All LAVGC meetings, events and activities except allowed activities shown in the Calendar Events section to the left are CANCELLED until further notice following Alameda County Health Care Services guidance on Mar 12, 2020.

Allowed Calendar Events will follow ACHCS and CDC Guidance. Click to see ACHCS Guidance.

Regular Monthly Meeting on Zoom
Thursday, Jan 14, 2021 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm on Zoom

Caring for Gardening Tools

Speaker: Phil Stob - Gear Head and Tool Collector

Phil's presentation will begin after a short business meeting.

Our guest speaker is Mr Phil Stob. He will be showing us how to care for our gardening tools with a special emphasis on sharpening! Professionally Phil is an engineer and QC guy but he is also a gear head who likes tools and collects them. Lots of them – the best ones often obtained at garage sales and Craigslist. He learned to sharpen tools and learned that an old sharp tool will outperform most of the new tools you can buy. Well maintained tools make the job easier, more enjoyable, result in better cuts, and healthier plants. Good tools, taken care of, will last you a lifetime. Join us to be inspired on how to tune up your tool collection this winter.

Any questions about the meeting, please contact Barbara Stott.

We look forward to you joining us for our next Zoom meeting. We will be sending a notice prior to the meeting, but you also have the information in our recent newsletter.

If you cannot join the Zoom meeting, recordings of the monthly programs, speaker permitting, are available on this site thanks to the efforts of our Zoommasters: Grahamn Stott and Beth Clark with assistance by Nile Runge and Len Smith.

LAVGC is inviting Members to our Monthly Meeting on Zoom

Topic: LAVGC Monthly Meeting
Time: Jan 14, 2021, 07:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Members only will receive an email close to the meeting with meeting join details.

Members can join the meeting starting at 6:45. When you join the meeting, you will be in the "waiting room" until the host lets you into the meeting. When you are let into the meeting, your microphone will be muted. Please use the "chat" feature if you want to ask a question.

See LAVGC Zoom Instructions for tips for those new to Zoom. See LAVGC Zoom Participation Tips for tips for participating in Zoom meetings.

Members having difficulty connecting to the meeting or have technical questions, please contact Zoommasters Nile Runge, Beth Clark or Graham Stott. See the LAVGC Yearbook for their individual contact information.

If you are not a member and would like to join Zoom meetings, please complete the New Member Application Form. Members receive the monthly newsletter, annual Yearbook, access to the Members Only section of this site and Zoom meeting details each month. If you are not a member and would like to attend a specific Zoom meeting, please contact Jeri Stark, President to request Zoom meeting details.

Business Meeting

Before the speaker begins at our meeting, we will have a short business meeting to hear committee reports and cover other matters as necessary.

Visitors Are Welcome!

Please join us at the monthly meeting or contact us at the Membership link below. Please take a moment to fill out the New Member Application Form for Membership Year July, 2020 through June, 2021. New members joining after Jan. 31 of the Membership Year will owe one-half of the regular dues. New members joining at or after the April Spring Plant Sale will pay dues for the following Membership Year and be complimented for the remainder of the existing Membership Year (May/June).

For more information about membership or dues, please email Wanda Finn.

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LAVGC Yearbook

We will not be creating a LAVGC 2020-2021 Yearbook. The LAVGC 2019-2020 Yearbook will continue to be used for 2020-2021. A PDF of the LAVGC 2019-2020 Yearbook and a PDF of the LAVGC Roster are available to view and print in the Members Only section.

**** NEW **** LAVGC Roster

Beginning October, 2020, we will be providing a complete list of all current LAVGC members and their contact information. The Roster includes information for all members and includes membership changes, such as, addition of new members and changes to current member contact information, since the Yearbook was published. The Roster is in Yearbook format so it can be printed and inserted in your physical Yearbook. The Yearbook Addendum has been replaced by the LAVGC Roster.

Members Only section

Check out the Members Only section. Click on the 'Members Only' menu selection on any page, enter the Id and password. The Members Only section contains the club Yearbook, speaker video links, club forms, newsletter archives, meeting minutes and more. Members may email Jeri Stark, President to obtain the Id and password.

Thanks, thanks and more thanks

Thanks to all who participate in the club workshops, work parties and providing meeting refreshments. > > More

Garden Club Want Ads **** Updated December, 2020 ****

...garden related wants, needs, offers, for sale

This column is for any garden related items that you have that you want to get rid of - either selling or giving away, just to get them out of your place and it's too long to wait for the Plant Sale. You can also list needs or even if you need help in the garden and wish to hire someone for a few hours a week. Or if you'd like to hire out to help someone in their garden a few hours a week. Let's share with other gardeners in the club!! Click to see Garden Club Want Ads.

