December Garden Club Program

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Holiday Decoration. Floral Acres florists lead us in a demonstration of using natural botanical materials to create a centerpiece for the holiday. More than thirty members and guests attended this fun filled activity. Following the instruction of the florists, everyone made a beautiful centerpiece to bring home to show off their creation. This holiday centerpiece decoration activity has become our tradition during the holiday season over the years.  We all enjoyed this creative program and the comradeship at the event. Visit Floral Acres at FloralAcresFlorist.com or on their Faebook page to learn more. Below are some highlights of this event. 

Trailmarker Tree Sculpture.  The speaker, Dennis Downs, is a designer & sculptor of the Indian Trailmarker tree sculpture that was installed and dedicated this summer at the entrance to the Mini Park on Main Street, Antioch IL. He explained the rich history of the Indian trailmarkers and how they were used by the Indians in this area. The sculpture has become a landmark in downtown Antioch.

The Village of Antioch officials and Antioch Public Works employees have supported us in many aspects over the years. To express our appreciation, we invited them to our November meeting.  We acknowledged all what they have done for us and give them our thanks.  Mary Quilty, Program Director of Antioch Parks & Recreation accepted our Certificate of Appreciation at the meeting.
We celebrated together with a refreshment afterwards as the Thanksgiving holiday season approaching. 

Allendale Vocational Education.  Jenni Mendoza, an education director from Allendale Institute, Lake Villa, IL gave us an overview of their horticulture program.  Allendale, as a special education school, has proudly served children, youth, and their families from all walks of life. The greenhouse and gardens provide a very popular vocational education work site for horticulture, gardening, and landscaping training as well as retail sales experience throughout of seasons. We are looking forward to have partnership with their horticulture program.​  

Fall potluck.  To cerebrate the beginning of the new fiscal year of the Antioch Garden Club, we had a potluck on Sep. 10th at the general meeting.  As always, the foods were plenty, colorful and delicious. Special visitors Anita Bierbaum, President of GCI and Debbie Zonca, Director of District IX. came to join us and toured our village gardens and the monarch butterfly waystation that cared by our club. They also give us an update on GCI and District IX news and events. It was informational. Every member attended meeting received a new yearbook. We also held an induction ceremony for our four new members. Each new member received a jar of local honey as a gift. It was a fun event. What a best way to kick off the new club season! 

Annual potluck. We celebrated the end of another year of gardening with our annual potluck dinner. Everyone brought a dish or two to share with. We reviewed our accomplishments from the previous year and explore new business for our upcoming year. An installation ceremony of new officers was conducted.  As our sponsors, the representatives from the Heartland Bank and the Antioch Lions Club were invited to come to our June meeting. We thank them for their firm support to our mission on beautify the Antioch community.  We also gave away the 2018 Nancy Zitkus Scholarship to Kyla Knauf-a former graduate student from Lakes Community High school. She is currently studying at the University of San Diego with a major in Environmental Science. This is her 2nd time winning the scholarship from us. Congratulations, Kyla! 

Native Plants. Eileen Davis, with the Lake County Forest Preserve District made a presentation on Landscaping with Native Plants.  She discussed the benefits of using native plants in the landscape; how to selection and identification the native plants and the habitat requirements and maintenance of it. It's very educational. Check Eileen Davis website at edavis@lcfpd.org.

After the program and club general business meeting, the new member Kim Brandes was conducted to the club and received a jar of local honey as a gift. Members are all enjoyed delicious refreshment afterwards.

The Antioch Lions Club donated $2000 to the Antioch Garden Club on Monday,  April 9th, 2018 for the Monarch Butterfly project.  AGC member Joyce Kufalk’s husband, Lion Rich Kufalk, made the request for $1000, supported by member Joanne Dugenske’s husband, Lion Dan Dugenske. The Lion Club then voted to increase the amount to $2000 after hearing about our Monarch Butterfly project.  The garden club will be working with several local groups to establish way stations to help the Monarch Butterfly by planting Milkweed and nectar plants (natives encouraged). The project has also got support from the Antioch village administrator that provides the planting site for the butterfly garden. Everyone has been very enthusiastic. We are very excited to get this project started. Our mission is to “Help The Monarch Butterfly”. 

Shown in the picture is Joyce Kufalk, Lion President Dave Moore and Joanne Dugenske.

Terrific Tomatoes.  Nothing compares to the sweetness and flavor of a fresh, home-grown tomato! Mark Lyons, an experienced garden consultant made his presentation at our April meeting on how to successfully grow this juicy, mouth-watering garden fruit in your own backyard or container garden.  His expertise gave us in depth scopes on many fronts to grow tomatoes, include some planting secretes and tricks.  He also can be reached at www.GreenThumbatyourService.com. 

The therapist Jayne Armondo and Elise Livingston from Creative Rehab in Gurnee came to our March meeting talking about how to get your body ready for the gardening season. They taught us how to stretch, move, lift and strengthen our bodies specifically related to the gardening.  And how to prevent injuries due to improper postures and body mechanics. Through slideshow and practice together at the program, members learned the right ways to the fun and satisfaction of gardening without aches and pains. You can also check their website at creativerehab.net . 

After the program, the club proceeded with general meeting agenda and inducted a new member Liz Winters. Welcome Liz!