HOATH AND DISTRICT GARDENING SOCIETY
The society was formed in 1969 to promote an interest in gardening within the village and surrounding rural area, through a variety of speakers at our monthly meetings, and occasional outings to various gardens throughout the south east.
Our monthly meetings are held in Hoath Village Hall at 7:30pm on the first Wednesday of each month, with the exception of August when no meeting is held. The annual subscription is £4.00, and we hold three flower and vegetable shows throughout the year. April is an evening show of spring flowers, July see's our Summer show and September our Autumn show, these being held on a Saturday.
The President of the club is Mr. J. Harbour
The Chairman is Mr. A.R. Russell - (Telephone 860779)
The Vice-Chariman is Mrs S Hawkes
The Secretary is Mrs.A Thomas
The Treasurer is Mrs. L.Trim.
With a supporting five committee members.
Our membership is 50 +, they are friendly and enthusiastic and are pleased to see any new members with an interest in horticulture.
At the annual meeting Tony Russell, Chairman, gave a resume of the speakers, outings and Garden Shows that had taken place over the past year. The shows have seen an increase in the number of vegetable exhibits, which is very pleasing. Tony thanked the Committee, giving special thanks to Linda the Treasurer, Ann the Secretary, Brian the Show Manager, Jean Curtis the Show Secretary and to Jean Hopkins who stood in for Jean. Thanks were also expressed to the two Pams who run the raffle and Ita for her press reports. Ita has just relinquished her post.
Tony then stood down as Chairman and the Honorary President, John Harbour, took the floor, saying what a good year it has been and thanking Tony for all his work as Chairman. As there were no other nominations, Tony Russell was happy to continue as Chairman for 2009 and the committee was also re-instated en bloc.
After a welcome cuppa and chat the raffle was drawn and a reminder given that next month is the Social evening when everyone brings a plate of food to share and a fun evening is in store with a Beetle Drive.
New members are always made welcome.
February 2011 meeting
A very enjoyable evening was held at the Garden Society February meeting when, after the reading of the minutes, Tony Russell introduced our very own Mike Trim who gave us a fascinating insight into his working life. Mike had started as a model maker in the special effects department for 'Thunderbirds', and followed this by working on Captain Scarlet, UFO, Jo 90 and others. His boss, Derek Meddings, was 'king' of the explosive effects and quite often emergency repairs were needed to the models before any re-takes could be filmed. During Mike's working life he also made detailed drawings for the making of model aeroplanes and racing cars for a publishing company. Many of Mike's models were made up as Dinky toys, but sadly he never received any royalties from the sales.
As a freelance designer Mike did the cover for the record 'War of the Worlds' and then became a teacher at Thanet College for several years. In recent years he has returned to his art work and takes on private commissions. He showed much of his work over the years with slides, which brought everything very much to life. He was warmly thanked by Tony for his lively and witty talk which had been enjoyed by all. If anyone would like to commission Mike to do a portrait or other painting he would be happy for you to contact him on 01227 860 488.
On Wednesday, March 2 the speaker will be Michael Bundock who will be showing old photographs of local villages. Meetings start at 7.30pm in Hoath village hall.