November 2022
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 6:00 PM, POTLUCK MEETING
Location: 830 South Avenue West, Immanuel Lutheran Church
We will have a short business meeting.
REMINDER: It is time once again for DUES to be paid for 2023.
REMIT: Swede Gustafson, Treasurer, 3128 Eldora Lane, Missoula, MT 59803
There will be NO MEETINGS IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY. Our first meeting in 2023 will be in March, when hopefully there is a hint of spring.
Directions for the November meeting:
Coming from the South on Brooks Street:
Turn east, right, onto South Avenue at the stop light by the fair grounds, go past the fair grounds, and the church is just across from Sentinel High School. Parking is behind the church on Sussex. Turn left onto Bow Street from South Avenue and go one block to Sussex, turn left and the church is the second church on the left. Go to the parking lot at the rear of the church. Use the church entrance from the parking lot on Sussex.
Coming from the North, East or West:
Turn off Brooks onto Stephens Avenue, go past CVS and Walgreens on either side of Stephens. Turn left on Central at the Missoula Manor. Go one block and turn right on Holburn Street. Proceed one block to Sussex and there is the church and its parking lot. It is the first church on the west end. Use the church entrance from the parking lot on Sussex.
Take the elevator to the Parish Hall. Someone will be at the door to welcome you!
You might also Google the address for reference. Call Betty Ann at 406.370.1696 if you have questions or get lost.
The asphalt walkway at the iris garden at Fort Missoula is finished! It looks wonderful. Please go see it for yourself. Everyone has had a part in this project which aids those who have mobility assistance issues. You have provided your time in the garden, donated iris for the rhizome sale, participated in preparation for the rhizome sale, purchased and aided in sales at the rhizome sale, and participated in the iris show. All this spreads the word about our society and garden. Collectively, this has enabled us to complete this project. We are an integral part of Missoula with our garden, show and our society.
Please read a report on the completed asphalt walkway included in this newsletter.
Election of officers for Missoula Society Officers for 2023 will be held at our November meeting. Nominations are as follows:
President: Betty Ann Gustafson
Vice President: Ann Bowman
Secretary: Deborah Belden
Treasurer: Swede Gustafson
The iris garden at the fort has been put to bed for the winter. Thanks to the volunteers who removed dead leaves and clipped the iris.
Judges Handbook: Jeanette Graham sent an attachment that has the complete judges handbook. If you would like it forwarded to you, please contact Betty Ann at swedeandba@gmail.com.
In January and February we will not have iris meetings. At our last meeting we voted on whether we want to meet in in January and February and the time of day we would like to have meetings. The consensus was we will not meet in January and February and our meetings will be at 6:00 PM on the first Saturday of the month unless it is a holiday or we need to have a special meeting. A newsletter will still come out each month.
TREASURER'S REPORT FOR OCTOBER 2022
CORRECTIONS:
To the rhizome sales report as printed in the October newsletter:
1) The total sales as reported were $5429.63. This included the cash box set up funds which were $600.00. Therefore these funds should have been deducted from the actual sales receipts, thus the actual profit from the sale was $4829.63.
2) The July balance total was reported as $2626.79 when the actual amount should have been $2526.74. (a typing error) .
September 30, 2022 Checking Balance Report: July 31 Balance as corrected above: $2526.74
Then I found I had made a serious mistake in the August Expense addition of the three bills paid which should have been $1027.73 instead of $1127.73. Thus, with the corrections as above, the actual checking account balance for September 30 is $1499.01.
So, here is the report of expenses paid for the month of September:
1. Paul Ronaldo Sprinklers: Repairs to the zone which supplies water to the big triangle bed irises at the south west corner of the garden. A new zone valve was installed and a leaking supply line was repaired. Total cost with labor was $230.00.
2. Eagle Ridge Irises of Billings, MT: Purchase of 15 Spuria iris rhizomes to increase the number of varieties in the Spuria Bed at the information Kiosk at the fort. Total cost with shipping was $135.00.
Total of bills paid is $365.00.
