Minutes of The December Regularly Scheduled Meeting of The Virginia Master Gardener Association, Inc. December 9, 2000 James City County/Williamsburg, VA

Attendance

(Amherst, Campbell, & Lynchburg) Catherine Powers, Karen Sacasky; (Arlington) Marti Klein, Alice C. Nicolson, Sharon Young; (Chesapeake) Kerry Goldmeyer; (Fairfax) Jack Slapcinsky; (Fauquier) Frank Reilly, Jim Scibek; (Fredericksburg) Ann Gorrell; (Gloucester) George Simpson, Mary Simpson, Jane Smith; (Goochland-Powhatan), Nancy Krause Golden; (Hanover), Pamela Armstrong, Cheri Haggerty; (James City County/Williamsburg) Eleanor Brennan, Arlene Bartlett, Tim Coyne, Bill Hopkins; (Newport News) Gary Bill; (Prince William) Pat Reilly, Jude Serevino, (Roanoke) Jerry Crum, Shelby Snider; (Suffolk) Kathy Pinder; (Virginia Beach)Barbara Browley; (Virginia Tech) Sarah Lineberger; (York) Evelyn Parker, Sybil Przypek-Treasurer were the attendees who signed in. Others may have been in attendance.

Call to Order President Pat Reilly called the meeting to order at 10:07 AM in James City County/Williamsburg, VA. She thanked all of those who attended the meeting for making the effort.

Introductions James City County Master Gardener President and members were introduced, and an overview of their program was given.

Minutes The minutes of the October meeting were approved as written. Alice Nicolson Requested that future minutes have the attendees listed alphabetically by county. Secretary agreed.

Treasurer's Report: Sybil Przypek reported that we have a total balance of $16,731.22. The treasurer's report was accepted as presented.

President's Report VMGA Stars were presented with little star pins. The "Stars" are: Frank Reilly for helping with everything; Ann Gorrell for doing VP jobs and running the education committee; Jude Serevino for editing the newsletter while a new editor was being identified, and the education event; Joan Clements for doing the flyer and registration; Angela Cahn and Barbara Schultz for jumping in to help Joan get the flyer out; Pamela Armstrong and Cheri Haggarty for handling refreshments and set up; Peggy Bouchard and Kit Davison for doing the social hour; and Karen Carter for giving up her Saturday to help us with the room set up and clean up, and equipment. Thanks to all! The meeting with VCE Director Dave Barrett and Associate Director Steve Umberger has been postponed until late January. Letters of thanks for the VMGA donation to the VT Horticulture Gardens were received from Dr. Alex Niemiera and Mtt Thacker of the Gardens, and Dean Andy Swiger. Andrew Gerachis will be leaving Virginia to be with the love of his life. Andrew's letter was read. The Annual Meeting of the membership of VMGA will be held during Master Gardener College on Saturday night, June 23, at 7 PM. Instead of hosting a garden party while the silent auction is held, VMGA will sponsor a reception to honor the recipients of state level service awards, immediately after the awards presentations. The awards presentation will be on Saturday night at 8PM. Your VMGA President has been elected to the Board of the State Arboretum at Blandy. Sites for the 2001/2002 Board meetings are being lined up. If any unit would like to host a Board meeting, please contact Pat Reilly.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Education Ann Gorrell reported that the VMGA training - "Educating Youth in Horticulture" was presented on November 18, 2000, at the Henrico County Human Services Center. 78 people enrolled and 76 attended including Master Gardeners, 4H leaders, teachers, and VCE employees. The mini-conference consisted of 8 presenters. The topics were: Squirmy Worms & Bug Mania: Roots and Shoots: Resources & SOL's: Ready, Set, Grow; and Junior Master Gardeners. Sarah Lineberger also spoke. There was great support from the MG's in Henrico and Tidewater. Special thanks to: Cheri Haggerty, Pamela Armstrong, and Peggy Bouchard for food and décor during social times, and their team; Jean Clements for the flyer and registration; Roddey Jones for on site registration; and Pat Reilly for a multitude of chores. The program was well received, informative, and fun. Result of the day was 18 new members and possibly more.

