I very much regret to tell you our April 5 Rose Society meeting has been cancelled due to concerns about the Covid-19 pandemic. A majority of the Executive Board decided to take this step to protect the health of our members and their loved ones. Dan Mills summed it up: “We have a responsibility to ourselves and to others to maintain the best personal behavior that health care professionals recommend.”
There is a lot of uncertainty right now about how this coronavirus epidemic is going to unfold. Also, we considered the recent recommendations of Dr. Deborah Birx, Coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Perhaps the course of this pandemic will be clearer by the middle of April and we can make decisions about our activities for the rest of the year then and do some rescheduling. I am reluctant to take this step, but believe it is necessary to protect the health of our members and families.
Thanks to the GRS Executive Board; also to Ralph and Jean Stream for expressing their concerns for the good of the Gainesville Rose Society and to Ann Sherwood for sharing with the board an informative article from the Washington Post. Ann’s program for the April meeting will be rescheduled.
On a more positive note, Van Sherwood’s “War of the Roses” program at our March meeting was very entertaining and something very different from our usual programs and great fun. We learned a lot about roses, and about some of our members, but also about many topics on the fringes of the rose world, and got some myths busted, too. It was obvious Van had put a lot of thought and effort into the questions and we really appreciate it. Indeed, all our program presenters are to be commended and thanked including Willie May Burley, Jean Stream, and Consulting Rosarians Dan Mills and Ralph Stream.
Meanwhile, let’s use this hiatus in our usually busy lives to appreciate friends, family, and our gardens. It might be a good time to do some of those projects we’ve “been trying to get around to” in the garden and elsewhere. Please take care of yourselves and hope to see you before too long.
Yours in Roses,
Jean Giesel, President
