Guidelines for Monthly Teas
Garden Club members are assigned to a tea committee for a monthly meeting during the year. Check the Sudbury Garden Club Yearbook to determine which month you are assigned. If you cannot serve the month to which you are assigned, it is your responsibility to find a member who will switch months with you.
A coordinator is also assigned, whose responsibility it is to check supplies, to contact each committee member to discuss what each person plans to bring, and to coordinate the overall tea components. [ A Check List is supplied.]
Our Teas consist of breakfast- or brunch-type foods, (e.g., fruit, quiches, coffeecakes and breads), coffee, tea, fruit juice and/or water. Plan to serve between 30-35 members and guests for a regular meeting. (If your recipe contains nuts, be sure to designate that fact on a card placed next to the dish, as some members cannot eat nuts.)
The plastic bins and tablecloth bag are passed from one month’s coordinator to the next month’s coordinator at the end of the meeting. That way, each coordinator is aware before the next meeting, what items need to be purchased.
For special occasions the committee members may prefer to use china cups and plates. These items are stored in a member’s garage, and can be accessed, if needed. Contact Joan Sasiela for instructions.
In order to facilitate the committee’s work on the morning of the meeting, the Coordinator may store the plastic containers in the Goodnow Library kitchen the afternoon or evening before the meeting. Call the library to make certain that no other group is using the conference room.
Please arrive no later than 9:00 a.m., the morning of the meeting, when the library opens. Start the two pots of coffee (brewing takes about 15 minutes). Set the tables with the tablecloths provided, a centerpiece (provided by one of the committee members), paper ware, and plastic forks/spoons when needed.
All committee members are expected to stay after the meeting to clean up. Staple items not used need to be returned to the plastic bins. Coffee pots and tea containers are to be washed and dried. Tables are to be cleaned and floors vacuumed. Tablecloths and dishtowels are to be washed at a member’s home, if needed. It is also the committee members’ responsibility to help load the plastic containers into the next month’s Coordinator’s car after the meeting.