Hosta Happenings. President s Letter. In this Issue:

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1 T Hosta Happenings The Newsletter of the Northern Illinois Hosta Society S P E C I A L E D I T I O N N O V E M B E R / C A L E N D A R A T A G L A N C E Dec 3, Holiday Kerry Perry s home in West Chicago Mar, Spring Pot Luck & Garden Tool Swap, date & loc TBD Late April/May, Spring Symposium & Plant Pickup, date & loc TBD June 20-23, AHS 50 Year Celebration Convention, Valley Forge, PA July 12-14, MRHS Convention in Peoria, IL A Cantigny Work Day on Halloween shows our AHS National Hosta Display Garden in its fall colors. The volunteers, bundled in their worker costumes, are (left to right) Linda Lood, Diane Barrowman, Nancy Huck & Barbara King. June Vandervest took the photo. President s Letter As I enter my first weeks as President, I must thank all those people who preceded me in making and growing the Northern Illinois Hosta Society (NIHS). That includes Tom Micheletti, Laurie Skrzenta, John Van Ostrand, and Lou Horton. Also, a big thank you to Barbara King for working tirelessly the past 6 years in growing the NIHS to where it is today. If you did not have the opportunity to attend our 25 th Anniversary Celebration at Cantigny Park, you missed an outstanding event. Tom Micheletti, Founding Father of the NIHS, was our keynote speaker. We honored our 5 previous NIHS presidents identified above. We also heard from Mark Zilis and Bob Solberg. Bob hybridized and presented a new hosta cultivar (h. Tom Terrific) named to honor Tom Micheletti. Attendees also received one of the new Tom Terrific hostas which will be a large upright gold hosta. Barbara King and her support team did an outstanding job in putting on this event. As some of you may remember, I was the NIHS Membership Secretary for three years before taking a year off. I look forward to this new opportunity to work with a talented group of individuals that are currently on the NIHS Board. It is my hope to continue the tradition set by the people before me. Continued on page 2 In this Issue: President s Letter 1 Dec. Holiday Party 3 25th Anniv Celebration 4-6 Fall in the Hosta Garden 7 Dee Brown s Sale! 7 Plaque Rock Install 8 Officers & Directors 8 H. Night Before Christmas

2 P A G E 2 H O S T A H A P P E N I N G S President s Letter continued During my time in this position, I would like to promote getting more individuals involved working with the Board on various committees. Therefore, I am asking each of you to give sincere consideration to volunteering and becoming a member of the team. Some of you are already volunteers at our AHS National Display Garden at Cantigny Park. We have volunteers hosting our potluck dinners in March, September and December. Individuals volunteer at our Leaf Display and Plant Sale in June, our Bus Tour and members open their beautiful gardens for our Hosta Garden Walks each summer. A big thank you to these people. But when you look, many times you see the same people volunteering across multiple activities over and over. What makes the Northern Illinois Hosta Society GREAT are the people who participate. As volunteers and a member of the team we should all enjoy accomplishing our goals together. The Cantigny Park hosta garden is a prime example of that. We will be creating a list of volunteer opportunities soon and present them in our award winning Newsletter, as well as, post them on our website. It is my hope that we will have some additional new participants in The Holidays are right around the corner and our annual Holiday Party is set for December 3 rd. This year s host is Kerry Perry. Kerry is in West Chicago. This is a wonderful time of the year and the annual Holiday Party is especially festive and fun. Look for the Holiday Party details on Page 3. Please bring a non-perishable food donation to the party that will help some of our less fortunate neighbors enjoy their holiday season. I look forward to seeing you there. Lenny and I would like to send best wishes to you all for a happy holiday season as we look forward to an even better Mike Kraus