Balance calculation: $1499.01 less $365.00 = $1134.01 as the September balance.
The Spuria rhizomes were received in late September. Judy Blunt and I renovated the Spuria Bed on the last Wednesday of September. This bed is the one which is around the information kiosk at the north rock wall of the garden. We dug 5 varieties of these Spuria rhizomes which I brought home to be washed, cut, and identified. Judy and I tilled the soil with forks and then added organic compost. The 15 varieties were planted, watered and an ID stake placed by each plant. The Spuria rhizomes I had brought home and cleaned were taken to the October Iris meeting and sold to members present. There were a lot of takers and thus the existing rhizomes found new homes. MIS made a profit of $85 from this sale of rhizomes. The profit was placed into the savings account to purchase rhizomes in the future. This was an exciting time for me doing this project as I had never worked with Spuria irises. I have kept watch on the new rhizomes at the Fort and watered them several times. I brought home the old rhizomes which remained from the sale and I have planted several in my gardens. I placed wire cages about the plants to keep the deer from chewing on them. I had 35 rhizomes remaining after planting mine so I bought some soil and compost, mixed these together and put this mix into 6-inch plastic pots and planted 1 rhizome in each pot. I now have 35 pots of Spurias growing in my little greenhouse. I checked the plants this morning, October 25, and found more than half of the rhizomes are showing a new sprout which is encouraging. My thoughts are to sell the rhizomes at the July rhizome sale next summer unless MIS members wish to purchase them in the Spring.
Respectfully submitted, Swede Gustafson
2023 MISSOULA IRIS SOCIETY BUDGETING INFORMATION
FOR ACCEPTANCE BY THE MIS BOARD OF OFFICERS
CATEGORY ACCEPTED 2022 EXPENSES 2022 BALANCE PROPOSED 2023 // ACCEPTED 2023
SHOWS
MEDIAN SHOW ........................... 0 ...................................0 ............................ 0 ............................200
GENERAL SHOW.......................600................................544 ...........................56 ........................... 600
IRIS RHIZOME SALE .............. 400 ...............................344 ...........................56............................400
FORT GARDEN
GARDEN MAINTENANCE..... 500................................365 .........................135 ............................600
LAWN CARE ............................. 350 ...............................350 ........................... 0............................ 350
MINOR RENOVATIONS ........... 400 .............................. 468 ........................(68) .............................. 0
MAJOR RENOVATIONS ..........1000 ............................ 3847 ................... (2647) ........................ 1200
MINOR REPAIRS....................... 500 ................................. 0 ............................ 0........................... 300
NEW RHIZOMES ....................... 600 ............................. 340 ........................ 260 .......................... 300
SOCIETY OPERATION
GENERAL .................................. 500 .............................. 378 .........................122.......................... 400
NEWSLETTER.............................150 ...............................150 ........................... 0.......................... 200
PRINTING ................................... 100 .................................. 0 ....................... 100 ............................ 10
CONTRIBUTIONS...................... 200 ............................... 200 ......................... 0 ............................300
REGION 11 RVP............................ 50 ....................................0 ......................... 50 ............................ 50
SPECIAL EVENTS/PURCHASES
ICE CREAM SOCIAL..................150 ................................123..........................27.............................150
PLANT MARKERS......................250 .................................. 0 .........................250 .......................... 250
PRESIDENTIAL RHIZOMES......400 .............................. 260 ........................140............................300
SEAL COATING WALKWAY......... 0 ................................... 0 .......................... 0 ............................300
TOTAL............. 6050 ............................ 7369 .................. (1319) .......................... 6000
Values in parentheses are negative values
NOTE 1: These numbers are only guidelines for each category. Expenses incurred may cause the category to exceed these numbers which therefore can cause some adjustment in the total expenditures at the end of the year.
NOTE 2: There is a special account within the Society Savings which is designated as the Judges Fund and will be used by Iris Judges for training purposes and payment to a visiting judge for travel expenses to give classes on judging of irises. These funds are not included as part of the available money for the above budget.
Respectfully submitted, Swede Gustafson, Treasurer.
