The meeting was opened with the welcoming of guests, recognition and appreciation of our board members past and present with special thank-you gifts for two devoted gardeners. We honored Paula Politi for her hard work and perseverance to the Triangle Garden. This year, we will be moving flowers from the Triangle Garden to other areas of the village making room for our newly designed garden made possible by a North Elba Local Enhancement and Advancement Fund (LEAF) grant. And Carol Fox was recognized for her many years of service as the Program Committee director, organizing many fun activities and events and creating for us many fond memories.

A budget report was provided by treasurer Kathy Hanley, who noted a generous donation made by Lamb Lumber toward the redevelopment of the Triangle Garden. A big thank you to them.

We all had fun catching up with old friends, enjoyed the lovely floral arrangements, which were included in a raffle with other playful garden-themed gifts.

The main event was our delightful guest speaker, Kathy Linker, who is a master gardener from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County. She was extremely informative and knowledgeable about the importance of our pollinators that come in many shapes, sizes and colors, butterflies, moths, spiders, bats and more, but most commonly — bees! Did you know New York state has 450 species alone? To help these pollinators survive and succeed in keeping our flowering gardens thriving and beautified, please provide for them:

– Food — In the spring, summer and fall, such as native flowering perennial and annuals, flowering shrubs, trees and veggies. Planting in clumps helps, too.

– Water — Perhaps a bird bath would look lovely in your yard, and the birds and bees will love you.

– Shelter — Over half of these pollinators are ground and or cavity nesters. Leave some leaves and avoid pruning plants until early spring the following year as some pollinators may be building homes.

Plus, avoid pesticides. For helpful alternatives and garden help, email essexhort@cornell.edu or stop by their office at 8487 U.S. Route 9 in Lewis.

Below are reminders and confirmed remaining May activities we are looking forward to and hope you will join us.

– May 13: Lake Placid Annual Village Clean Up. Meet at Mirror Lake Beach House. Registration starts at 9 a.m. Rain or shine.

I had the pleasure to sit at the opening meeting with the ladies organizing this clean up. Tricia Garrett and Andrea Grout, who noteworthy is now the new director of Heaven Hill Farm. Grout’s daughter, Ellie Evans, is a Lake Placid High School student whose senior project is the village clean up. We are very proud and thankful for her. (Tricia and I discussed the abundance of beer and small liquor bottles littering our roads. It’s heartbreaking. Please do the right thing.)

– May 16: Adopt a Highway. The work day starts at 9 a.m. Meet at the Simply Gourmet parking lot, bring gloves, wear long pants and sturdy shoes, and a long grabber is helpful.

– May 17: Triangle Garden work day. Begins at 4 p.m. Refreshments to follow, sponsored by Generations Tap & Grill.

– May 25: The Arbor Day ceremony begins at 5 pm at Teddy Bear Park, 48 Elm St. Lake Placid, off Hillcrest Avenue.

Below are a few early June events.

– June 4: Lake Placid Community Day is held from 1 to 4 p.m. at the North Elba Show Grounds.

– June 7: The Wild Edible Plant Walk will be held from 10 a.m. to noon at the Paul Smith’s College VIC. Learn to identify local edibles with Cornell Cooperative Extension expert Pat Banker. The tour is on an easy trail suitable for all mobility. The cost is $15.

If you might be interested in learning more about gardening and making new friends, consider joining the Garden Club of Lake Placid. We welcome all genders, races, religions and ages. We have a full calendar of interesting and fun events for the entire year.

Please check out our website, gardencluboflakeplacid.org.

(Roberta Musci is a member of the Garden Club of Lake Placid.)