This was the last of the instruction meetings that the Austin Pond Society held for this year 2019. There is one more meeting in November but it is devoted entirely to our end of year celebrations and Christmas Party.

There were around 35 members and guests that attended and they were welcomed to a dinner of Fried Chicken with the Members providing all of the fixins and deserts. This was held at the usual place, Austin Botanical Gardens Clubhouse.

The Speaker for the evening was Deena Spelman, owner of Bastrop Botanical Gardens which is located at 316 Old 71, Cedar Creek, Texas.. She gave a very interesting lecture on Culinary Herbs and plants and provided hands on or rather nose on as she passed around samples of the herbs and plants she was discussing. Hers was a very enjoyable presentation and was warmly applauded by the Members.

From listening to the Speaker, the Members then got down to the serious business of nominating and electing the Members of the Board that will operate next year. The final grouping is listed below with the position of Pond Tour Chairman still open. If anyone is interested in this position, please contact either the
President at president@austinpondsociety.org
Margaret at membership@austinpondsociety.org.
This is a very important position as without the Pond Tour Director, in all probability, the chances of there being a Pond Tour this year is greatly diminished.

The Officers for the upcoming year of 2020 are:
President – Barbara Lenhardt
Treasurer – Mike Peppers
Secretary – Gwenn Goulet

The Board of Directors are:
Programs and Special Events – BJ Jenkins
Publicity – Nancy Hall
Membership – Margaret Boeneke
Historian/Photographer – Glen Hubenthal
Member at Large – Cat Bilbrey
Pond Tour Chairman – Open

The Non Voting Members are:
Hospitality – Ted Paone
Librarian – Max Rice
Webmaster – Francis Allcorn
AAGC Rep – Jullienne Smith
AKCA Rep – Glen Hubenthal

Many thanks were given to the Officers that were stepping down including Julie who had been Secretary for 9 years although she is still involved as the AAGC Representative.

The rest of the meeting was taken up with items like a discussion on upcoming events followed by the drawing for the door prizes. The meeting was adjourned with Nancy offering some pond plants that she had brought in for the Members to share.

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The next meeting is on November 17 and will be the final meeting of the year. It will be our Holiday Party. Members are encouraged to bring a gift for the needy kids in Austin that will be distributed by Blue Santa.

The dinner will be supplied by APS. Members will not need to bring in any pot lucks or deserts. We thank all of you for being so generous this past year with your food contributions. Hope to see you there.

Written 10/23/2019