BQLT Annual Meeting 2022
Annual Meeting Recap
On Saturday, April 2, 2022 we hosted our first Annual Membership Meeting in person since 2019! BQLT gardeners representing 30 of our gardens gathered to vote welcome a new garden, new board members and the Spring 2022 season.
Councilmember Chi Ossé was able to join us at the Bed-Stuy Restoration Plaza to address the gardeners with a few words.
Transit Garden Joins the BQLT
The Transit Garden is a community garden at the corner of Smith Street and Second Place, in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. It has been in operation and open to the public for more than 20 years. At the Annual Meeting, gardeners voted in the Transit Garden as a new BQLT affiliate garden. Read more about the acquisition here.
Welcoming Our New Board Members
Congratulations to our 2022 term!
This year we’ve said our goodbyes to our outgoing treasurer Eling Tsai, and our secretary Katie Kerbel. Both Katie and Eling joined the BQLT board in 2018 in the same year as our current president, Steven Thomas. Eling assumed the treasurer role in 20__ helping us streamline our accounting and pave the way for future treasurers, while Katie assumed the secretary position, keeping us organized administratively. We are wishing them well on their journey while welcoming in three new board members to the team:
Sandra Watanabe is a BQLT gardener from Hollenback Community Garden in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.
Steeven Nelson is a BQLT gardener with Central Bainbridge St. Community Garden in Bedstuy, Brooklyn.
Matt Zebroski is a BQLT gardener with St. Marks Ave. / Prospect Hts Community Garden in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.
Congratulations to all of our returning board members, including: returning Board President Steven Thomas, returning Board Vice President Kelli Singleton, and board members: Alonso Cordoba, Curtis Flowers and Racquel Forrester.
Learn more about our board members here.
Honoring Our Lost
As part of the program, we dedicated some time to acknowledging gardeners that have passed in the time we were unable to meet in person. Yvonne Matthews recited some words about her father, Robert Matthews. He was one of the founding gardeners for the Ralph Lincoln Service Center Garden. You can listen to a recording of an interview about the community garden he started and the work it took to make it into the garden it is now. Samantha Feldman, a former intern of BQLT interviewed Robert in 2016:
You can listen to more of our garden founders stories by clicking here. As we continue updating our site, these recordings will be added to individual garden pages to listen.
Here are some more photos from the event:
Thanks to Enrique Alie of Clifton Place Block Association Garden for taking photos at the event.
