such as the spring geranium sale and twice-annual shredding events.

Mark Oct. 14 on your calendar to shred confidential documents, from 9 a.m.-noon or until the truck fills at the parking lot near Bermuda Run Town Hall, 120 Kinderton Blvd (off US 158, just west of the Truist Soccer Park). Cost is $5 per brown grocery bag or equivalent size box. For more information, please call Marie at (336) 650-5518.

Learn more gardening and plant care tips at the garden club’s website: www.BermudaRunGardenClub.org.