The view out of the back window looking towards Zilker Park and the City of Austin.
With frightening regularity, the calendar once more moved to the third Monday of the month bringing with it, the Austin Pond Societies Monthly Meeting held as usual in the Zilker Botanical Gardens Clubhouse. This meeting was our Annual Plant Swap when our members bring in their surplus plants both of the garden and pond variety. The one stipulation is that if by chance, anything you bring in is not taken by another eager Ponder or Gardener, then it must return home with the original owner. That turned out not to be the case this time around as the offerings were pretty slim compared to previous plant swap meetings which is surprising considering that this was our best attended meeting of the year with about forty members showing up.
Along with the Swap and at the same time, Darren Bayhi was holding a re-potting seminar for anyone interested in “How to re-pot Lilies” which included both Tropical, Hardies and also Lotus.. As the swap was drawing to a close, more and more people stopped by Darren’s table to ask questions and watch his demonstration.
Prior to the swap, many members had volunteered to help set up the tables and kiddie pools used for this event. For this, they were given the opportunity of having first dibs at whatever took their fancy before the main body was let loose. With the small number of plants on offer, this was a good decision on their part.
Prior to the actual swap and following a meal of hot dogs with all of the fixin’s topped off by various deserts brought in by the members, Barb Lenhardt, President, had some business to offer which included a discussion by Ted Paone, who talked about the upcoming Tour with the membership. He outlined the Charities that will benefit which includes Central Texas Gardner on KLRU-TV, Austin Pets Alive, and Donor Choice, a charity which funds projects for teachers and students. Prior to his presentation, Ted was awarded the Koi Person of the Year Award voted on by the Members present for his efforts with the Pond Tours.
Ted was followed by Mike Peppers, our new Treasurer who outlined the budget for the Members along with many apologies for the lateness of the report. With the budget voted on and passed by the Membership and there not being anymore business, it was time to get on with the important event of the day which of course, was the Plant Swap.
Following the aforementioned reward for volunteering, they were allowed out the door first followed after a few minutes by the rest of the Members. The plants were taken in record time and the clean up started by those same volunteers who we thank for their efforts.
The next meeting will be on May 20th. The Speaker will be Katie Boyer of the US Fish and Wildlife and she will be talking about Monarch Butterflies. As these are another of Nature’s species that are in trouble due to man’s incompetence in managing the Planet, then it would be well worth our while to see what we can do to help save this species.
The third Monday of the month around 6:30 pm and it’s time for another Austin Pond Society Meeting held at the usual place, Zilker Botanical Gardens. There were around 35 members who showed up to be treated to a meal of Chinese food from one of our sponsors, Bamboo Bistro.
They were really here to listen to Reeve Hobbie from Travis County Master Gardeners and his topic was “If Plants Could Talk “ – unusual facts about native plants. His was a very interesting presentation and was well received by his audience. Lets face it, who doesn’t like flowers and the fact they were all to be found in Texas., really helped.
Following the presentation, BJ Jenkins, who was filling in for the President away on Business, opened a discussion on “My Favorite Tool”. She had brought along a couple of her own to demonstrate their uses. Ronnie Hubenthal brought along a very useful and very long handled cutter used to trim lily pads and other plants way out in the pond. This was followed by a general business meeting with updates from the Board Members and a quick run down of the current status of the Pond Tour by Ted Paone, Pond Tour Chairman.
The meeting ended with the drawing of the door prizes which is everybody’s favorite as we all waited with baited breath to see who’s number was selected next. Needless to say, mine was not one of those drawn but it was all in good fun.
The next meeting will be held April 15th and this one is our Annual Plant Swap. Members are encouraged to bring along any plants both of the pond and garden varieties that they wish to swap or give away. The one stipulation is that anything you bring that is not taken, must go home with you. Darren Bayhi will also be demonstrating “How to Replant Waterlilies” so if you have never attempted this, Darren will show you just how easy it really is.
