The July Master Gardener meeting was held on July 25,2001, 7:00 p.m. 
Linda Morgan, President, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 

Announcements:
Laura McConnell presented the Leaping Frog award to Nancy Mead, for her hard work on the garden tour and willingness to take on new projects through out the year. Mail and handouts can be picked up at the Extension Office or at the meeting, (REMEMBER, your mail is in FRONT of your name card). Please remember to pick up mail, since postage expenses can be avoided by the Office if you can pick up information on a timely basis.

Treasurer’s Report: Since this is an abbreviated meeting, no report this month.

Timekeeper’s Report: July meeting attendees can log 1 volunteer hour for the July meeting. It had been requested at the June meeting that if someone else was interested in taking on this responsibility, Mary McDonald was ready to pass it on. Since then, Nancy Mead has volunteered and starting with the July meeting, Nancy will be the group’s timekeeper. She requested that everyone get current with their reporting as soon as possible.

Coordinator’s Report:
No report due to abbreviated format.

Old Business:

Reference Book Sale - C Burnard reported that the deadline was that night in fact, and all orders needed to be in now. Books will be distributed at the August meeting.

MG Apparel Sale -  apparel is in  please stop by the Extension Office to pick up you order.
Richwood Park Days -  Nancy Mead is in charge of this project, and is in need of volunteers. Please see her, if you are interested.

C  Stolte-Brouillette - briefly reviewed process of selling cookbooks, focusing on turning the money and unsold books back into the committee.
Other - C Burnard  recognized A Burnard for his current news article concerning lawn mower safety.

State Conference - Laura stated that the information had just been mailed. If you do not receive your packet, see her for an extra copy.
Great Tomato Festival - at the August meeting, do not forget to bring in samples of  your tomatoes as well as your favorite tomato recipe to share with others.  Dr. MacRiedel will judge the entries.

WUCO Window - Linda Morgan met with station manager concerning their offer of window space for our use. We offered to do it quarterly, seasonally.  She stated the focus of the window should be educational themes tied to Master Gardener organization. We will have the North window to decorate. Ann Allen moved and it was seconded that we take on this initiative.M Carson and J Bingman volunteered to be co-chairmen. L Morgan emphasized that the group needed to support this project and not leave the work to the two chairs.  A volunteer sign-up sheet will be set up for member participation.

Tour of Gardens- Linda Morgan then turned the meeting over to Claire Loeffelman to discuss the main topic of the meeting.  Claire thanked all the volunteers that worked though out the year on the tour. She emphasized that out of approximately 80 members, 55 members worked on the tour this year, which is a great show of support and participation. She was not able to provide final numbers on attendance and moneys collected. This was promised for the August meeting.  She also thanked those that submitted evaluations the tour and responded to Laura’s survey.  Claire asked that the meeting focus on what we wanted to do in the future and hoped all would participate in the discussion. The discussion first reviewed the overall goals of the tour, and based on both the surveys and general consensus that night, there was agreement that the goals should continue to be 1) Education, 2) Public Awareness and 3) Funding and that our audience is really anyone interested, as we are, in gaining more gardening knowledge. There was much discussion on what should be the use of the funds, and again general consensus was to enable the MG classes to be affordable to potential members, by providing a way to keep tuition fees at current levels.  It was mentioned that in other counties or states, class costs could be as high as $300, which could be a deterrent in attracting new members.  The membership then discussed if the tour should be an annual event, every other year, or no longer be a MG Project.  This was brought up to discuss since gardens for next year should be selected over the next month or so.  Again the membership discussed this in great length.  From the feedback from the public, friends and MGs, all felt this has become an event that the public looks forward to. We estimate that we had about 300 to 350 attendees this year, and felt that with the 75 gardens open that weekend for tours in the surrounding counties, that this is evidence of the popularity of the event. Some tours were free, again showing our popularity.  Demonstrations were also very popular and continue to be an effective educational tool.  Visitors from outside the area also commented on the tour’s organization and the number of MG at each garden, willing to help.  The membership decided to hold the event again next year.  Marsha Kiss is leading the selection committee this year and there was some discussion of identifying gardens for next year and the selection rules.   Claire requested that the selection committee hold a meeting prior to looking at gardens to discuss the process and define guidelines.  She also requested that the meeting time be announced to all MG to ensure that anyone wanting to participate in that discussion and definition of guidelines for the future be included. Claire then asked Laura to explain The Chamber of Commerce’ proposal to the MG. For the 2000 tour, the C of C donated $1500 to the tour. They requested some efforts from us in return, which we complied with. For 2001, the C of C envisions a weekend of events, to include the tour. Other events would be a crafts show, taste of Marysville, among others.  The date could change to be closer to July 4th.  There was much discussion among the members.  It was finally motioned by Ann Allen to not participate in the C of C plan as currently proposed.  It was seconded and passed. But based on the members’ questions and concerns, the group asked Laura to revisit the topic with C of C to discuss in more detail and explore perhaps other options. Laura also talked about trying to simplify the tour, and it was suggested that depending on the number of volunteers, only so much could or would get done and perhaps one less garden should be included next year.  Claire then thanked everyone for their participation and involvement.

New Business:

Robbin Schutt requested that the 2000 class stay after the meeting for a group photo, and reminded the membership that plans are proceeding for the annual banquet scheduled for the September meeting. 

With no further new business, L Morgan adjourned the meeting.

Attendance:

A Allen, J Bingman, M Black, C Stolte-Brouillette, A Burnard, C Burnard, P Bushdorf, M Carson, D Coleman, A Hall, S Hess, J Jordan, Marsha Kiss, Matt Kiss, C Loeffelman, K Long, L McConnell, M McDonald, B Matheson, N Mead, L Morgan, K Oberst, M Pace, L Reamsnyder, E Rees, R Schutt, L Shandle, L Smith, S Wade, J Walkup, J Westfall, C Zerby

Next Meeting: August 22, Brodrick House, 275 West Fifth St. Marysville, 937-644-9797, 
6 p.m. tour of home and garden, 6:30 Great Tomato Festival and 7:30 Meeting - bring a lawn chair to sit on.

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All educational programs conducted by Ohio State University Extension are available to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender, age, disability or Vietnam-era veteran status.

Keith L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Ag. Admin. and Director, OSU Extension TDD No. 800-589-8292 (Ohio only) or 614-292-1868

Revised November, 2001