LAGC Meeting Notes - August 25, 2026

 LAGC President Nancy Madeoy welcomed members to the August meeting with an oddity fact from the Farmer's Almanac.

 

Linda welcoming Janine to the August meeting

The LAGC Holiday Luncheon details are confirmed. On Saturday, November 14, 2026, we will start at 10:30am with a tour of the National Aviary and afterward we will meet at Max’s Allegheny Tavern for lunch. The club will pay the tour admission fee for members. Members are responsible for paying for their own meals at the restaurant via separate checks.

 

The 2027 membership dues will be collected by Membership Coordinator Linda Brown in September and October 2026. The dues will remain at $15 per year. Cash and check will be accepted. Make the check payable to LAGC.

 

It’s time to decide which charitable organizations LAGC will donate to this year. Members discussed three new potential ideas: Allegheny County Parks Foundation, Allegheny Land Trust, Rosalinda Sauro Sirianni Garden (fence replacement). We’d like members to familiarize themselves with the suggested organizations before we vote on who will receive the donation. If you have a suggestion then, please send a short synopsis to Nancy about the organization so that it can be distributed to members in preparation for next month’s vote.

 

The committee for LAGC’s booth at the McCandless Community Day on Saturday, September 19, 2026, has planned the following activities:

•  Attendees can pick up packets of seeds collected from member’s gardens
•  Tattoos of insects and plants for children
•  Game of guess how many peanuts are in the container
•  Perennial plant giveaway for playing game of guess the plant
•  Handouts about the club’s purpose and list of programs

 

The volunteer signup sheet to work at the LAGC booth was circulated. Volunteers will engage with the public and talk about gardening and our club. Please contact Claudia ASAP If you are interested in volunteering. We could use more volunteers.

 

Hostesses

Mary Jo Benedetti brought delicious mini fruit trifles and chocolate brownies. Nancy Madeoy’s lovely arrangement completed the table display. Thank you!

Beautiful arrangement by Nancy Madeoy

Mary Jo Bendetti's delicious desserts brought to August meeting

Program  - “Pittsburgh: American Garden Spot” 

by Susan Morris, Historical Dilettante

LAGC Meeting Notes - July 28, 2026

 Vice President Marlow Madeoy presided over the meeting because President Nancy Madeoy was not feeling well.  Marlow welcomed members to the July 2026 meeting and asked members what’s growing in our gardens? Although we all have many beautiful annuals and perennial flowers in full bloom, there was a resounding response that we have WEEDS growing vigorously. Marlow also posed the question to the group of what woodland sounds are we hearing? The response was cicadas and Great Horned Owl.

Thank you to Chris Kerin and her husband Dave for hosting the June LAGC picnic. Members enjoyed the tour of the beautiful garden on such a lovely evening. Thank you!

 

New Officers and Committee Chairs for 2027

President – Mary Anne Kurtz

Vice President – Amy Foreman

Treasurer – Mary Jo Benedetti

Recording Secretary – Karen Barczak and Cathy Rose

Programs – Andrea Maire and Diana Berendowski

Community Service – Colleen Fingal

 

It was noted that the Penn State Master Garden in the Park event on Saturday, July 25 in North Park was a nice event. There were tours of the gardens and free Penn State ice cream.

 

LAGC received a thank you note for volunteering for the planting project on July 8 at Hartwood Acres. Claudia, Helen, Peggy, Rosemary, Colleen and Evan weeded and planted native plants in the new Suffragist Grove. Additional info on the project can be found in a separate Blog post.

 

Claudia Hickly presented an update of LAGC’s participation in the 2026 McCandless Remarkable Tree Challenge

• Committee Members: Bill Goff, Helen Dean, Nancy Madeoy, and Claudia Hickly completed the nomination form for the Tulip Poplar which the club gifted to Northland Public Library in 1999 for twenty years of hosting monthly meetings and plant sales. The nomination form was a five-page document requiring the tree’s circumference, condition, location, photos, and an explanation of why the tree is remarkable.
• A copy of the nomination form was sent to the Northland Public Library executive director, Amanda DeKnight. She was delighted with the nomination and will promote voting for the Tulip Poplar on all the library’s social media platforms. LAGC will benefit from the publicity.
• Judging and Voting will take place September 1-15. A local panel will review all the submissions and select finalists. Residents will vote online for the People’s Choice Award.
• LAGC social media chair, Anita Wagner, will promote voting for the Tulip Poplar on our Facebook page.
• All nominated trees will be featured in a public photo exhibit.
• Winners will be announced at McCandless Community Day on September 19, 2026

Claudia Hickly posed the question about members participating in the 2026 McCandless Community Day Booth on September 19, 2026. Ten LAGC members have volunteered to work at the booth for 2-hour increments. A committee was created to decide what activities will take place at the booth such as pot a perennial plant. Members voted and approved to budget $275 for the event which includes $125 for the booth application fee and estimated $150 for supplies.

 

LAGC Social Media Chair, Anita Wagner reminded members to “like” the LAGC Facebook page when you receive notifications in order to increase our online presence.