The third Monday of the month rolled around as it always does bringing with it the Austin Pond Society monthly meeting. Although we are still missing a Hospitality Person on the Board, Barb Lenhardt, our new President, stopped by her local HEB SuperMarket and ordered a bunch of sandwiches of different varieties and flavors. This coupled with the deserts brought by the members made for an adequate meal to start off the proceedings.
There were around 32 members in attendance to hear the speaker, Cindy Cassidy talk about Night Skies and Light Pollution, a subject that not too many of us ever think about. It was a very interesting presentation as she described the way that light from various sources is wasted by poor planning and the use of the proper shading. When you consider that wasted light is wasted money, then things take on a different perspective. She also spent some time talking about the effects that lighting has on wildlife especially birds that are known to crash into buildings by the hundreds. She also discussed how plant life is affected when the proper hours of darkness are not sufficient to stimulate growth. All in all, very much food for thought.
Following her talk, we had a discussion on String Algae hosted by BJ Jenkins which the Members joined in with their opinions and questions. This is an idea that BJ has come up with to hold at every meeting based on whatever subject is important at the time. If you have something that you would like discussed, contact BJ Jenkins at this link.
The last item of the meeting was the business section when several items were covered including the upcoming 25th Annual Pond Tour. Ted Paone, the Pond Tour Chairman, outlined the plans for this event including the fact that several more ponds are still needed. This year’s event will not be as big as previous Tours and will host anywhere from 6-8 ponds on either day, the idea being that guests can spend more time at each pond and have more time to travel between the ponds. Volunteers are still needed to welcome the guests and sell the tickets. If you are interested in helping out, contact Ted Paone at this email address.
The meeting ended with the Raffle, always a popular event as three lucky Members won a gift chosen by Barb, our President. The next meeting is on March 18th, same time, same place. The scheduled Speaker is Reeve Hobbie from Travis County Master Gardeners and he will be speaking about “If Plants Could Talk “ – unusual facts about native plants. Hope to see you there. BTW, if you are interested in the Hospitality position on the Board, contact Barb at this link.
Below are the three videos of the evening. The first is the full coverage of the talk given by Cindy Cassidy.
Texas Night Skies
The second video is of the Business part of the meeting and is broken into two separate videos. The first video is of half of the business discussion. The second video is of very poor quality and sound due to not using a tripod and not hooking up the microphone. This was unfortunately brought about by no break between the Speaker and her presentation and the Business section as I had no time to replace the battery and had to switch cameras. My apologies for the very poor content of the second video.
Listed below are the Sponsors for the Austin Pond Society. We encourage you to give them your business and support. You can reach them by clicking on the link to their email. If they have a website, you can reach that by clicking on their business card.
Located in Austin and Houston Website:https://www.texasponds.com/ Austin – (512) 782-8316 Houston – (281) 668-4077
Hill Country Water Gardens
Located in Cedar Park steve@hillcountrygardens.com
1407 N Bell Blvd, Cedar Park, Texas 78613
Phone: (512) 260-5050
10% discount by showing your APS Membership Card
Water Garden Gems
Located in Marion, Texas
3230 Bolton Road, Marion, TX 78124
Phone:(210) 659-5841
Hours:9:00 am – 5:00 pm
10% discount by showing your APS Membership Card You can contact them using this link.
Bamboo Bistro
Located in Austin (Two locations)
Bamboo Bistro 11101 Burnet Rd, Ste A-100
Austin, TX (512) 821-0022
and Bamboo Bistro West Gate
6818 W Gate Blvd,Austin, TX (512) 243-5588
10% discount by showing your APS Membership Card
Come celebrate the 25th Austin Pond and Garden Tour on June 1 & 2, 2019. The Austin Pond Society is once again sponsoring our charitable tour of spectacular ponds and gardens throughout the greater Austin area; The ponds include some of the classics as well as ponds new to the tour. The tour starts on Saturday, June 1 at S2, Marc Brewster’s wonderful pond and garden, recipient of a previous tour. Explore the ponds at your leisure, talk with the owners and be inspired.