Newsletter Jude Serevino reported we are getting a new and steady editor - Maria Papadakis. (She is a professor at VA Tech.) She can be reached at PAPADAMC@RICA.NET or 47 Rural Drive, Mt. Solon, VA 22843. Regional contacts are: Northern - Jude Serevino JLSTR@aol.com Central - Bill McCaleb Northeast - Nancy Golden Northwest - Bob Avery Southeast - Laurel Glasco Southwest -

Membership Gary Bill reported an increase of 32 members. Pat Reilly mentioned that VCE employees are eligible for membership.

Communications Chair Frank Reilly reported the following: members of his committee: Alice Nicolson, Julie Cochran, Shelby Snyder, Sherie Hughes, Cheri Haggerty, Janice Stone, and Barbie Hoysa (AKA VTB). 1.) New items on the web page Links pages on the web site Links to local associations are up, thanks to Julie Cochran. About 5 local associations have links on our page Roanoke has posted pictures of their association's activities We will help host/incubate local associations web sites Links to important resource sites like bugs, weeds, MG Programatic sites, etc. - very close to being up, thanks to Cheri Haggerty. Member links section links to Shelby Snyder's Natural Garden Web site - if you haven't gone there yet you really should. Syd Self's grand adventure page will also be linked soon. News page is up and is where we will post news items as they occur. As always an underutilized venue is the forum - where you can vent or announce

2.) Coming soon: Links to and from the MG web site at Tech - Sarah Lineberger is revamping it now. Calendar Page - Alice Nicolson will be our dates clearing house - she will collect dates and we will post them on the site. New resource - weekly updated "Glick's Picks" from Barry Glick - he describes a lesser-known plant that is worthy of some attention. We will continue the Hort Update from Chuck Hoysa - when the growing season resumes March or April. New Hort help page being run by Barbie Hoysa AKA VTB Resource pages like Obtaining Tax-free status.

3.) History: I noticed some older VMGA Reports - in 1997 the Report was 2-4 pages but now is 6-8 pages, or 50-100% more. Earlier, the Report was produced quarterly - now every other month, or 50% more. Now we have a web site There has been no increase in dues since the inception of VMGA! Pretty good, huh!

. State Fair Evelyn Parker reported that the Fair will be in the same place and same time for 2001. Hopefully next year it will be at the new Fairgrounds. Groups volunteering need to have 10-12 people total, 3-4 per shift. This year people were packing up at 5 PM. This is unacceptable since it forces local units to cover the time from 5 PM to 8 PM. Units volunteering should plan to stay until the end. Participation this year was about 138 people.

 

Long Range Planning Kerry Goldmeyer reported that the LRP survey results showed very strong support for education and the newsletter. The comments about the newsletter show a very large need for communication. Specifically information about horticulture events in the mid Atlantic, current information about invasive plants, endangered plants, insects and pesticides was desired. Most respondents were in favor of VMGA acting as an advocate for Master Gardeners statewide and want to continue to strengthen the relationship with VCE. Members indicated it would be a bonus to receive discounts at retail locations. The current meeting day and time, Saturdays at 10 AM was the only time many of the respondents could come to meetings.

There was strong support for spending extra funds for education. An endowment fund whose income is used for education was proposed. During committee discussion it was suggested that at least $5000 be designated as the beginning of such a fund with 80% of all VMGA interest income, any specific donations and when possible a portion of unused operating income be used for scholarships or grants for education. Before a committee to give away money if formed the financial status of VMGA should be reviewed. The most important areas to use our discretionary dollars were grants that would support unit projects, attendance at MG College and local and regional public projects.

Some of the respondents needed financial support to attend meetings. Discussion led to the conclusion that that was a local unit issue. That is if a unit representative needs help with travel, it would be appropriate to approach the local unit for help.

Unit Reports Those unit representatives present made brief presentations about their MG units' activities, contacts, etc.

