The Kneeling Gardeners 

Submitted

The Kneeling Gardeners’ Nov. 28th was held at Trinity United Methodist Church in Kannapolis. President Royce Thomason called the meeting to order and recognized members and guests. Chaplain Janelle Murray had devotions entitled “Advent Saint” Saint Nicholas the Advent Saint.

Our speaker for the evening was Jennifer Childers the owner of Midway Florist. Jennifer is in her second year as the owner of Midway but has worked there for years before. She was raised in Kannapolis and has been a floral designer for 15 years. She is a North Carolina Professional Florist and is studying for the National Certification of Professional Florist and is also a member of the N.C. State Floral Association and still on the board. Jennifer’s program was directed toward her take on Christmas this year.

“She gives what she has” of her time and ability. Her hands worked like magic as she filled rectangular containers with pinecones and slices of wood from a tree and adorned the contents with battery operated LED lights and then filled in the spaces around the sides with boughs of Leland cypress as needed. It was beautiful and would last several days with no water source.

To add some aroma, just sprinkle scented oil onto the pinecones. A wonderful idea for an arrangement for yourself of a gift from your own back yard.

Next, she took apart a grapevine wreath and used the vines in a wet oasis to make an arch. Leland cypress was laid over the oasis to cover it in varying directions, then add a few pieces of nandina, gardenia, camellia or Christmas tree greenery into the oasis. As for the arch, greenery could cover it partially or it could be left bare.

The final touch was the crystal tree ornament she hung from the arch. These crystal ornaments are exclusive to Midway Florist. It was beautiful present for a friend or for yourself.

Jennifer brought out another container that you can purchase from your local florist and added assorted clear vases of various heights. She filled in between the container with greenery from your yard and cut poinsettias blooms and added them to the vases for a Christmas arrangement. Just cut a few blooms from the back of your plant and no one will ever suspect.

Succulents are also wonderful house plants to add to an arrangement. Just remove them from the dirt and expose the roots. With a florist wire and a stick in the middle, create a stem for the succulent and add it to the container. When the flowers fade, replace them and replant the succulent in the dirt.

Peace lilies are the number one plant to clean the air in your house. Everyone should have one or more. Midway is a full-service florist no matter what the occasion and Jennifer Childers will design a unique and special arrangement to meet your needs.

Anyone interested in gardening is welcome to join us on Jan. 23, 2017 when Linda Barnett will provide a program on terrariums.

 

An Important CWU celebration

By Dottie Clement, CWU church representative from 1st Presbyterian 

Have you heard? There is a wonderful branch of a worldwide organization here in Rowan County that you should know about. It’s called Church Women United. CWU is a national ecumenical movement of Christian women throughout the world whose life centers around prayer, Bible study, advocacy and action. CWU was founded in 1941 so this year is the 75th anniversary. We celebrate unity in diversity and we work for a world of peace and justice — values that continue to be needed today as much as in the 1900s.

There are chapters of CWU all over the world and we have a very active chapter here in Rowan County made up of representatives from 34 different churches of all denominations. We meet once a month at Milford Hills Methodist Church in Salisbury.

CWU also has four larger gatherings during the year. In March we have our prayer breakfast. The next large meeting is the May Friendship Day. In August is the Human Rights Celebration and in November is World Community Day. All of these meetings are open to any church member. There is always a speaker and a special meal to share.

On Nov. 4, 2016, we celebrated the 75 anniversary of the founding of CWU with World Community Day at First Presbyterian Church of Salisbury. There were more than 100 attendees sitting at decorated tables in Lewis Hall. What an impressive group of dedicated women all gathered together for the same purpose — not just for the betterment of our community but for all over the world.

Every attendee brought donations for the family abuse center and a speaker from that organization talked to us about their needs. After lunch, a meaningful skit was presented by some members of the group. Gloria Bradshaw, representing First Calvary Missionary Church was in charge of the program. Doris Brown of Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church and president of our chapter delivered some matters of importance to the group  and then  closed our meeting with prayer. All of us left with feelings of inspiration drawn together by the CWU purpose.

For more information on CWU, contact Milford Hills United Methodist Church at 704-636-2091.