Program Highlights for 2023
Waco Wetlands Donation (January)
It was a great way to ring in the New Year – with friends from the Pond Club! Our hosts, Rachel Cain and Gordon Nyhof, provided a feast and a beautiful setting with music. Nora, Director of the Wetlands, was presented with our check from the pond tour proceeds and then gave a very informative update on the Wetlands and did a Q/A session.
Mardi Gras Party (February)
We celebrated Mardi Gras with a special Texas Pond Club twist! Our “throws” were seed packets and we had to catch them with our nets! It was a festive night with beads, King cake, and tasty sandwiches provided by our hosts, the Horaceks. Our President, John, then gave us a ton of tips for getting our ponds ready for spring!
The Magic of Lilies (March)
A little rain didn’t derail us! Ron & Rose had a beautiful setup outside under shelter where we got to experience “the Magic of Lilies” presented by Keith & Marji! They showed us how to divide and replant them plus how to encourage the growth of beautiful flowers.
Water Wells of Waco (April)
History came alive tonight as our very own Bevil took the stage to share stories of the Water Wells of Waco and the people who played important roles in the town’s development. She shared fascinating photos as we ate a feast overlooking the river at the beautiful home of Chip and Sandy.
Water Treatment (April-Special Event)
I think we now know more about how we get our drinking water and what happens to the sewer water than we ever imagined and have a new appreciation for the processes! Nora and her team gave a fantastic presentation and then we got to tour both facilities!
Donation to the Lake Waco Wetlands (October)
At the October meeting we presented Nora Schell with our donation to the Lake Waco Wetlands from the proceeds of our 2023 Pond Tour
Christmas Party (December)
Our holiday party at Ron & Lorry Galt’s home was a booming success!! Lots of yummy food was provided by members and the meat was provided by HOTWGPS. We had a great turnout, and all enjoyed the Galt’s hospitality.
Program Highlights for 2022
Cookie Decorating (February)
Our pond club had a great night of food and fellowship at Tejun’s restaurant with a discussion on pond resources led by Harv. The night ended with a fun fish cookie decorating contest – and we were all winners because we got to eat them!
Pond Vacuum Training (March)
A great benefit of being a pond member is that you can rent the club’s pond vacuum for $5! It only helps though if you know how to use it so we had a great hands-on demo by John, our newly elected pond President. As always there was plenty of food and friends too.
Egg-stra Special Birdhouse (April)
Our group enjoyed a beautiful picnic setting on the North Bosque River. It may have been chilly, but that didn’t stop us from having almost 30 people attend and build fantastic birdhouses with license plate roofs! The evening concluded with a fun plant swamp too.
Greenhouses (May)
May was all about Greenhouses – and what not to do when building one (smile) for our club meeting. Ron Haft gave a presentation followed by a tour of his own greenhouse. And I learned that a greenhouse can even get too hot in Texas! The cookout and distribution of pond tour goodies were great as well.
Purple Martins (June)
We celebrated Purple Martins this month with John & Susan plus even got to peek into their homes! They are so adorable, and we learned how to keep them happy in our backyard spaces. There was also some tasty barbeque and lots of visitors this month.
Container Gardens (July)
We were excited to have a guest speaker share a presentation on “Container Gardens” with the group as we enjoyed a fun meal on the lake at the newly reopened “Slow Rise on the Brazos” restaurant. Terry gave us lots of great tips & photos of projects!
Landscape Design (August)
It was pizza and cake night – so yes, very healthy! Mindy welcomed us into her beautiful home and talked with us about “The Art of Landscape Design”. Her expertise and experience gave us all great ideas!
Water Quality (September)
Not All Water is Created Equal! We enjoyed a great talk on water quality by Harv during our meeting which he and his wife hosted.
Thanksgiving/Christmas Party (November)
The annual Thanksgiving / Christmas party at the Galts was a magnificent night for the pond club members! We enjoyed a bounty of food and reflected on all that we have for which to be grateful. Our gift exchange was a hoot as always!
Program Highlights for 2020-2021
Bonsai (June 2020)
Ron gave an informative talk and demonstration on how to care for Bonsai trees and enhance your garden pond area while we enjoyed a group meal together.
Lady Bug Rocks (July 2021)
It was creative craft time for our pond members as we painted rocks to look like fun critters and then used them to decorate our ponds.
Bats (September 2020)
Diane from Austin Bat Refuge joined us via zoom for an educational presentation on bats along with a peek at some adorable fosters under her care.
Fairy Gardens (March 2021)
Leprechauns don’t have all the fun in March! Our group was welcomed by Bonnie’s Greenhouse for a hands-on class in creating fairy gardens.
Microgreens (September 2021)
John shared his knowledge of growing microgreens to the club members, and we all had an opportunity to taste the rewards as well!
Pond Lighting (special event – September 2020)
Our Georgetown hosts arranged for a professional lighting representative to show us how to illuminate our ponds while enjoying a great BBQ meal.