3 3 Holiday Party Food & Fun Sunday Dec 3 O ur annual NIHS Holiday Party is rapidly approaching on Sunday Dec 3. Plan to join in the fun! Festivities will begin at 1:00 pm at Kerry Perry s home in West Chicago. Do plan to come and enjoy the company of NIHS friends and a wonderful meal in the beautiful surroundings of the Perry home ( see photo top right). Excellent NIHS cooks always contribute remarkable food that never disappoints. Everyone who comes should bring either an appetizer, salad, side dish or dessert. The main dish and tableware will be provided. Please contact Kerry ASAP at or kerry7000@yahoo.com to let her know that you are coming and which dish you will bring. Please extend your holiday spirit by bringing a bag of non-perishable food for donation to the Northern Illinois Food Pantry. HOW TO GET THERE: Your destination: 3N640 Lakeview Court, West Chicago From the intersection of IL-59 (N Neltnor Blvd / Pramukh Swami Maharaj Rd) and IL-64 / North Avenue, go north 0.5 mile then turn left at the stop light onto Diversey Pkwy. St. Andrews Golf Club is on the right. Go west 0.1 mile and turn right onto Mulberry Drive. Go 0.3 mile and turn right onto Lakeview Ct. Proceed 300 feet to the last house on the left. Hope to see you there!

4 th Anniversary Celebration Welcome & Program Pics by Ron Asselborn Chairperson Barbara King, top left, welcomed the hosta crowd along with Cantigny Director Joy Kaminsky, middle left. Tom Micheletti, top right, delivered the illuminating keynote program on hostas - Back To The Beginning. Sherry Hughes, center, Jim King, right, & Nancy Slove, left. 17

5 25th Anniversary Celebration Refreshments and Hosta Garden Pics by Ron Asselborn 5

6 25th Anniversary Celebration Dinner & Awards Past NIHS Presidents Lou Horton, Barbara King, John Van Ostrand, & Tom Micheletti were awarded lifetime memberships. Bob Solberg & Mark Zilis toasted Tom Micheletti s hosta leadership and founding of NIHS. Bob presented Tom and members his new Hosta Tom Terrific. Pics by Ron Asselborn 6

7 7 Fall in the Hosta Garden June Vandervest Did you ever wish you had more gold in your Hosta garden? Wait until fall and your wish will come true without spending anything extra. Who knew that H. Blue Hawaii, H. Jabulani, H. Rainforest Sunrise, H. Plantaginea would become undulating, glowing shades of gold? Even H. Candy Hearts rivals its neighbor H. Sun Power in my garden. Enjoy the fall splendor while you can. Soon it will be just a memory nestled under a carpet of fluffy white. Photos by June Vandervest Dee Brown s Hosta Stuff Sale!! Here is a partial list of Dee s sale items: Long-time NIHS member Dee Brown is retiring from her concrete design business. Dee has been designing and selling stepping stones and bird baths for many years. Dee is offering to sell all of the molds and other equipment you would need. She would love to sell the equipment to someone who would continue providing such concrete products in this area. Dee will make a donation to NIHS when the equipment sells. Call Dee at for more info. Set of concrete molds for stepping stones and bird baths & wire ties Electric mold shaker 8 tall mold shelf Stepping stones - 4 varieties Bird baths & stands Garden decorations Hosta markers Photo Albums AHS & MRHS Newsletters back issues to perfect condition

8 NIHS Membership Secretary 84 Dunham Place St. Charles, IL The Northern Illinois Hosta Society is dedicated to educating the public and promoting the use of hosta in the landscape. NIHS serves the people of Northern Illinois and surrounding areas. The official plaque designating our Cantigny hosta garden as an AHS National Hosta Display garden was delivered in September. At right, Lou Horton and Craig Kuckenberg guide the stone. Below, the stone is moved into place in the garden. Photos by June Vandervest We re on the web! Visit us on Facebook Officers & Directors President Treasurer Directors At Large Michael Kraus Linda Lood Gary Antonich Nancy Huck Vice President for Program Hospitality Chair Mark Rekoske Membership Secretary Stevie Meginness Recording Secretary June Vandervest Sherrie Hughes & Tony Kwiatkowski Newsletter Editor Ron Asselborn Publicity Director Lynn Walsh com