KWTFBG Feb 2013
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Key West Botanical Garden FEBRUARY 2013 Officers President: Mary Chandler Upcoming Calendar Events — Mark Your Calendar Vice President: Stephen Ragusea, Psy. D. Treasurer: Rick Harty Secretary: Vicki Grant Feb 2: Native Plant Sale—KWBGS Nursery -9 am Board of Directors Carole DeHart Feb 3: What’s Flying Garden Walk in the Garden Rick Harty Dave Hubbert Feb 11: Tunes to the Key of Green - 6p to 8p Leyla Nedin Christina Regante Feb 12: Speaker Series Presentation: Alison Higgins Executive Director: Misha McRAE Manager of Education Program: Heidi Seidel Mar 12: Speaker Series Presentation Committee Chairs: Mar 16: Migration Mania Ethics Committee: Stephen Ragusea, Psy. D. Executive Committee: Mary Chandler March 23-31 Eco Tour to Viñales Valley - Pinar del Río/ Facilities Rental Coordinator: Allison Delashmit Finance Committee: Rick Harty Ciengfuegos-Trinidad/Havana Fund Raising Committee: Christina Regante Garden Guardians: Audrey Thompson & Susie Reutling Newsletter Editor & Photographer: Beryn Harty April 13: Hot Havana Nights Nominating Committee: Rick Harty Public Relations Committee: Pat Cummings April 15-19: Eco Tour to Havana Site Committee: Mary Chandler Visitors’ Center Coordinator: Carole DeHart May 8-15: Eco Tour to Puerto Rico Photography by Beryn Harty unless otherwise noted May 17: “Go Green” Science Fair INSIDE THIS ISSUE June 5-14:Eco Tour to Havana | Santiago de Cuba Upcoming Events 1 Message from the President 1 - 2 Message from the Executive Director 3 A Message from the President: Education Department Update 4 - 6 Mary Chandler KWBGS Annual Meeting 7 - 10 “You and I come by road or rail, but economists Speaker Series: Alison Higgins 11 travel on infrastructure”, Margaret Thatcher Photo Contribution from Rick Ahrens 12 Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon 13 - 14 & Garden Tour I’m proud and honored to be starting a second year as President Volunteers at Work in the Garden 15 - 17 of this Society. I’ve learned a great deal in this last year. It’s been Speaker Series and Upcoming Walkabout 18 FLIETF Work Day 19 both satisfying and challenging. My education in Botany has Eco / Educational Tourism Program 20 - 22 positioned me to have some input into our collection and site Tunes To The Key of Green 23 policy. My background in business has also provided some tools Key West Tara Mandala 24 for management and administration. However, non-profits are Facebook Users: Friend the Garden 25 different, and perhaps any organization has dynamics that Yoga & Self Actualization Classes 25 differ on many scales. Beryn’s Blooming & Fruiting 26 If I had to sum up 2012 in one phrase, it would be infrastructure Beryn’s Birds at the Garden 27 building. We’ve hired some new staff, will be hiring additional staff Butterflies, Butterflies & Butterflies 28 Name That Fruit 29 and we’ve promoted our General Manager to Executive Director. Have Your Event at the Garden! 29 We’ve kept up with ongoing maintenance with assistance from our PAGE 2 A Message from the President: Mary Chandler FEBRUARY 2013 amazing volunteer team and we’ve completed some much needed changes to our boardwalk and entry sequences. We’ve formed agreements with two excellent and professional contractors for our Facilities rentals and Eco tours to Cuba. Allison Delashmit ([email protected]) is our new Facilities Rental Coordinator. The head of our Eco-tours program is Caroline Cotton. Please contact her at [email protected] to hear about and book these wonderful tours. They are the only Key West Botanical Garden Society sanctioned tours to Cuba. Not only are they exciting, but they are of tremendous benefit to the garden. Our Annual meeting was 1/23/2013 and we’ve elected new officers. Stephen Ragusea is Vice President, Vicki Grant is Secretary. Rick Harty will stay on as Treasurer as well. Thanks to those board members willing to step up to these important roles for the society. Looking forward, we have a couple of events planned you won’t want to miss! Migration Mania is on March 16 with Easter egg hunt, migration bird walks, talks and presentations. It’s a great family event! Then, get ready for Hot Havana Nights scheduled for April 13th. This is an evening only event and we are looking forward to dancing the night away, under the stars. The board is also looking forward to this coming year and we have a long laundry list of what we want to see accomplished by next year. If our plans become reality, we will secure funding for our Education Program that will sustain it for several years into the future. We will have a thriving and successful Eco tours program, building on past