 

The duties of the recording secretary have changed. The secretary will only write the meeting minutes. Members will need to take their own notes for the program as the secretary will no longer provide a synopsis of the program.

 

Hostesses

Jane MacCredie delighted us with fudgy brownies and peanut butter/chocolate bar cookies.

Victoria Zeiger brought a beautiful arrangement of bouganvilla, spike plant and asparagus fern.

 

Program  - All About Hummingbirds

 presented by Sara Klingensmith, Allegheny Land Trust Education Associate

LAGC Meeting Notes & Annual Picnic - June 23, 2026

     

      This month we had our annual LAGC club picnic. Chris Kerin and her husband, Dave welcomed us to tour their beautiful garden and lovely mid-century modern 1950’s home. Thank you very much for being such gracious hosts. LAGC members enjoyed a delicious variety of potluck dishes and beverages while we talked gardening.

 
LAGC Meeting Notes
President Nancy Madeoy welcomed LACG members to our June picnic. She announced that former member, Heidi Sestrich has joined again. Welcome back!
 
The new officers and committee chairs for 2027 have been decided as follows:
President – Mary Anne Kurtz
Vice President – Amy Foreman
Treasurer – Mary Jo Benedetti
Recording Secretary – Karen Barczak and Cathy Rose
Programs – Andrea Maire and Diana Berendowski
Community Service – Colleen Fingal
 
Claudia spoke about 3 potential projects for LAGC:
 
·         Remarkable Tree Challenge – McCandless Township has invited the community to help identify and celebrate the community's most remarkable trees. LAGC members Claudia, Helen and Bill will complete the nomination form for one or more of the trees that the club has planted:  Tulip Poplar and Japanese Snowbell on Northland library grounds and Korean Spice Viburnum at the Chapel Garden at Passavant Hospital. The winners will be announced on 9/19/26 at the MCandless Community Day

·         McCandless Community Day Booth of 9/19/26 – does LAGC want to sponsor a 10 x 10 booth for $125 to hand out information about our club or do a planting project or give away plants. The booth must be open from 1 to 9pm. We’ll need at least 8 members working in pairs for 2-hour shifts. Members are undecided. Topic will be discussed at the next meeting.

·         Members have the opportunity to volunteer to install a new garden at the Suffragist Grove in Hartwood Acres on July 8^th from 9am to 12noon.  Please contact Claudia ASAP if you are interested or have questions.
 

Vice President Marlow Madeoy confirmed the details of the 2026 LAGC Holiday Tour and Luncheon on Saturday, November 14^th.  We will tour the National Aviary at 11:00am and meet for lunch at 1:00pm at Max’s Allegheny Tavern. Marlow will confirm with the restaurant if we can get separate checks.  Additional details will follow in the upcoming months.
 
 
Mary Anne Kurtz, Plant Sale Coordinator discussed some of the things that went right at the plant sale and what things could be better. She applauded all members for participating in the success of the plant sale. Thank you for your leadership, Mary Anne!
 
·         The plant list with light requirements worked well. Contact Mary Anne if you have any additions to the list. A column will be added to list which plants are PA Natives
·         The chalk lines which identified where to place the plants worked well but, it was time consuming to set up. We’ll need a volunteer to handle this job in the future.
·         Members appreciated the detailed documents about the plant sale: timeline, parking lot map and job descriptions
·         The Specialty Irises which we purchased from Larry Grundler was positive and members agreed to purchase the plants again if given the opportunity. The project of potting them up was a huge task which was handled by Denny and Linda. We will need more volunteers to commit to potting up the plants and overwintering them in the future.
·         We need more visible signs to indicate sun versus shade plants. Mary Anne would like to consider the purchase of tall sign holders. This will be researched further.
·         Tracking the Buy one, Get one free sales was tricky.  It was decided to return to plants are half off at 11:30am
·         The customer holding tables are essential. Next year we need 5 tables and we need to use the large tables.
 
At the conclusion of Mary Anne’s talk it was decided to form a Plant Sale Committee to discuss ideas for improvement.  The committee members will be Mary Anne, Anita, Karen, Denny and Mary Jo Benedetti.
 
Mary Jo Benedetti circulated the volunteer sign up sheet to maintain the White Garden at UPMC Passavant Hospital. Please contact Mary Jo if you are still interested in signing up.

Photos provided by Dianne Machesney and Chris Kerin

A wide range of delicious foods to choose from!

... and many delicious desserts!

Chris Kerin, hostess for the evening

Cindy having a conversation w/other club members

Colleen, Evan and Andrea enjoying the perfect weather outside

Diana, Jane, Linda and Amy

Chatting over beverages

Bill, Mary Anne, and Nancy

Claudia and Dianne

Enjoying the food and conversation

Mark and Heidi

Chris, Andrea, and Lynn smiling for a photo

Note: many of the daylilies were not blooming on picnic night, so pics included below

Rose campion in full bloom

"Seven seas" daylily

Siloam double classic daylily

Herb container garden