Tickets for the tour will be available from this website on April 1. Earlybird prices are $20, a savings of $5 over the tickets bought on the tour days. Groups of 15 or more can get their tickets for $15.
Part of the Library available for our Members to check out. Our Librarian is Holly Hargraves and she can be reached at librarian@austinpondsociety.org
The Austin Pond Society held their first meeting of the year this past Monday Jan 21, 2019 at the usual place, Zilker Botanical Gardens here in Austin, Texas. This Society has been in existence since 1993 catering to the interests of many of the Pond enthusiasts in the Austin area..
The one position that is still vacant after the recent Board changes is that of Hospitality which is responsible for providing the group with the light meal at the start the meeting. In lieu of this, we settled for pizza from one of our Sponsors, Jet’s Pizza with the membership providing salads and deserts. As usual, the pizza was delicious and although I don’t eat pizza very often, I grabbed two large slices this time around.
I counted 28 members there which included the new Board, a little less than what we hoped for. Some of this was due to our scheduled Speaker, Katie Boyer from the US Fish and Wildlife Services unable to show due to the Government shutdown. In her place, BJ Jenkins, our Programs and Special Events Coordinator put together a contest. This consisted of the logos from the different Pond Tours for the past 16 years each sub titled with the year which in turn had to be linked to specific statements. At the end of the contest, the winners were Glen Hubenthal and Mary Word who had paired up to work together as the contest was designed for pairs.
Thanks to BJ and all of the other people involved for all of their work on gathering together these 16 Logos. Many are from actual tee shirts, 2008 for example.
Having fun at the Logo Contest. The entry screen should read 2019….
Following the contest, there was a short Q&A from members who had a couple of pond questions. Many people had differing views on advice offered to resolve the questions which made for interesting listening. We heard the sad story of a member who left the hose running while topping up his pond resulting in the death of all of his fish due to the chlorine in the water. This sparked off a discussion regarding the varying amounts of chlorine that the City uses especially during times of drought. Unfortunately, almost everyone early in their ponding careers learns this lesson the hard way. I suggested that pond owners should attach a water timer between the faucet and the hose as they are reasonably cheap at Home Depot or Lowes generally costing less than $20.00.
Ted Paone and BJ Jenkins with Andy Filtness
Ted Paone is the Pond Tour Chairman for this years Tour. He graciously offered to perform this duty for a third time having had this role for both the 2016 and 2017 Tours. He outlined the need for additional volunteers on the Pond Tour Committee. The plan is to have 6-7 ponds each day, North and South and he is still looking for ponds to show.
There was no real business other than the urgent need for a Hospitality volunteer. There was a brief discussion of the upcoming meetings and then Madam President, Barb Lenhardt called the meeting to a close.
The Business section of the meeting.
Pictures of the meeting to music
The next meeting will be on Monday February 18 at the usual place and time, Zilker Botanical Gardens at 6:30. The scheduled Speaker is Cindy Cassidy from the Texas Night Sky Festival and her subject will be Night Skies and Light Pollution. Hope to see you there.
With the rewriting of the ByLaws this year,the makeup of the Board has changed a little as positions have been moved around or removed. Under the Revised ByLaws, the Board is made up of three Officers, President, Secretary and Treasurer. The Parliamentarian position has been eliminated and the President can appoint one as needed.. The revised ByLaws allow for up to six Directors with the Board having the ability to decide on an annual basis, which Directors to appoint for the upcoming year. The positions selected for 2019 are as follows: Membership, Programs and Special Events, Public Relations, Pond Tour Director, Historian/Photographer/AKCA Rep and a new position named Sponsors. There are currently three Volunteer positions, Hospitality, Webmaster and Librarian. These are appointed positions and are non voting. Neither are they required to attend the Board Meetings. Note: Board Meetings are held the second Monday of the Month at Zilker Gardens Meeting Room. Any registered Member or non member can attend.
