2026 Annual Meeting Summary

President’s Message
2025 was a banner year for the Wheatley Horticultural Society, focusing on opportunities for horticultural learning, community events and increased beautification efforts. We kicked off the year with a tour to learn about wine making that was enjoyed by many members. In February we hosted 150 gardeners at the Baptist church for our Living Landscapes Symposium. It was a full day of learning with 10 speakers, including keynote speaker Lorraine Johnson. We owe our highly successful day to our volunteers and sponsors and look forward to organizing a similar event in early 2027. We started a busy spring with a grand opening for the 2nd Phase of the trail at the Arboretum & Learning Trail, now called Doc McKibbin Way. At this event we also celebrated receiving a Tree Canada grant, funded by the LCBO. Working with our Together CK funding, we were able to provide trees to attendees, as well as host Zoo-2-You and other children’s activities at this event. In 2026, we look forward to adding to the Arboretum with a pavilion.

Later in the spring, we shifted our plant sale to align with the “Wheatley Waves Forward” event put on by the Wheatley Task Force. We also relocated to Coulter Park, allowing for a more spacious event, and the unveiling of our newest mural, funded by an EDF Romney grant. These changes proved to be effective, and we raised more than twice what we do in an average year. The day was finished by partnering with the FishFest committee to have children paint wooden fish that were decorations for FishFest later in June. The grown-ups got their chance to contribute to FishFest decor later that month at an event at the Talbot Trail Golf Course where they painted larger fish that were installed in planters before our June meeting. For FishFest itself, members once again ran nature crafts at Two Creeks as part of the Friday night lineup and then participated in the parade on Sunday.

After taking a break in a hot July, members had the opportunity to tour Manitree farms in late August. There they learned about local fruit production on a multi-generational operation. In September, we once again hosted a very successful golf tournament to support our efforts at the Arboretum & Learning trail. The weather
blessed us with a fantastic day! At our September meeting, we were joined by district director Sandra Rammelaere who presented member Julie Mills with the Ontario Horticultural Association Award of Merit. What an honour to have another of our members recognized with this award. Later in the fall, we once again hosted a wreath making event, but this time it was before the Winter Sale rather than as part of it, and Lil’ Hil’s hosted us. On the actual day of the winter sale, a record number of memberships were sold, as well as centerpieces and wreaths put together by members. To finish off the year, we participated in the Santa Claus Parade and hosted Santa Claus and Mrs Claus on our float.

In 2026, we made significant investments in beautification. With Together CK funding, we purchased an additional 4 metal planters and 10 additional hanging baskets. Chatham-Kent no longer provides direction on our colour palette for summer plantings, and we were very happy with the pink sunpatiens we had throughout town. The painted fish made for Fish Fest were a big hit and inspired additional wooden painted planter additions – poppies for November and snowmen for winter. We also put out 8 more winter planters than we have in the past and the community is really enjoying the number of jaunty snowmen throughout town

It was a hot summer for garden maintenance, but we did make an impact by returning to our Maintenance Mondays schedule in the spring when the weather allowed. The pollinator garden makeover at the Arboretum & Learning Trail also kicked off in the spring, supported by the LTVCA and funding from Corteva. After getting into a dry spell in late summer, the actual planting was delayed to the fall. Luckily, we were still able to source most of the plants, as well as some additional native grasses to install around Captain Wheatley. With the construction of the Legion, the garden at the Blue Booth also needed to be relocated. We had been discussing renovating the middle garden at Heatherington Park and the plants were suitable for that area so the move was made. Looking ahead into 2026, we will start the year by working on creating a Strategic Plan to make sure we understand what our focus is. We are excited to continue to support the community through beautification. We also hope to continue to bring environmental and horticultural education opportunities and resources to the community, through events like our plant sale and projects like the Arboretum & Learning Trail. On a more personal note, I am proud to be the leader of an organization so focused on the local community at a time when world events are emphasizing how important strong neighbourhoods and local connections are.

Volunteer Hours

Part of what the Wheatley Horticultural Society submits to the Ontario Horticultural Association each year is our vounteer hours. Our members completed more than 1200 hours this year – on projects you see us out doing, like beautification and at community events, but we also spend a lot of our time planning in our montly meetings and committee meetings.

Fianacial Report

At our annual meeting, we also approved our audited financials. If you’re interested in where the funding for our projects comes from, and how we spend it, check out the graphs below.

 

2026 Executive and Directors

Executive

Directors

• Julie Mills​
• Marilyn Miller​
• Gary Moody​
• Dana Taylor