Virginia Master Gardener Association
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Archived Minutes

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Virginia Master Gardener Association, Inc.

Bi- Monthly Meeting

December 13, 2008

Clarksville (South Central) 

(Draft)

 

Attendance: (Albemarle/Charlottesville) Joyce Grunewald;  (Alton) Charles and Loretta Stallard;  (Blue Ridge) Charlie Whittle; (Brunswick) Vicki Nixon, Virginia Myrick;  (Chesapeake) Pinky Derieux; (Clarksville) Lori Hamlet;  (Gloucester) Bonnie Bernard;  (Green Spring) Cyndi Bishop; (Halifax)  Sonya Post, Jeannine Hall, Donna Branuda, Joan Layman,  Edna Gietence, Joan Whitt, Bill McCaleb;  (Hanover) Christy Brennan, Cheri Haggerty;  (James City County/Williamsburg) Jim and Nelda Pressly, Susan Giandomenico;  (Louisa) Tina Chalekie, Ira Wallace;  (Lynchburg, Amherst, Campbell)  Karen Sacasky; (Mecklenberg)  Glenn Jurczyk,  Michele Maleno, Carolyn Hite, Nancy Drewry; (Prince George) Cheryl Sebera;  (Prince William) Janet and Bill Scott, Frank Reilly; (Norfolk) Don Snipes; (Rockbridge) David Mims;  (Roanoke)  Katherine Debnar;  (Virginia Beach) Jim and Mary Ann Kincaid, Fran Shelton, Betty Villers, Paul Campbell;  (VT/VCE) Dave Close, Dawn Lerch; and (York) Jackie Lohr. 

                                                                                                                                                                                         

 

Call to Order –

President Betty Villers called the meeting to order at 10:00am

               

Introductions;

Glen Jurczyk introduced the South Central Master Gardeners who have a large footprint in Virginia representing four counties, Brunswick, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, and Nottoway) . There are 42 active Master Gardeners, who volunteer at the State Fair, and have had several very successful educational events in partnership with the town of Clarksville. The Master Gardeners have been working with the VEC office to educate the public on maintaining healthy plants such as azaleas.  Advance training with trees and woody plants will be held for the master gardeners.

 

Introduction – All attendees were recognized by name and the unit they represented.

 

Minutes:

The minutes of the October Bi-monthly meeting were approved as posted on line.

 

Treasurer’s Report – Bill Scott

Bill presented copies of the treasurers report, there have been no significant expenses incurred. The treasurer’s report was accepted as read and will be filed for audit.

The report is attached at the end of this document

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS:
 

Newsletter- Peggy Fox - Content Editor,  Dawn Meyerriecks- Layout Editor  

Neither was present.   Reminder that unit reports should be sent to Christy Brennan, Secretary by Jan 2nd.

 

    

Membership – Mary Ann Kincaid, Chair

As of December 11, there are 527 current members of the Virginia Master Gardener Association.  Of these, 360 are Active members, 8 are Auxiliary members, and 159 are Lifetime members.

 

This is an increase of 8 members since October and is 26 members more than December of last year.

 

Please make a note that VMGA By-Laws require that Unit Reps be members of the organization.  If there are any questions about this policy, please let Mary Ann know.

 

 

 

Unit Support - Frank Reilly, Chair

Members: Pat Reilly, Karen Sacasky, Pinky Derieux, and whoever else we need. 

1.        The unit support committee answered questions by two units about the role of Advanced Master Gardener in local units and within Extension.

2.        The unit updated & maintained a page at the website about Budget issues

3.        The unit continued to plan for a February special educational event regarding changes and preparations for lean times ahead.

 
Communication Committee - Frank Reilly, Chair
 Members: Cheri Haggerty, Kathryn Debnar, Betsy Lyon, and whoever else we can get.
  1. November 10th marked our seventh anniversary as VMGA.net.  We’ve grown from a single page giving the minutes of the last meeting to a large web site with more than 220 pages of content and more than 60,000 (66,375 unique visitors in 2008 so far) visitors annually.
  2. Since the October regularly scheduled meeting there have been 9986 visitors to VMGA.net.  Many of our visitors come via search engines like Google & Yahoo.
  3. Since the October regularly scheduled meeting, the web page has been updated on 64 separate occasions.
  4. The most popular pages in the last two months have been Calendar and Endowment; but more than 58% of our page views come in through the front page. 
  5. Kathryn Debnar is currently accepting changes to the calendar. 
  6. Cheri Haggerty maintains the links page. 
  7. We are currently working on the MG College Recruiting Presentation.  We could use some photos of activities, and the Sunday going away picnic.  The Presentation is up there now, but will be re-mastered in January.

