Upcoming 2025 Holiday Party
By: Dorothy Martinez
Get ready to share some holiday spirit! We will be hosting the Annual Holiday Party this year on Monday, December 8th. The festivities will start at 6:00 pm at the Arbor House located off of I-70 and 32nd Avenue. Arbor House is a wonderful venue complete with fireplace, Christmas tree, and holiday decorations. An added perk, the Arbor House is located within Maple Grove Park, so it has plenty of parking that is close to the building; no need to circle the block multiple times to try to find parking. There are several handicap accessible parking spots as well.
We have held the Holiday Party at the Arbor House for the past three years. Everyone who comes absolutely raves about this venue. Since Arbor House is located so close to I-70, it takes about the same amount of time to drive there as it does to the Denver Botanic Gardens (about 30 – 40 minutes from most of metro Denver).
Come join us for some socializing, great food, and of course, the Gift Exchange. The meal will be a potluck. The main dish (turkey and ham), desserts, and beverages will be provided by the Club. Bring your favorite appetizer, salad, or side dish to compliment the meal.
Socializing starts at 6:00 pm, dinner will be from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm, and the Gift Exchange will be from 7:30 – 8:30 pm.
If you wish to participate in the Gift Exchange, please bring a wrapped gift with a value under $20. Numbers will be drawn and distributed. After the 1st person opens their gift, the 2nd person can choose to “steal” the 1st person’s gift or choose from the remaining unopened gifts, this process continues until the last person has opened their gift. At this point, the 1st person can choose to keep the gift they have or “steal” from all the other gifts that have been opened. The only rule is once a gift has been “stolen” twice, it cannot be stolen again.
The Arbor House is located at 14600 W. 32nd Avenue, Golden 80401 (Maple Grove Park).
For any questions, please contact Dorothy Martinez at dam@johnfunk.com or 303-279-3137.
For a map to Maple Grove Park, please click on the link below:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/7jekuJKE97kUqzMR7
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October 2025 Meeting Review
By: Vicki Aber
We had our planning meeting in October. There was much discussion and ideas thrown around.
One challenge is our website is going to have to be redone due to the platform being outdated and our web hosting company losing technical support. We have reviewed several options and will have more information coming. If you have any expertise in this area and would like to be involved, please reach out.
Another challenge is maintaining all the activities we do with less resources. We decided to scale back on some things. Unless someone steps up to take it over, the Water Blossom Festival will not be held next year. We will host 'Get Wet' in April with a speaker, door prizes, and access to lots of good information. The Plant Swap in May and Plant Sale in June will go on as usual, as these are our most popular events. We will try to have a Pond Tour in July if we can get enough people to open their ponds to make it worthwhile. There will no longer be a Picnic after the Tour as in year's past. Instead of a pond side meeting in August, we will be having a second Plant Swap in late August. We will continue with the September meeting to hold Board elections, the October meeting to plan for future events, and the annual Holiday Party in December.
This is all fairly tentative for now, so if you would like to add your 2 cents, please do. We will be meeting on January 11th at Denver Botanic Gardens to finalize our plans for next year. Everyone is welcome to this meeting. We are still awaiting where exactly the meeting will be - stay tuned and keep a look out for a blast email with updates in mid December.
If you have any questions, please contact Vicki Aber at docvicki@msn.com or 303-423-9216.
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Changes are Coming! New Meeting Dates and New Website
By: Vicki Aber
Denver Botanic Gardens has changed how they schedule their meeting rooms. The people in charge are now the same people that schedule all the events at DBG. This will hopefully help with confusion, like when our September meeting was suddenly moved to a different location.
Tamara and I met with them recently to go over dates for our meetings that are at DBG. The meeting times set aside for Clubs are Sundays and Mondays. There will be a person from DBG there to help if we have problems with A/V etc.
We have been meeting on the third Monday of the month for a couple of years now and if we decided to keep Mondays, the dates would have to be moved around some in the month and we would no longer be guaranteed the 3rd Monday. We decided to go with Sunday afternoon as some people have expressed difficulties in getting to meetings that take place in the evening. Going with Sunday afternoons might make it easier for more people to come to meetings.