Extension Liaison Report Sarah Lineberger reported: 1.) District meetings have been going on with MG Coordinators, Agents, and MG Record keepers. 2.) List of coordinators will be on the intranet soon - it should be really up-to-date, since the info came from these meetings. 3.) Still working - but nearly ready for the record-keeping system. 4.) The MG Handbook is no longer in storage - it has been revamped with the addition of the Welcome to MG section and the color page on plant diagnostics. Since the handbook is printed on demand in batches - agents, coordinators and trainers having training classes need to get their orders into Sarah as soon as they are able so there is no problem getting the manuals. 5.) Working on dorm and meeting rooms for the MG College. Suggestions have been received, and others can be sent to Sarah. 6.) Friday classes will have more program development. 7.) Saturday will again have five themes on sustainable landscape as last year but the subjects will be different than last year. 8.) Leadership Development Newsletter will be coming out in January. 9.) Website is developed and under review at the current time. She will also be updating the intranet web site soon. 10.) There are a lot of questions about dealing with youth. There will be a 4-H training with the agents, so perhaps there will be some training for them about dealing with MGs - a lot of questions about the junior MG program that will be discussed at that training. Remember to set up a relationship with the 4-H agent before embarking on any youth programming. When dealing with youth we are teaching horticulture to youth who are the 4-H clients and audience. We must coordinate with them. There is special Risk management training that also is needed.

Youth Ed Discussion - and Roadblock 1.) 4-H is in charge of ALL youth. But funding is hard to come by for Hort programs since 4-H can raise money for clubs, but youth hort ed is not a club. a. Jane Smith pointed out that in their case - they provided the herbs, but the 4-H Agent provided all the hard goods and soils. b. She pointed out that in another case, parks and rec supplied the materials. c. Gary Bill pointed out that the school system provides the growing media etc. through the school resource center. The MGs provide the list to the school. The school requisitions the stuff; the school resource center provides the stuff to the school. d. Nancy Golden points out that their Gooch/Pow MGs buy the stuff out of their own personal pockets. e. In Lynchburg, Master Gardeners provide grant money to the schools to do our programs. f. Arlington/Alexandria, York, Virginia Beach, Roanoke, Suffolk respond to teacher's requests - put a plan together, then approach PTA, or parents or local nursery for the funding. g. Hanover will teach planting from donations they get - but MGs mostly do just the teaching. 2.) Is risk management training difficult a. Arlington - 4-H agent says they will provide the training. No problem b. Gooch/Pow has a 4-H agent in charge of their activities but he has never offered the training. c. Fairfax is incorporating it into its MG training. d. Suffolk the same, and the agent has requested that this portion of the training be made for ALL volunteers since almost all VCE activities sometime come in contact with children. e. Gary Bill made the suggestion that RM training should be part of every MG's annual renewal training. f. Boy Scouts require extensive RM training exposure to police and other training officers. g. Chesapeake, Fredericksburg, Stafford etc., Newport News, James City County, Gloucester, VA Beach, Arlington, Alexandria, Fauquier, York have brought it up h. Suffolk, Hanover, Lynchburg, and Prince William - Hanover is doing it as part of MG training or have special additional training. i. Sarah will see about getting some of this stuff on the web site.

Unfinished Business History - Pat pointed out interesting parts in the "History of the Virginia Master Gardener Association, Inc. (VMGA) 1988-1993" compiled from minutes and historical records by Karen L. Sacasky and printed August 2000. Name Tags - Sarah stated that a person has been assigned to work on it.

New business Debit card - approval was given for Sybil to get a debit card. Card to be controlled by the treasurer.

Announcements Germana College - Fredericksburg - is offering a 15 hour horticulture program starting in January. New VMGA members - As of today - membership dues will cover 18 months (till June '02). Next board meeting - Warrenton - February 10, 2001

The official meeting was adjourned at 1:52PM

Respectfully submitted,

Jim Scibek Secretary VMGA, Inc.