(Chesapeake) Doris (Pinky) Derieux, Jane Montgomery, Pauline Price; (Fauquier) Jim Scibek; (Halifax) Donna Brauda, Pauline Decker, Agnes Gregory, Edna Guthrie, Kat Kotter, Helen Lloyd, Bill McCaleb, Brenda McDannald, Elizabeth Overton, Bobbie Taylor, Joan Whitt, John Wilder; (Hanover) Cheri Haggerty; (James City /Williamsburg) Angela Cingale, Raymond Cingale; (Lynchburg) Susan Wingfield, Catherine Powers; (Prince George) Cheryl Sebera; (Prince William) Pat Reilly; (Virginia Beach) Fran Shelton: (Virginia Tech) Sarah Lineberger; (York) Jackie Lohr.

President Jim Scibek called the meeting to order at 1007.

Members present introduced themselves. Bill McCaleb, representing the Southside Master Gardeners, introduced the Southside MGs. He said there are more students and faculty at Tech than there are residents of Halifax County – 35,000. The Southside Master Gardener Association takes in folks from South Hill to Victoria, Charlotte, Lunenburg, and Halifax counties and including the Route 85 Corridor and Bobby Taylor from North Carolina. They have 67 MGs of which 48 are active. This past year they have helped celebrate the 250^th anniversary of Halifax County, dedicated a tree to Elizabeth and Ed Overton, and worked in the Farmer’s Market. Since they are a rural area, they do a large number of field visits. Bill’s claim to fame was the 14 inches of Snow received in January.

The minutes of the August meeting were approved as presented.

President Jim Scibek reported for Shelby Snider:

A new tape recorder was purchased for the secretary’s use. Thank you!

President Jim Scibek reported the following:

1. The President, Immediate Past President, Vice President and Secretary met with Drs. Barrett and Umberger in Charlottesville on September 24. Discussion included the Budget Cuts and their effect on local and state VCE operations. They emphasized how appreciative their offices are of all MGs and how they are assisting during these staff reductions. The next cuts could range from 5 – 15 %. They indicated it would be fiscal year 2004 before rebounding from these cuts.
2. VCE will be looking for sponsors in the General Assembly for a line amendment to add $1 million dollars. This would cover about 20 agents.

Lenore Plissner was not present but reports that the November 16 program is on track. It will take place at Monroe Technical Center. Full information is in the VMGA Report.

A second Education Committee program is scheduled for March 8, 2003, at Virginia State University with Andy Hankins. Topic to be announced. Fran, Pinky and Jane toured the Aquaculture and Hydroponics centers this past week. They were favorably impressed. It was suggested that the topic be a broad overview of Organic Gardening. A timely topic during our drought conditions.

Florace Arnold was not present. They mailed out 330 copies to members and one to each VCE unit. The next issue will be November. The newsletter needs reports from Units, not just the cursory information found in unit newsletters. Any articles on how a unit is making a difference will be greatly appreciated.

Julie Cochran was not present but reported that we currently have 331 members and 67 life members. January 2003 will be the next update. According to VCE, there are 3,881active Master Gardeners in Virginia. VMGA membership represents 8.5% of that total. The membership committee would like to see that total increase to 10%. Sally LaCava will lead an effort to create a VMGA brochure to increase awareness and recruit new members. Special thanks to Bill McCaleb for recruiting 11 new members. (Used a special lime green paper in his efforts.) Also a big thanks to Shelby Snider for forwarding membership applications in a quick and timely manner.

Consists of Kerry Goldmeyer, Karen Sacasky and Frank Reilly, Chair. Frank reports no recent activity.

Members: Julie Cochran, Cheri Haggerty, Alice Nicolson, Shelby Snyder and Chair Frank Reilly. Frank reports that Angela Kahn has joined the committee and will be taking charge of the Calendar.

1. Since the August Meeting, there have been 7162 discrete visitors to VMGA.net. Since the June meeting, the web page has been updated on 27 separate occasions.
1. The Hort Update has ended for the season but pages remain archived on the site.
2. Many thanks to Alice for her assistance over the past 2 years.
3. Use the Forum if you have time constraints and want your event posted immediately.
4. Preparing an updated CD of MG College so please send them any photos you want to share.
5. E-mailed a little over 500 letters regarding the recent budget cuts to members asking for their help in contacting Governor Warner and Secretary Whelan.
6. Can use e-mail addresses of your local units so more MGs could be contacted in future information mailings. They will not be abused.

Evelyn Parker was not present. Cheri Haggerty recommended that those who volunteered at the Fair send comments to Evelyn so we can improve, if necessary, on anything involving the booth.

Pat Reilly donated $150.00 received from a Steward class she taught.

Each unit present gave a report on activity since the August meeting.

Sarah Lineberger reported the following:

1). The Leadership Development Newsletter went out this week. Please contact your local record keeper if you are not receiving this.

3). The test questions have been updated against the 2000 MG handbook. Special thanks to the Northern Shenandoah Valley MGs for their assistance. They are still accepting questions. The page is password protected but your coordinator or training coordinator can get access from Sarah.

5.) On November 2, the 10 member MG College Advisory Committee will be meeting to give direction for MG College 2003. Remember it will be early next year, June 5-8. This move was due to the International MG Conference taking place at the end of June in the Cincinnati area. Also the fact that 4-H and FFA will be on campus at last weekend of June should eliminate the rooming problems we had this year.

6.) Looking for suggestions for updating the MG display board. It is available for all units to use at their events. She will have it at the December meeting for your input.

10.) A group called Environmental Concern is working with Maryland MGs on a community shoreline restoration. They have developed a youth program called "Wow, the Wonders of Wetlands" If you are interested in working on this project in Virginia should contact Sarah.

11.) The Virginia Office of Volunteerism sets volunteer hourly rate as $19.77.

Pat Reilly brought up Unfinished business from the October 2000 meeting, held at Charlotte Courthouse. At that time, Pat showed a report that the New Jersey MGs had prepared. It was a summary of what their counties are doing or had done in the past year (1999). It contained information on the number of hours and their dollar value to the state of New Jersey. It addressed significant cost saving programs. They used it to "toot their horn" with funding agencies.

Pat wanted to know if the VMGA membership would be interested in preparing something similar to present to the legislature. The information on hours by unit and their value is readily available from the office of Sarah Lineberger.

A motion was made and seconded to fund the publishing of a similar "Executive Summary". Arrangements will be made to present it to the legislature when it convenes in early 2003. Pat will have it available for presentation to the VMGA body at the December meeting. Various means of dissemination were discussed. There will be more discussion at the December meeting.

Bill McCaleb will get information on what dates would work to our advantage in presenting this to the Legislature. Volunteers will be needed in Richmond. More information on this as it becomes available.

Fairfax has not presented a firm commitment to the April meeting. James City/Williamsburg offered but since the December meeting is in Hanover and the February meeting is in York, a site in another region would more appropriate for April.

The next board meeting is Saturday, December 14, 2002 from 1000-1400 in Hanover County.

The following units have offered to host the next three meetings:

February, 2003 - York

April, 2003 – OPEN

June, 2003 - Blacksburg

The meeting was adjourned at 1325.

Respectfully submitted,

Cheri Haggerty

Secretary

VMGA, Inc.