 

 

Finance Committee – Ted Jenks, Chair

Members:  Jim Kincaid (Virginia Beach), Nancy Golden (Goochland/ Powhatan), Brenda Shimchek (Hanover)

 Ted was not present at the meeting., but Bill Scott presented Ted's report which will be emailed to all unit reps to share with local leadership.  

At the June 2008 meeting of the VMGA Executive Board with CALS Dean Sharron Quisenberry and Extension Director Mark McCann it was brought to our attention that the VA Tech Foundation can set up accounts for local units, and possibly VMGA, that pay interest of about 4% per year. Until June 2009 the Foundation will waive the initial fee which is normally 7%. Dawn Lerch (540- 231-5546) was identified as the point of contact for finding out more about these accounts. At the August 2008 meeting of the VMGA Board, the Finance Committee accepted an action to get more information about this opportunity for VMGA and all Virginia Master Gardener units.

Conclusions

Of the three main types of accounts at the Foundation the most relevant to Master Gardener Units and VMGA for most normal or routine operations are probably the operating funds account and the VT Foundation CD’s. Since VMGA and most Master Gardener Units fund their operations from membership dues and/or plant sales/cookbook sales, and since the Foundation funds cannot accept deposits from these sources this opportunity is not actually open to these Master Gardener Units. In addition, the User’s Guide clearly identifies that the Foundation does not operate like a “bank” but more like a “treasurer” for an organization. While this could clearly be an advantage for an extension office, we do not see it as helpful to VMGA or Master Gardener Associations.

 

With regard to the VT Foundation CD’s, their high minimum balance ($10,000) and low interest (1%) relative to CD’s available from commercial and online banks (3.5% to 4.5%) makes them unattractive to VMGA and Master Gardener Associations as well.

 

However, for those organizations which have $25,000 or more in “Non-Operating Funds” which can be set aside (principle can never be returned) as an endowment to fund some future activities of the organization from the interest earned, placing those funds in a VT Foundation endowment account would be a good idea and is recommended. The annual income from an endowment account of 4 to 5% combined with its security, stability and the VT Foundation handling all of the reporting requirements is of great benefit to any organization.

 

Special Committees:

 

Endowment Committee :  Kathryn Debnar, Chair

Kathryn distributed a report: the highlights are below

The official opening of the program was enthusiastically received.

As of October 15, 2008

Cash on Hand (includes gifts and pledge payments)   109,485.50

O/S Pledge balance                                             24,090.00

Mr. Dempsey’s pledge                                        100,000.00

Interest earned                                                       15,084.74

Total                                                                       248,660.24

Given the current state of economy we need to be realistic in our goals and more specific in the upcoming plans and events. Remember if every Master Gardener would contribute $50 for 5 we would achieve our goal today.
Currently

4 people pledged   $25.00 for 5 years

56 people pledged $50 for 5

14 people pledged $100 for 5

 

We need to plan and implement another approach where we can go into communities and give talks about the role of the VA Tech Foundation and VMGA regarding the MGCEF.

 
 
 
VA Green Industry Council:  Cheri Haggerty, Chair                    

The Virginia Green Industry Council also partners with the Virginia Agribusiness Council and Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Science (VDACS).

  • As a result of legislation earlier this year, a VDACS committee has been established to review pending regulations for commercial fertilizer application on non-agricultural lands. Met with lawn care operator members of the Virginia Turfgrass Council to discuss pending regulations for commercial fertilizer application on non-agricultural lands.
  • Authored article for a quarterly newsletter published by "Mission H2O" to give the perspective from agribusiness on Water Supply Planning efforts ("Mission H2O" is a private stakeholders group tracking water supply planning developments in Virginia)
  • Lead efforts to finalize recommendations to amend the Nutrient  Management Cost-Share practices through a DCR Subcommittee
  • Along with other business interests, provided comments to the Governor's Commission on Climate Change highlighting the potential negative impacts of some of the Commission recommendations on the private sector
  • Sustainable Sites Initiative www.sustainablesites.org invites public comment on the new Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks Draft 2008 The Sustainable Sites Initiative is an interdisciplinary effort by the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the United States Botanic Garden
    to create voluntary national guidelines and performance benchmarks for sustainable land design, construction and maintenance practices.
  • Next VGIC Meeting  -Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 10 a.m. to 3 p.m
  • GoGreen Virginia, Garden Festival

The 2009 Festival is scheduled Saturday Sept 12th.

Theme – Grown/Made in VA, Soliciting speakers, demos and vendor exhibits to participate contact                 Rick.Baker@vdacs.virginia.gov.  Will be held at the Children’s Museum, this is a wonderful site for a plant sale and

 education please let Cheri know if your group is interested in participating.

 

The CVNL short course will be held at Lewis Ginter Feb 4th- 6th. This is the 40th anniversary of this event. The Title for this year, “Gardening in the Era of Climatic Change”, this three day event will cost slightly more than previous events and will include very good group of speakers.  In the advertisement of who should attend, Green Industry members, Master Gardeners and the sophisticated gardeners are mentioned.  More information will be on the Lewis Ginter web site.

 

 
Fund Raising: Susan Giandomenico  - Chair

To date we have made $266.31.  Susan  has made fund raising packs which can be purchased for $20.00 to showcase all current items to each  unit.

Susan has been working on new items and will be getting samples soon. She hopes to have pdf files sent to the unit reps to get feed back on these the items in February.

 

 

Search for Excellence:  Christy Brennan, Angela Cingale and Bud Gregory

A copy of the draft of the recomendations was sent to the unit reps for comment. 

Three  reponses were received:  

“ the ex board of out unit decided a competitive board for our unit was not likely but we support the format suggested”.

“this conforms o the international requirements, those who are interested have guidelines for their work”.

“Most units are very happy to put together a new project display every year and present their work at MG College. They look forward to displaying a brag board without filling out forms to qualify for a fun award.  Working and enjoying our volunteerism is where it is at for most of the MG’s. I would suggest that prior to MG College the application for the national award be sent to all units and let them decide if they want to go farther than MG college."

 

During the discussion some unit reps had noted that they took the proposed form, followed the direction and submitted a project to the International MG College. No results have been reported to date.

 

Betty reminded members that the purpose of the update is to have our winners ready for the National Master Gardener Competition.  

 

 

P. Diane Relf Education Endowment Fund : Paul Campbell - Chair

Paul will begin to select new committee members and discuss ways to educate unit reps, Extension Agents and Master Gardeners about the availibitityof scholarships. Committee members will be made up from past recipients of  the  scholarship.

 

 

Extension Liaison - Dave Close, MG Coordinator

 

·                     MGCAT met in November. Worked on tours and leadership training and something new: workshops (micro propagation, digital photography, floral arranging). Alan Armitage has agreed to be our keynote speaker.

·                     Still working on handbook revision. Delayed the release until summer 2009.

·                     National review of MG program was launched in late November. At least 5 states have already responded. Deadline for data collection is January 15.

·                     Scotts can offer to do advanced trainings for MGs on a variety of topics; have been doing this in GA for a couple of years. Scotts Training Institute. . . . . Dave spent 3 days in Marysville, OH at their Global headquarters taking their STI. Looks very good with many opportunities to partner with Scotts (email alerts, training resources: online and face-to-face, product samples)

·                     Last week (December 2, 3) he participated in the Southern Region IPM Center Advisory Council meeting. He was appointed to the council in late 2007. He had time on the agenda to talk about how EMG programs in the southern region can work with the SRIPMC collaboratively. Made contact with an entomologist from UGA and will work with him on an RFA to pull EMG into IPM work in southern region. IPM was changed in the 2008 Farm Bill. Former formula funding was changed to competitive. Many commodity groups are upset and trying to reverse this legislation.

·                     Work on EAB with USFS is proceeding in Northern District. Working out the details for a grant to fund our efforts.

·                     On November 6, gave a presentation along with Barb Stewart and Frank Reilly at the 2009 Backyards and Beyond Firewise Conference. Between 30 and people sat in on their talk; was moderated by Frank Turck of VA DOF. Regional firewise training was offered on December 8, in Charlottesville. Just under 100 people were registered to attend. Louisa’s training was postponed due to health problems with the coordinator.

·                     Dean Quisenberry scheduled forums with the College on December 12 & 15 to bring everyone up to speed on the state of the College. We are waiting for Governor Kaine to announce budget decisions on December 16. Information will be forwarded to VMGA to forward on to everyone about contacting state senators and delegates before the holidays hit for personal contacts before they go back into session in January.  Dean Quisenberry will be speaking on the Green Industry at the Mid-Atlantic Conference in Maryland.

 

Unit Reports:

The unit reps were asked to send their reports to the secretary. They will be posted at www.VMGA.net and printed in the next newsletter.

 

President’s Question of the Day to the Unit Reps: “How can the VMGA best serve the MGs in your unit in reference to educational opportunites.

 

It was good to hear what the VMGA representatives determined. Several ideas were mentioned by multiple units: regional training, mini MG College, more advanced classes, Jr. MG package. These ideas will be considered by the new Education Committee.  The new members of the education committee representing all regions met during lunch.  

 

Unfinished Business-

 

Education Committee- Betty introduced members of the new Education Committee; Barbara Geer (Chair) - Prince George, Bill Garlette - Newport News, Lori Hamlett - Southside, Betty Jo Hendrix - Western Tidewater, Patty Richard - Bedford, Ira Wallace - Central VA. They will be looking at the comments to the President's Question of the Day to plan future VMGA educational programs.

 

February Special Educational Event - Frank Reilly and committee continue to plan regarding changes and preparations for lean times.

 

Tax Filing information for nonprofit orginizations - Cheri Haggerty's findings can be found in the VMGA newsletter.  For more information go to IRS.gov and click on "not for profit".

 

 

New Business:

 

A list of the MG Intern Training Class Schedule by units was passed around for updating.

 

Education Endowment Fund proposal -  Paul Campbell and  Scholarship committee proposed a total of six 100 dollar scholarships  to MG College be presented with at least two going to  small units with 70 members or less.  Currently there are more than 35 units with less than 70 members and 25 larger units with over 70 members.

Paul presented a motion to set aside 2 VMGA scholarships to qualified applicants of units with less than 70 members.

 Motion was seconded by Glenn Jurczyk and approved by the membership present

 

Feb 4-6th  Short course at Lewis Ginter, "Gardening in the Era of Climate Change" -  VMGA will partner with VCE but has not heard any additional information.  

 

MG College -

Silent Auction - Leslie Paulson will be contacting the unit reps.

Goody Bags - Patty Gamache is asking units to get items such as pencils, note pads, and such donated.  Need 300 of each item. 

Publicity -  George Graine has created a letter promoting MG College 2009 which will be sent to all unit reps.

 

Jan 19th the VMGA Board will be meeting with VA Tech department heads to discuss current topics .Please e-mail Betty any questions you or your unit might want to ask.

 

Meeting Cancellation policy – In case of inclement weather and VMGA Board meeting is canceled, it will show up on the website by 6:00 a.m., Saturday, day of the meeting.

 

Cheri Haggerty proposed that the VMGA co-sponsor a booth at the Maymont home and garden show in Richmond. $175.00 is ½ the cost of the booth.  The Booth will be staffed by VMGA and Hanover MG’s. Motion presented, seconded by Fran Shelton and passed.

 

Announcements

 

Five VA Master Gardeners had gardening tips published in January issue of Backyard Living Magazine.

 

Received request from Central Virginia HOME Magazine for article on Creating a Fragrant Garden.  Have emailed information to unit reps.

 

The April 2009 meeting scheduled for Easter weekend, April 11th has been changed to the next weekend April 18th.

 

Sites for the VMGA Bi-Monthly Meetings – 

2009 meeting schedule:

February 14 - Hanover

April 18 - Louisa

June- VA Tech -MG College

August 8 - Lynchburg

October 10 – Rockbridge

December 12 - Virginia Beach

 

Next VMGA meeting will be held on Feb.14th – Hanover, at the DDS Building on Route 1, 10:00 a.m. 

 

Meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

 Christy Brennan, VMGA Secretary


 

 

Virginia Master Gardener Association, Inc

Treasurer’s Report

December 2008

 

 

Balance Sheet

 

 

 

 

 

Data As OF:

11/30/2008

 

 

 

 

Checking Account Balance

 

 

 

 

$6,163.18

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PDR Education Endowment CD Balance

 

 

 

$13,691.42

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reserve CD #1 Balance

 

 

 

 

$0.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reserve CD #2 Balance

 

 

 

 

$4,618.20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Future Dues CD Balance

 

 

 

 

$5,756.34

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fundraising Inventory

 

 

 

 

$1,137.57

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Assets

 

 

$31,366.71

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unearned Income - Future Dues

 

 

 

$6,183.01

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coordinator Endowment Funds Payable

 

 

 

$545.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coordinator Endowment Planned Gifts Payable

 

 

 

$0.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Restricted Gifts for Scholarships

 

 

 

$0.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Liabilities

 

 

$6,728.01

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accumulated Earnings

 

 

 

 

$20,496.57

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current Year Earnings

 

 

 

 

$4,142.13

$4,142.13

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Net Assets

 

 

$24,638.70

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Liabilities and Net Assets

 

$31,366.71

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Checking Balance as of

9/30/2008

 

 

 

$7,308.82

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Receipts

 

 

 

$336.60

 

 

 

Coord Endowment Gifts

$20.00

 

