President Jim Scibek called the meeting to order at 7: 06 PM in the theater of Torgerson Hall on the Campus of Virginia Tech. President Jim Scibek welcomed those attending.

Treasurer Shelby Snider reported that at the end of the Fiscal Year 2004, our net worth is $18,719.37.The audit was completed on June 6,2004.

President Jim Scibek reported:

• The Board met with the VCE -Master Gardener leadership this past Friday. They will meet again in 6 months. These meetings keep the lines of communication open.

• Membership is over 500.

• Introduced David Close as the new Master Gardener State Coordinator.

The VMGA Education Committee sponsored two major education events in 2003, March 2003 ("Organic Garden of Eden") and September 2003 ("Mr. Jefferson's Gardens") at Monticello, which included tours of the gardens and a seminar at Tufton Farms. The VMGA - Prince George collaboration of the second Good Gardening Symposium was held March 13, 2004 in Prince George. Speakers were Brent Heath ("the bulb folks") and Peggy Singlemann of Maymont.

The Education committee was made up of Joan Clements (Lancaster- Northumberland), Margaret Van Winkle (Prince William), Debby Hamilton (Prince William), Louise Livinghouse (Prince William), Mike Holmes (Stafford), Fran Shelton (Virginia Beach), Pinky Derieux (Chesapeake), George Graine (Fairfax) and Cheri Haggerty (Hanover). Ex-officio members Barbara Geer (Prince George) and Cheryl Sebera (Prince George)

The 2004-2006 Education committee will be headed by Fran Shelton (Virginia Beach) and Pinky Deriuex (Chesapeake). Members of the committee will remain the same.

Florace was unable to attend but reported that the newsletter has been mailed. She continues to welcome timely comments and articles for the newsletter.

Pauline reported that as of June 3, 2004 we have 608 regular members, an increase of 72 since June 2003 and 92 life members, an increase of 13 over the 2003 figure. We have 15% participation in VMGA of the over 3900 active Master Gardeners in Virginia.

Members: Pat Reilly, Karen Sacasky, Kerry Goldmeyer, Pinky Derieux, Susie McCrea and Frank Reilly and whomever else we need.

1. We maintained a page dealing with the Critical Staffing Initiative, and arranged four email solicitations urging Master Gardeners to contact their legislators.
2. We have answered a question regarding liability insurance for activities by local units. In short, Virginia Tech indemnifies us when we are doing the work of Extension, but does not cover us for such activities as fund-raising for local associations.
3. Karen Sacasky visited with the new MG training class in Nelson County and gave a presentation covering MG program history, VCE, and VMGA.
4. Susie McCrea has investigated Sales Tax issues for VMGA and local units may find the results useful. They are posted on the VMGA Web Site.
5. Frank Reilly has fielded some questions about the utility of forming an association from two different local groups of MGs.
6. Pat Reilly gave a presentation to representatives of several Northern Virginia Master Gardener groups concerning retention of volunteers.
7. The Committee has fielded numerous questions concerning hours reporting, and the status of our support from VCE.

Sadly we note the passing of our friend Angela Cahn this past week. She will be missed by all of us. She was responsible for the Calendar page at VMGA.net. She spent several years as the Northern Neck VMGA representative and most recently was the MG coordinator for that area.

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

Scholarship selection committee members are Paul Campbell, Karen Sacasky, Pat Reilly, Fran Shelton and Cheri Haggerty. There were six $100.00 scholarships. Scholarship recipients awarded their scholarships at MG College this year are:

Fauquier County is again donating $.65 from the sale of their CD, Chuck Hoysa's Hort Updates to the endowment fund.

The Fair will remain in Richmond this year. It will be at the new site, Meadow Farm, in Caroline County in 2006. Christy reminded those present that there is a sign up sheet in the Brag Board room.

The committee consisted of Pat Reilly, Kathryn Debnar, Mike Holmes and Paul Campbell. 550 ballots were mailed out. 205 ballots were returned and counted. The results were as follows:

Dave reported that he is settling in and hopes to visit each District before the year is out. The record keeping system is high priority and updating the MG Intranet is progressing.

There was no unfinished business.

• A dues increase was voted on at the June 2004 regular board meeting. The annual dues will be $12.00, effective July 1, 2004. The costs are outstripping the income. Discussion on the increase is in the June 2004 minutes posted at VMGA.net

• The challenge for 2005 is Fairfax County challenging GreenSprings.

Next Board Meeting – Saturday, August 14, 2004 at 10:00 a.m. in Halifax County. This meeting may be changed to another South Central District unit location. Information will be posted at VMGA.net.

The Northeast Regional Master Gardener Conference is October 6-8, 2004 in Baltimore. See VMGA.net for more information.

The new officers were introduced.

Diane Relf announced the receipt of almost $10,000 to the Diane Relf Garden in the VA Tech Hort Gardens. The VA Tech Hort Gardens has also received a pledge for a $1 million donation in honor of Marie Taylor.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM.

 Respectfully Submitted,

Cheri Haggerty

VMGA Secretary