The annual meeting of the Friends of the Farm was held at the Farm Centre, University Avenue on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. The guest speaker for the meeting was Charlottetown historian and Friends of the Farm board member, Catherine Hennessey. Her topic was Ravenwood- An Early Estate, A place in History, A Local Treasure.
Pictured with Catherine Hennessey above is Doug MacDonald, Vice Chair, Kim Devine who introduced Catherine and Lane MacLaren,Chair of the Board of the Friends of the Farm. They are joined as board members by Gertie Purdy, Roger Younker, Connie MacKay- Carr, Libby Martin, Laura Lee Howard, Sylvia Poirier, Ken MacDonald and Nora Jenkins. Lloyd MacLeod is honourary chair. Mr. MacLeod and his family were the last residents of Ravenwood and Mr. MacLeod was in attendance at the meeting.
The Janice Simmonds Award was announced at the meeting. This award will be made annually to honour an individual, group, or agency who/which has made a significant contribution to the creation, protection, preservation, or management of public green spaces on Prince Edward Island. The award will be made in the spring.
It was also announced that a bench will be placed on Confederation Trail on the Farm in Janice Simmond’s memory. Janice was the chair of the Friends of the Farm at the time of her passing, May 28, 2012 and a long time board member who treasured the Experimental Farm and who had a passion and love of the environment. The award and the memorial bench are made possible by donations made to the Janice Simmonds memorial.