Williamson Chamber of Commerce Information

Hello Fellow Gardeners!

I don't know about you but my garden has just BURST into color. Every day I go out and it looks like yet another flower has burst into bloom. It's completely chaotic as I have not gotten to weeding yet (as those who are coming over on Wednesday will see) but I'm really enjoying the color and fragrances. I forget how wonderful the roses smell when they start blooming.

I've been receiving updates from the CoC as we are now members. I'm going to post them on our website but there were a few that I thought might be interesting. I'm going to combine them into one email for your convenience.

1. SUPPORT OF COMMUNITY PROJECT
The BID and CofC have received the go ahead to have the east side of the old Chinese restaurant painted. We feel that this project will benefit the overall look of the downtown area.

The project relies on support and donations from businesses, Churches, community members and organizations. The donation requested would be to submit to the BID (Mike Orr) the cost of one (1) gallon of paint. The support would be to help prep and paint.

This is a simple project if we get enough involvement. It will not fall on the shoulders of a few if everyone can offer something. One hour of your time during the day or at night after work to scrap or paint is all we are asking from each person. Don't have time for that then donate a gallon of paint.

This project will happen over a period of time. Please contact Mike Orr of the BID or Lorraine Mason of the CofC with questions, offers of help, etc.

SUBRATA: I would like us to, at minimum, donate paint for the project. If anyone sees a problem with that, let me know. We currently have over $1,000 in our bank account. If there is interest, we could set up a "Garden Club" night where members get together to help with painting.

2. The Chamber would like to communicate with as many of members as possible. If you are interested in community happenings, business news, etc. please send your name and associated email address to WilliamsonCofC [at] aol.com with the above requested information.

3. Governor Paterson's Economic Security Cabinet is pleased to announce Regional Town Hall Meetings to receive comments on New York State's efforts to protect and enhance the economic security of low-income families. In this national economic downturn, Governor Paterson has charged his Economic Security Cabinet with exploring opportunities to support struggling low-income families. These Town Hall meetings will provide an opportunity to hear about the State's commitment to protecting and enhancing economic security. Suggestions from employers, labor representatives, researchers, advocates, and the general public are a vital part of this effort, and interested individuals are invited to provide written submissions and/or 3 minutes of in-person testimony.
Further information about the Economic Security Cabinet and the regional Town Hall meetings – and registration information for the meetings - can be obtained at the Economic Security Cabinet website – http://economicsecurity.us. All meetings will begin promptly at 4:00 PM and end at 7:00 PM. June 25 Finger Lakes Region – Rochester City Hall.
To register for any of the Economic Security Cabinet town hall meetings or reserve a few minutes to speak, please visit the Cabinet's web site at http://economicsecurity.us

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

March information from GROW

Hello Fellow Gardeners -

Well yesterday was the First Day of Spring and, the snowfall notwithstanding, spring is marching this way.

1. With that in mind, I thought the following might interest you.

Enter to win one of three prize packages chock full of gardening goodies — each package has a retail value of $1,000 and includes an assortment of tools from Ames True Temper, product from The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, and a gift certificate to NGA's Garden Shop. Check off what type of gardening you do: home, community, or school, and fill in the rest of the fields. You may enter only one category. Enter by April 30.

I need to see what the requirements are for the community gardening portion - it may be a good fit for our Garden Club. But in the meantime, all of us home gardeners could participate and hopefully one of us will be a lucky winner.

2. Eric and I had the pleasure of attending the Sodus Garden Club's lecture on "All about Bees". Mary Moss-Sprague, a master gardener and an avid bee-keeper, gave an excellent lecture on honeybees, how we can entice them to our gardens and just a little bit about colony collapse. Afterwards we enjoyed refreshments (I think Eric and I ate our weight in delicious cookies) and had a chance to meet the gardeners in Sodus.

Eric is interested in starting up beekeeping again (he was involved when he was younger). If anyone else is interested, please talk to him at eric.herriman[at]xerox.com.

3. Eric and I attended the Learning Fair last Saturday. We showed off the Fiskar video, as some of our members were able to see. Penny brought her table-top photo gallery that drew people in and we got a good response from the parents who attended. All of our brochures were taken and three people signed up to receive further information about the Garden Club.

4. Eric spoke to Mike Orr about the greenspace. Mike plans to move forward with the greenspace and there is some money alloted for it. No meeting has been set up yet. If you are interested in being involved in the discussion, please talk to Eric at the above email/phone number.

5. Last (but definitely not least), a reminder about our March lecture on Tuesday, March 25th on Landscape Design. I had the pleasure to meet one of the speakers at the Learning Fair and this is going to be an amazing event. I will be sending a message to all our past attendees and I'm hopeful that we will have as good of a response as we did to the February event.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata