(Bedford) Gail Augenreich (Chesapeake) Jane Montgomery, (Fairfax) George Graine (Fauquier) Jim Scibek; (Goochland/ Powatan) Joe Florino, Alexandria Haselman, Helen Pearson, (Halifax) Bill McCaleb; (Lynchburg) Eleanor Carson, Pamela Hanse, Judy Kinney, Catherine Powers, Karen Sacasky, Beth Weiland; (Montgomery) Susan McCrea (Northern Neck) Jinny Estell, Pat Rogers (Northern Shenandoah) Chuck Walters, Sally Walters (Prince George) Cheryl Sebera; (Prince William) Frank Reilly, Pat Reilly; (Roanoke) Kathryn Debnar, Carol Robins, Shelby Snider, Rebecca Stinnett (Rockbridge) Ted Jenks; (Virginia Beach) Paul Campbell (Williamsburg-JCC) Dale Firestone, Shirley Firestone.

President Jim Scibek called the meeting to order at 1005

President Scibek welcomed us all to the October meeting in Lynchburg. President Scibek introduced Judy Kinney, President of Hill City Master Gardeners. She welcomed us all and thanked Karen Sacasky and her committee for making all the arrangements. Judy introduced Jane White who gave an overview of Old City Cemetery. Jane invited us to browse around on our break. The Cemetery is about 200 years old and is an historic landmark. Hill City MG's have their compost education center on the cemetery grounds.

The August minutes were accepted as corrected. The word "not" was omitted from the Education Endowment Report. This was in reference to a scholarship recipient's coordinator not submitting their name in a timely manner. Kathryn Debnar's name was corrected from Kathleen.

Treasurer Shelby Snider reported:

The September 27 Continuing Education Program at Monticello and Tufton Farm was filled with information about historical plants and the leadership Thomas Jefferson provided to the horticultural life in the early years of our country. Peter Hatch, Director of Gardens and Grounds, introduced the group to Thomas Jefferson, the avid gardener. After lunch, Tom Burford, an apple expert, spoke about the importance of apples in our nation's history. Adrianna Vargo, nursery manager at the Center for Historic Plants, described the propagation of heirloom flora that has been ongoing at Tufton Farm since 1987.

Seventy-five of the advance registrants were present. Nine refunds were made because of absences due to Hurricane Isabel.

Special thanks to the following committee members:

Debbie Hamilton again kept detailed and accurate records of registrants. Margaret Van Winkle composed the registration form, which Frank Reilly transferred on to the website.

Pinky Derieux and Fran Shelton once again made a special trip to ensure that attendees were well fed with delicious box lunches.

The next meeting of the Education Committee will be at the Extension Office in Fredericksburg on October 20 at 10 AM.

Florace said she would be looking for articles around November 1. A definite date for publication is not available due to continuing problems from Isabel.

Following the wonderful event in Monticello, our ranks grew to the dizzying height of 627 members. Unfortunately, it was time to remove those who had not renewed and this brought us back to earth somewhat. We now have 533 members. I have canvassed those who had not renewed following the Williamsburg meeting. None of them expressed any dissatisfaction with the VMGA. The majority of the responses gave the following reasons for not renewing:

1. No longer involved in MG activities at the local level.
2. Moving or moved away.
3. Financial reasons.

It appears the problem of local retention directly relates to state retention. I will be happy to e-mail or snail mail a copy of the non-renewals, with Board approval, to local representatives or coordinators upon request. Membership is always delighted to accept help in retention and recruitment.

The new roster is currently being formatted and should be at the printer shortly. Hopefully before this is read. I have been given a turn around time of 5 days and should have the mailing complete by the third week in October.

Members: Pinky Derieux, Pat Reilly, Cheri Haggerty and Frank Reilly and whoever else we need. No action to report.

Members: Cheri Haggerty, Angela Cahn, Shelby Snyder and Chair Frank Reilly and whomever else we can get.

6. Membership Applications are available on-line at the Membership page

The Unit reps attending presented written reports or have e-mailed them to the secretary. They will be posted at VMGA.net.

The State Fair will be held at the current site in Richmond through 2005. They have acquired Meadow Farm in Caroline County. It was requested that the results of the Green Industry survey be made available to the membership. This request will be passed on to Evelyn Parker.

The committee consists of Pat Reilly, Chuck and Sally Walters. The committee has no current responsibilities.

Our official advisor now is Joyce Lattimer. A Faculty member who is also chairing the search committee for the State Master Gardener Coordinator. It is a national search in all the states in which we have contacts, which is more than 47 sates. The announcement is linked at www. vmga.net.

Master Gardener College 2004 is tentatively set for June 9-13. A week later than this year and the week before Father's Day. The College Advisory Committee will be meeting in the not too distant future.

Diane has been contacted by the Department of Social Services of Virginia. In the past they have offered training in Nutrition and the like and are now interested in offering Gardening training. They were initially interested in the agents doing this training but Diane has championed Master Gardeners to do the training. The workshops are attended by the staff at daycare centers and family day care providers. The DSS mails their flyers, offering training to over 10,000 providers throughout the State. The workshops are 3-4 hours long and are offered all over the state. They are willing to pay a training fee of $100 per hour. They also pay mileage and some lodging. For more information contact Diane Relf.

Diane sends her thanks for all the donations to her garden. The total is approaching $10,000.

Gifts have been listed from VMGA, Rockbridge area, Middlesex, Matthews, Virginia Beach, New River Valley and Roanoke. There have been a number of private donations.

Name badges from Tech are on hold again. It was recommended that units contact Dr. Umberger on their own.

The Nominating and Election Committee appointments were confirmed. The members are Pat Reilly (Chair), Kathryn Debnar, Mike Holmes and Paul Campbell.

Chesapeake has offered to host the October 2004 meeting. The normal meeting date competes with the North East Regional Master Gardener Conference in Baltimore. A motion was made and seconded to move the meeting to October 16, 2004.

The April meeting has already been moved to April 3, 2004.

Future Board meetings are scheduled as follows:

December 13, 2004 Prince George (Southeast District)

February 14, 2004 Charlottesville (Northern District)

April 03, 2004 Northern Shenandoah (Northwest District)

The meeting was adjourned at 1340.

Respectfully submitted,

Cheri Haggerty

Secretary

VMGA