OFFICERS
Proposed Board for 2019
The Committee led by Nancy Reinert did a wonderful job of finding new and returning members for the Board for this upcoming year,2019.They are all listed below after having been ratified at the last meeting on October 15.
Nancy Hall has graciously chosen to run again as our Publicity person. She post articles on Facebook and other publications around town of important events. publicity@austinpondsociety.org
Margaret Boeneke has switched from Librarian to Membership and is bringing our Membership system into the 21st Century membership@austinpondsociety.org
Historian/Photos,AKCA Rep – Glen Hubenthal
Glen Hubenthal is continuing on in his role as the Official Photographer and Historian for the Association historian@austinpondsociety.org
VOLUNTEERS. These are appointed positions
Hospitality – Vacant
This person is the most popular person in the club as they provide us with the delicious food every month. hospitality@austinpondsociety.org
Listed are the dates for both the Board Meetings and the Members General Meetings. There are no meetings in December. All meetings start at 6:30 pm and all are held at Zilker Botanical Gardens
BOARD MEMBERS ONLY MEETING DATES.
The dates below are to remind the Board when their Meetings are for 2019
All held at the Zilker Botanical Gardens Clubhouse, starting at 7:00 pm
For public meetings, see the list below or check the front page. Monday – Jan 14 Monday – February 11 Monday – March 11 Monday – April 8 Monday – May 13 Monday – June 10 Monday – July 8 Monday – August 12 Monday – September 9 Monday – October 14 Monday – November 11 No Meeting in December
Monday – Jan 21 Monday – February 18 Monday – March 18 Monday – April 15 Monday – May 20 Monday – June 17 Monday – July 15 Monday – August 19 Monday – September 16 Monday – October 21 Monday – November 18
Member Holiday/Christmas Party
No Meeting in December
DISCLAIMER: While the information contained in this newsletter was carefully collected and compiled to be as accurate as possible, there are no expressed or implied warranties that the information contained herein, including paid advertisements, is correct, of any value, or suitable for any purpose. If you use this information in any way, you assume full responsibility for the results of your actions. In no event will the author or others be liable for any results or the lack thereof.
The outgoing President, Jeannie Ferrier on the left with the incoming President Barb Lenhardt
Another month, another meeting of the Austin Pond Society held at the usual place, the Zilker Botanical Gardens in Austin, Texas. As usual, we were treated to a meal provided by our Hospitality person, Steven. He is one of those who is giving up his volunteer position at the end of the year and we thank him for his contributions to the cause. Tonight, his offerings were corn dogs with deserts provided by the members. As I am not into corn dogs, I made do with several cookies to satisfy my sweet tooth.
Due to the bad weather, our numbers were down by quite a bit and I counted only 22 people in attendance. We started off with Barb introducing our speaker, Alex Rabadan, a local pond builder whose company is named Oasis Water Features and Landscaping. He held a question and answer session which kept everyone occupied for 30 minutes or so.
Alex Rabadan, Oasis Water Features and Landscaping.
This was followed by Steven Monfrini, acting in the absence of the chairperson Nancy Reinert, to announce the new Board members for 2019. All the positions were filled and required a vote from the Membership to appoint them which passed without dissent. To review the new Board who will take office January 1st, 2019, use this link.
This was the only major piece of business for this evening and with a little more discussion about other minor items, the meeting came to a close.
The next meeting to be held on November 19 at the same location, will be our Christmas End of the Year Party. Blue Santa will again be in attendance so we are asking all of our members to bring a small gift preferably in the 12-14 year age bracket for the kids in Austin who do not receive much on Christmas morning. The theme this year will be Mexican and the food will also reflect the theme. Members can still bring along desserts or their contribution to the Mexican main meal. We are hoping for a Mariachi Band from one of the local high schools but that is not yet confirmed. Keep looking for more on this and we hope to see you there.
This will be the last meeting for the year as we do not meet in December.
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