MIS MINUTES OF OCTOBER 1, 2022
Started with Gary Clark giving a presentation of Iris Terminology – great presentation especially for the new members.
Meeting started at 7:14 pm.
Minutes accepted as printed in the bulletin.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Checking ........$ 1,154.06
Savings............$14,126.87
These amounts include bills paid and deposits made, bills include sprinklers. Deposits included grant money received. The original estimate was $6,500 for the walkways but with costs increasing we are expecting it to be higher now. All the grants applied for have been accepted and money has been received. Great job.
NEW BUSINESS
Judy and Swede planted 12 new Spurias in the garden from Eagle Ridge Irises in Billings, ground was like rock. There are a few extras that were available for $2 each at the meeting.
Asphalt should be laid within 3 weeks; when it is being put in the caution tape will need to be put up around the gardens. Also a couple of people will need to work in shifts to keep people out as a precaution. Would like volunteers to work in shifts. The Missoula County Historical grant is a 20/10 split with 10% being labor by the club.
Swede and Betty Ann worked events to watch the gardens. Fort helped by fencing off the garden during events, which helped keep people out.
Betty Ann thanked all the workers for the sale and Gary for selling the Grab bags after the sale.
Judy Blunt took all the signs including the kiosk, cleaned and repaired them. It helped her take out her frustrations from the UM. Thank you Judy they look wonderful.
We will need a work party at the fort for the final cleanup of the gardens prior to winter.
There is a botanical garden being planned for the fair-grounds as reported by Jim Sadler.
There is also a Judges training session planned for November 5, 2023 at 10:00AM-1:00PM, Idaho’s Pebble Ponds 4035 N 2300 E Rd, Filer, ID (turn north at the Filer High School), to be given by Jeanette Graham.
Next month will be budget and new officers. Welcome to two new members Garnet and Shirley.
Presidential Rhizome – Anne Bowman and Donna Dowell
Respectfully submitted, Cindy Davis
MISSOULA IRIS SOCIETY ASPHALT WALKWAY
located within the Missoula Iris Society Garden at the historical Fort Museum
has been completed as of October 18, 2022
MONETARY EXPENSES FOR THE ASPHALT WALKWAY:
Renovation of the existing sprinkler system by Paul Ronaldo Sprinklers:
Final bill from Ronaldo Sprinklers: $1064.00 paid, September 18, 2022
Installation of the asphalt walkway by American Asphalt:
Final bill from American Asphalt: $7,000.00 paid, October 13, 2022
Missoula Iris Society paid $32.16 to Swede Gustafson, Missoula Iris Society Project Manager, for miscellaneous bills to Missoula Copy, for caution tape, $19.95, September 15, 2022, and $12.81, to Ace Hardware for metal fasteners, washers, and spray paint to mark the walkway for construction, September 22, 2022
TOTAL MONETARY EXPENSES FOR THE ASPHALT WALKWAY: $8,096.16
GRANTS RECEIVED BY THE MISSOULA IRIS SOCIETY TO COMPLETE THE ASPHALT WALKWAY
IN THE MISSOULA IRIS SOCIETY GARDEN AT HISTORICAL FORT MISSOULA
PRESERVING MISSOULA COUNTY'S HISTORY GRANT: $3200.00
Marshall & Mary Brondum Special Assistance Foundation, Inc.: $800.00
(Specified to be used towards the relocation of the sprinkler system.)
First Security Bank: $250.00
MISSOULA IRIS SOCIETY: $3,846.16
For the county grant, 10% had to be provided by MIS in kind.
TOTAL IN-KIND HOURS: 114 hours. Monetary value, $1,368.00. No monies paid. All volunteer hours.
Presidential Rhizome winners: October: Anne Bowman and Donna Dowell
MEETING SCHEDULE:
Saturday, November 5, 6:00 PM, Potluck meeting. Location: 830 South Avenue West, Immanuel Lutheran Church
December – tba. Christmas party?
January and February, 2023 – no meetings
March 4, 2023 – tba.