Four area gardeners attend OAGC convention

The Ohio Association of Garden Clubs (OAGC) held its annual state convention on Aug. 26-28 at Maumee Bay State Park with four local gardeners attending. Charlene Margetiak, Peggy Case and Nancy Wallace of the local OAGC Dirty Bloomers Club, and Shannon Ditz of the Huron County Master Gardeners, all enjoyed three days of gardening activity on the shores of Lake Erie. Margetiak was involved with presenting the convention. She is the director of Region 6, which consists of five counties: Erie, Huron, Lorain, Ottawa, Sandusky and Seneca, which has about 300 members. Margetiak received the 2023 OAGC Gladys Thomas Floral Judge of the Year award, which was presented by Chris Michael of Fremont. Peggy Case, a past president and active judge, presented a basic design workshop with Mary Lee Minor, also a judge and past president, and a member of Bucyrus Garden Club. Case prepared a floral design, "Raindrops," featuring water, and competed in the 2024 Convention Flower Show with an Ikebana design with one large dahlia and line material. Case received second place for her design. About 25 OAGC members prepared designs for several design classes. Case also judged a portion of the convention flower show, which included 16 educational exhibits from all regions in the state. Ditz was a workshop presenter, teaching gardeners how to stay active and healthy and enjoy gardening. Wallace enjoyed her first OAGC convention and attended the Basic Design class taught by Case. The celebration on Aug. 27 included a meal from Tony Packo's in Toledo, made famous by Maxwell Q. Klinger and actor Jamie Farr from the M*A*S*H television series. Members had a fun time dressed up as members of M*A*S*H; as most chose to portray Klinger with wigs and outlandish fake noses.