 

 

 

Dues FY 10-19

$108.00

 

 

 

 

FY 09 dues (current FY)

$208.60

 

 

 

 

Education

 

$0.00

 

 

 

 

Fundraising

 

$0.00

 

 

 

 

Gift for EEF

 

$0.00

 

 

 

 

Restricted Gift for Scholarship

$0.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disbursements

 

 

 

-$1,482.24

 

 

 

Comm/Support

 

$0.00

 

 

 

 

Coord Endowment Cmte

$0.00

 

 

 

 

Coord Endow Gift Transfers

$0.00

 

 

 

 

Education

 

$0.00

 

 

 

 

Education Scholarship-Spec

$0.00

 

 

 

 

EEF Scholarships

$0.00

 

 

 

 

Elections

 

$0.00

 

 

 

 

Fund Raising Cmte

$0.00

 

 

 

 

Fund Raising Gifts to Endowment

$0.00

 

 

 

 

Marketing

 

$0.00

 

 

 

 

Membership & Roster

-$910.45

 

 

 

 

Newsletter

 

-$102.00

 

 

 

 

State Fair

 

-$420.57

 

 

 

 

Officers Expense

 

 

 

 

 

   President

 

$0.00

 

 

 

 

   Vice President

$0.00

 

 

 

 

   Secretary

 

-$49.22

 

 

 

 

   Treasurer

 

$0.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transfers

 

 

 

$0.00

 

 

 

EEF Gift Transfers

$0.00

 

 

 

 

Lifetime Dues Transfers

$0.00

 

 

 

 

Reserve CD Transfers

$0.00

 

 

 

 

Fundraising Inventory Transfer

$0.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Checking Balance as of

11/30/2008

 

 

 

$6,163.18

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interest Income on Reserve and EEF CD's

$300.93

 

 

 

Interest Income on Future Dues CD

$137.33

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Committee

Budget

Income

 

 

 

 

 

Membership

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FY 09 (Lifetime/Prior Year)

$3,600.00

$4,356.00

 

 

 

 

 

FY 09 (Current FY)

$1,600.00

$1,008.00

 

 

 

 

 

Subtotal

$5,200.00

$5,364.00

 

 

 

 

 

Education

$3,000.00

$0.00

 

 

 

 

 

Fundraising

$1,000.00

$904.88

 

 

 

 

 

Gift for EEF

 

$15.00

 

 

 

 

 

Interest Income

 

$438.26

 

 

 

 

 

Restricted Gift for Scholarship

$0.00

$0.00

 

 

 

 

 

total

$9,200.00

$6,722.14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Committee

Budget

Expense

Year-End

 

 

 

 

Comm/Support

$300.00

$0.00

$300.00

 

 

 

 

Coord Endowment Cmte

$100.00

$0.00

$100.00

 

 

 

 

Education

$3,000.00

$0.00

$3,000.00

 

 

 

 

Education Scholarship-Spec

$0.00

$0.00

$0.00

 

 

 

 

EEF Scholarships

$600.00

-$600.00

$0.00

 

 

 

 

Elections

$0.00

$0.00

$0.00

 

 

 

 

Fund Raising Cmte

$0.00

$0.00

$0.00

 

 

 

 

Fund Raising Gifts to Endowment

$1,000.00

$0.00

$1,000.00

 

 

 

 

Marketing

$300.00

$0.00

$300.00

 

 

 

 

Membership & Roster

$2,000.00

-$1,060.33

$939.67

 

 

 

 

Newsletter

$1,300.00

-$287.81

$1,012.19

 

 

 

 

State Fair

$350.00

-$420.57

-$70.57

 

 

 

 

Officers Expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   President

$125.00

-$73.09

$51.91

 

 

 

 

   Vice President

$25.00

$0.00

$25.00

 

 

 

 

   Secretary

$35.00

-$49.22

-$14.22

 

 

 

 

   Treasurer

$65.00

-$88.99

-$23.99

 

 

 

 

total

$9,200.00

-$2,580.01

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fund

Balance to Start Fiscal Year

Funds Received

Transfers

Balance

 

 

Coordinator Endowment

$0.00

$545.00

$0.00

$545.00

 

 

Lifetime Dues FY 10-19

$132.00

$432.00

$0.00

$564.00

 

 

Education Endowment

$123.00

$15.00

$0.00

$138.00

 

 

Planned Gifts to Coord Endow

$0.00

 

$0.00

$0.00

 

 

Reserve Funds CD's

 

 

$0.00

 

 

 

total

 

 

 

$1,247.00

 

 

             

 



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