A Treasured Evening

In keeping with a recent increased interest in family heirlooms, the Garden Club's program committee invited noted antique dealer Wayne Cameron to attend a meeting of the club for the purpose of taking a look at some of the treasures members might bring in.

The evening was a great success, with over 40 people in attendance and a wide variety of items displayed for evaluation. The treasures included fine china, pressed glass, vases, paintings, wooden boxes, marine instruments, furniture and assorted decorative items. The long-handled spoon that Wayne is holding was used for heating rum over a flame in making hot toddies.

As with most Garden Club meetings, there was lots of lively chatting and visiting among friends before the session began. The art and antiques were ranged along a series of tables at the front of the audience, and tables off to one side were laden with sandwiches, snacks and coffee. Wine was available at a cash bar.

At one point, it appeared that half the room was attentive to the evaluating process while the other was intent on ordering refreshments.





Once Wayne had captured their attention, however, every eye was riveted on the object under discussion, and some members were busy taking notes on everything from the defining characteristics of certain design periods to particular methods of cleaning precious items.

With the bust of an angel looking over his shoulder, Wayne nears the end of the last table on which members' treasures had been set out for his inspection. Having calmly and charmingly evaluated about 60 disparate items during the evening, he finished his task at 9:30 pm. In thanking him on behalf of the members, Brenda Garland, president, expressed her appreciation for his good-humored and informative commentary throughout the process.

NEXT: The Program Committee has announced that the club's next event will be held on Monday, October 19th, with a new starting time of 7:30 pm. The guest speaker will be Andrew Hebda of the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History. His presentation is titled "Garden Pests: Friend or Foe". The meeting will be held at the usual location, St. Stephen's Parish Community Centre. New members are welcome.

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