Our next meeting is a planning meeting and mostly for the Board, but we are always happy to have other members join us to add their input or just observe. The meeting will be at DBG on January 11th from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm, location to be determined. We will start the meeting off with a potluck (we like to eat). Depending on how much planning we get done at this meeting, we may or may not have a second planning meeting, currently scheduled for February 8th also from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm at DBG. We will be sending out blast emails in mid and late December with updates for the January meeting and in mid and late January for the February meeting.
Our signature kickoff event 'Get Wet' will take place on April 13th (Monday) in the evening. It will be held in Gates Hall located within DBG. More information about this meeting to follow.
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Leafy Issues, Leaky Ponds
By: Mike Gannon
Leaky pond issues seem pretty common during Autumn and times of heavy leaf fall. The leaves might be causing the water loss. Many pond and water feature owners in my home state of New Jersey and other areas of the world that experience the Autumn season will experience water loss from their pond during the Fall. Don’t panic, but be sure to react quickly.
There are always seasonal issues to deal with for pond keepers who experience Autumn and the change of seasons.
Pond professionals will spend time each Autumn handling calls from concerned koi pond water garden keepers, and water feature owners regarding sudden water loss and leaky pond issues. Many water features such as waterfalls, fountains, and streams will be affected by leaf accumulation causing “leaf jams” which can redirect the flow of water to outside of the desired course of flow. These leaf jams will affect the performance of many water features due to the leaks they cause. These leaf jams can often cause huge water loss very quickly.
The loss of water from any type of system whether it is a koi pond, water garden, pondless waterfall, fountain, stream feature, or whatever shape your water takes; can cause some big problems. Leak issues and water loss need to be dealt with quickly and may require the services of a pond and water feature professional. Water loss can cause very expensive equipment damage, landscape damage to your landscape and neighbors, and heartbreaking fish loss.
Autumn leaks in your koi pond water garden will often follow a storm or windy day when a lot of leaf loss occurs. Ponds that have waterfall displays and streams are more likely to be affected. If you see that your pond has water loss, take a look around the pond paying particular attention to the waterfall area to see if leaves are jamming up to the point of redirecting the water flow out of the stream or waterfall; perhaps splashing out by falling on piled leaf debris.
Many pond professionals will offer services that prepare your koi pond, water garden, and/or water feature for the big impact that leaves falling can create. Contact your local pond professional to learn more about these types of services. A professional service for your pond will keep the leaves out and greatly reduce the possibility of leak issues and other leaf accumulation problems with your koi pond or water garden.
Local pond professionals will also be familiar with finding and correcting Autumn water loss and leaky ponds due to leaves falling. Pond professionals will know how to deal with local conditions and will offer a fast proficient service that will keep the pond keepers from the much more expensive problems that often accompany water loss.
Autumn leak issues with your pond don’t have to be a big problem. Know what to look for and know what to do. Get to know your local pond professional, they can be an invaluable resource for you and your pond.
About the Author
Mike Gannon is owner of That Pond Place located in Stewartsville, NJ. Mike is an award-winning pond, water garden, and water feature builder. Mike is the creator of “The Pond Hunter” video series seen on YouTube and has made several television appearances on networks such as HGTV and the DIY Network. He also hosts the Pond Hunter Radio Broadcast. You can contact Mike at info@thatpondplace.com or (908) 329-6176. The article can be found on their blog at: https://thatpondplace.com/leaky-pond-issues-might-leaves-causing-water-loss/
Reprinted with permission from:
IWGS Journal, Autumn 2017, Volume 32, Number 3, Page 15
NOTE from Dorothy Martinez, CWGS Newsletter Editor and Board Member:
As an addition to this article:
Many leaves can be kept out of your various water feature(s) by installing a large net(s) over your water feature(s) as your leaves begin falling in the Autumn. Net(s) help to keep about 80% - 90% of the leaves from going into your water feature(s). Be sure to remove the net(s) from your water feature(s) before freezing temperatures or snowfall occurs as the net(s) may become stuck in snow and ice, making them difficult if not impossible to remove until warmer temperatures allow removal.
Also, be sure to check your skimmer box often, at least weekly, to empty the debris net (provided you have one), and filtration mat located in front of your pump. Empty any leaves from the debris net and make sure your filter mat stays clean.
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