The Indianapolis Rose Society was founded in 1949. I am only aware of this fact because it appears on the front page of our membership booklet. Other than that simple fact I knew nothing about the early years of our rose society. But, thanks to Mrs. Edward B. Newill, formerly wife of Edwin J. Nugent who was the first President and one of the founders of our rose society, I know a little bit more than I did.
In December, Mrs. Newill sent me a list of the charter members of our rose society (133 members strong), and some newspaper clippings from events that took place in the early days. The first meeting of our fledgling society took place at the Central Library at 8 P.M. on March 3, 1949. The first rose show was held at Holliday Park on Sunday, June 4, 1950. When the society was founded, I was 9 years old attending grade school at St Benedict’s in Evansville, Indiana. Needless to say, I didn’t know anything about roses other than I knew they smelled good.
We have all come a long way in time since then, but have things really changed that much? Here it is March 2006 and we will be having our first meeting at the Holliday Park Nature Center on March 8th, and we will be having our 57th rose show on June 10th at Glendale Mall. So you see things have changed very little.
This is possible because the one true constant through all of the years is our love of the rose. We have also had dedicated members who have believed in the beauty of the rose, who have worked hard to make our rose society one on the best in the district, and who have been willing to educate the public about our beloved flower. So, I would like to thank Mrs. Newill for reminding us of our humble beginnings, and we all pledge to you that we will carry on the fine traditions that you and all of the charter members started so many years ago.
As noted above our first meeting for 2006 will be on Wednesday, March 8th. Refreshments will begin at 6:30 and the meeting will begin promptly at 7:00 as we have a lot of things to cover at the meeting. Come early to socialize, talk about roses, and renew old friendships. New members are especially welcome; introduce yourself; you will find that we are a friendly group.
The highlights of the first meeting are several. Candice Haase will introduce the Society to our new internet web site. She will be taking over from Linda Kimmel who established the web site and has nurtured the site along for several years. Thanks Linda for a job well done on limited funds. John Lombardo will give us a Treasurer’s report for last year’s activities and this year’s budget.
Our main program will be presented by Mark Nolen and it is entitled “A Full Season Fertilizer Program”. That will be followed by some advice on early season dos and don’ts. If there is sufficient time left there will be a pruning demonstration for those who are unable to get to the pruning clinic at Pat Dewald’s on April 1st. We will have a drawing to see who gets the pruned rose. You will be able to pick up your membership booklet at the meetings. We will mail booklets to everyone not attending the meeting. I think we have a good program to start the season; I hope to see all of you at the Nature Center on March 8th.
Mark Nolen, President