programs and booking tours throughout the Keys and the Caribbean. We’ll have a full booking of our facilities, generating much needed revenue to support the garden. Organizationally, we’ll have a completed master plan for our buildings and some viable means to fund it. We also plan to have a board of governors, outcome measures for our various programs, and a solid strategic plan to guide our actions. We will be sending out a membership survey in the next couple of weeks for you to give us some guidance! Your feedback will give us much direction on growing the garden. Please help us! If you don’t already, please help by volunteering in your area of expertise. Thanks and again reminders on writing reviews for the garden: Write a review at http://www.tripadvisor.com! Our Annual Fund is also on, you can donate on line or look for the annual fund pledge and letter coming soon to your in-box! As always, thank you for your past support! Go to our website at http://www.kwbgs.org/page.asp?p=donate to make your donation. PAGE 3 A Message from the Executive Director: Misha D. McRAE FEBRUARY 2013 Status of the Garden New Year’s Day is the start of the decathlon… Ready, Set, now Go! Season begins. The Speaker Series started the month with one of the best attended presentations to date about healing uses from plants. A grant to upgrade the Garden’s record keeping initiated planning meetings that was split to train with Allison Delashmit, the new Garden Facility Rental Coordinator. To follow was the kick-off of the ECO Travel Program with Caroline Cotton adding 2 new destinations. Time was allotted for a strategic meetings. Crystal Cruise Lines returned scheduling 2 tours from their ship. Preparations led into the Annual Meeting that was followed by a heartfelt memorial for one of the islands most beloved friends, Leon Williams. 80 close friends and family showed to give their remembrances and respect to this great person. NAS air tower crewmen lent a hand to the Guardian program to plant trees raised in the nursery. We welcomed new volunteer Jeanne Cajuste who brought her experience and connections to make a 4 year effort to work with the Sheriff’s Dept. Trustee Program come to realization. Jeanne and the Trustees have made a commitment to help the Guardian Program twice a month (Join me in thanking Jeanne for making this happen). To top the month off, the rescued Sour Sop tree donated by Susan Kochan and trans-planted in December (with heads bowed) has proved to be a fighter. Leaves sprouted in 2 places just this past week. Hey! I offer a big (20 foot) thank you to all those responsible. Between these events it was time for me to do my work. Returning guests are quick to comment on how beautiful the garden looks. Join me in thanking Guardian Leaders Mary Chandler, Audrey Thompson, Susie Reutling, Betty Desbiens, Constance Miller, Jane Scharer and Kathleen Nowaczyk for their continued efforts to keep the garden groomed and growing. Susie has grown the middle school Companion Program to 20+ students to learn about the garden, work in the nursery and work in the garden. In addition, Susie and Ms. Betty work with them to keep the plants growing so that they can be planted. With the added plants, the wildlife the garden sustains continues to grow. I have counted over 12 species of butterflies during the month of January, and those are just the ones I know. The Broad-Wing Hawk still visits me during my walks around the property. The word of the garden continues to be spread. A number of reports on Trip Advisor show not only the diversity of our guests but their interests as well. AAA has picked the garden up for their new travel guide, Crystal Cruise Lines tells our story to all their passengers and the many talents from Board Member Dave Hubbert and his work on the website brings in a large portion of our guests each week. Great job Dave and thank you. Board Member and Team Leader Carole DeHart’s efforts with the Visitor Center Greeters insure our visitors the best experience. Not to be forgotten, Monica Haskell has added a Saturday morning class to her Yoga Practice. The New Year brings hope and the returning friends that mean so much to this place. Your support is what keeps this garden growing. If you have not received your annual fund contribution notice in your e-mail or mail box, ask me to send you one and donate what you can to our operating account. In addition, a prompt reply to your membership renewal reminders with your pledge of support will help us continue our efforts to preserve and enhance this unique habitat in the Keys. Keep it green and remember, it is always a great day in the garden. Be sure to come out and say hi.