Talks on Video

If you missed our meeting speakers' informative talk, you can see the video of the talk on the club website Members Only section. Most of our recent club meeting talks are on view there. Select videos are also available to the public. See LAVGC Speakers: past and future.

First LAVGC Lifetime Membership awarded

The First LAVGC Lifetime Membership was awarded to Daniel McCright at our meeting on December 10 recognizing his 35 years of service to our club. Among Daniel’s contributions were as president of the club for two different terms, co-chairing the Plant Sale for two years, and his work in helping to develop the Pleasanton Sensory Garden as well as leading the work parties monthly for many years.

We will miss Daniel as he settles in Portland, Oregon to be near his family. We hope he stays in contact through our newsletter which gives updates of what is happening in the Tri-Valley.

PROPOSAL FOR NEW COMMUNITY SERVICE COMMITTEE

Below is a proposal by Clare’s Fare, a new garden that is similar to Eden Garden.  The organization is requesting that it become a new Community Service Committee.  The Executive Board has reviewed the request and agree that it fits our guidelines for participation.  Please review the following and we will vote on whether to accept this proposal at our January meeting.

Earlier this year the LAVGC kindly agreed to a notice for a new garden that was proposed alongside St Clare’s church in Pleasanton. We wanted to see if, in these exceptional times, there was any interest from LAVGC members and from members of the Church before formally committing to recognition by the club as a “New Community Service Committee” per the standing rules of the club item B.

We have received tremendous support from some LAVGC members and the Church and are now therefore seeking that recognition.

The garden is called Clare’s Fare. (Clare’s). It is closely modeled after Eden Garden.

We believe that Clare’s meets all the objectives per Article II of the Bylaws of LAVGC. It is also registered under 501(C)(3) and monies have been successfully transferred from a charitable giving account. St. Clare’s maintains a sub account for monies donated to and expended by the garden.

Anne Vincent and Karen Abbruscato have volunteered to co - chair Clare’s and both are LAVGC members.

We expect that LAVGC club members will (or do) meet the Insurance requirement of LAVGC. Church members that are not members of LAVGC and who work in the garden are covered by the insurance taken out by St Clare’s.

The garden was established with an initial private donation of $1,500. Early set up costs have been adequately covered, not least because of generous gifts from Alden Lane Nursery and free compost from StopWaste. Large ticket items such as a greenhouse and shed await fund raising activity in 2021. We anticipate submitting a request to LAVGC for about $200 for garden supplies (Seeds, soil amendments, hand tools, etc.) during the 2021 budget planning cycle.

Progress reports are submitted to the Church monthly and we keep a weekly diary and photographic record in case anyone else is interested.

We respectfully request that Clare’s Fare be recognized as a New Community Service Committee.

For further informarion, please contact Anne Vincent, Bruce Daggy or Karen Abbruscato. See the LAVGC Yearbook for their contact information. Karen may also be contacted at vp_organization@lavgc.org.

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Clare’s Fare Garden
St. Clare’s Episcopal Church
3350 Hopyard Road
Pleasanton, CA 94588
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Penny Pines for Gift Giving

With the National Forest offices closed, we are not able to get certificates for plantations until after the New Year. However, if you wish to give a gift of a Penny Pines plantation to a loved one, you can complete the form found here Penny Pines form.

Mail the form to Jeri Stark with a check for $68, made out to LAVGC. Jeri will prepare a certificate for you to give to your recipient. Our forests need our help more than ever and this is a wonderful gift.

Please contact Jeri Stark, Penny Pines for her address or see the LAVGC Yearbook for Jeri's contact information.

Click Penny Pines to learn more about the activity.

California Garden Clubs, Inc membership cards

Jeri received 2020-2021 membership cards to distribute to LAVGC members since we are also members of the California Garden Club’s Inc. The challenge is with distribution since we are not meeting in person except for work parties, it would cost $60 to $70 dollars to send out these cards individually. If you have found the card beneficial in previous years, Jeri Stark would be happy to send you one if you send her a request LAVGC President. At the California Garden Clubs web site she found that Alden Lane gives a 10% discount, East Bay Nursery in Berkeley gives a 10% discount. Many other stores and public gardens may grant a discount if you show your card.