From 6:30 until 7:00 p.m. Union County Master Gardeners welcomed the Class of 2001 Master Gardeners. Refreshments were available and small gifts from the extension Office were for everyone attending. The meeting was also a plant swap, with the front sidewalk outside the Elks Lodge covered in daylilies, seeds, tomatoes, parsley, hostas, rubecia, ferns, and the most fun ones, the mystery plants. We will have to plant these to see what we get!! Thanks to everyone for sharing your surplus from your yards and your seedlings. 

Linda Morgan, President called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. And asked Laura McDonnell to introduce the guests at the meeting. Steve Lowe, the mayor of Marysville and John Hixon, the Union County Extension Agent both spoke, welcoming the new class, and thanking all members for their volunteer hours. The Mayor focused on the great work done at McCloud Park and haw it fits in with his goal of making Marysville a more beautiful place to live and work. 

Laura then introduced (from memory) all the new members present. 

Claire Loeffelman presented the Leaping Frog Award to the entire Class of 2001. She and the other members of the class of 2000 at the meeting, Dorothy Coleman, Cathie Dally, and Karen Long presented each mew member with a small frog in recognition of their hard work, and supporting each other through the class and final exam. Congratulations!

The Frog will remain at the Office for April for a vacation before going on the road again.

Announcements: 

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). 
• MG handbooks have been created for each of us and should be picked up asap so Laura does not have to carry them to every meeting. Future MG information will be 3-hole punched for inclusion in the handbook to keep it current. The 2001 member directory can also be included in the handbook. It will be available at the May meeting. 
• Gardener's Tip of the Month - Cathie Dally addressed the need of MG's to get tetanus shot. Since we work in the soil so much, three is a risk of infection. The shot can be obtained at the Union County Health Office Monday-Friday for $7.00. Cathie suggests getting the shot in your dominant arm and using that arm after the shot to lesson possible soreness.

Minutes from March meeting were approved. MG received a thank-you note from the participants of the Junior Master gardener program in a 4-H group in Richwood. They thanked us for helping to fund the purchase of manuals needed for the program.

Current balance is $3255.69. This included $500 from Scotts due to our participation in a rose survey.

Remember to report your hours. Mary McDonald has a log of hours-reported to-date, if you need to review. April meeting attendees can log 1 volunteer hour for the April meeting.

Laura McConnell reported on the following:

HortLine Orientation - Laura passed around the signup for the Hortline and stated that there would be an orientation on how to research answers. John Hixon would also be explaining how to respond to inquiries. The session will be April 30th at the Extension office. Laura is asking that two people volunteer for each time slot.

Master Gardener School - Laura thanked the entire membership for helping to make the class such a success. Likewise the membership thanked Laura for her outstanding work. Laura also discussed looking into having some special education sessions this summer in gardens to identify plants, weeds, and insects.

Adopt-A-Pot: M Siegel reported that saved, unsmashed pop cans can be used in this project, and can be dropped off before May 8th at the Steppin Out. Volunteer Master Gardeners are still needed to assist the day of planting on May 19th at several locations, including Milford Center, Plain City, Raymond, and Union City. If you are interested, please contact M Siegal. 
• Heritage Trials - Linda Sanford reported that the tomatoes have been started. The volunteer growers will be contacted in late May by Linda to come and pick up the tomatoes.
• Jerome Park - No report
• McCloud Park - G McVey hopes that some new faces will be seen at the next monthly cleanup of McCloud Park. He promises to bring food and coffee to bribe all the workers. He also expects that late in May, there will be a special McCloud Park session to plant the perennial garden being planned. 
• Milford Park Center- J Westfall stated that the committee has met and has the first draft of plans. These will be in review for the next few weeks and should be done by May 20th. Master gardeners are part of the planning process only.
• Mother's Study - Serena Laroia reported that she presented a talk on gardening, developed by Laura and herself.
• Oakdale Cemetery - Linda Morgan is trying to get in contact with the persons in charge to obtain more information.
• Master gardener Website - No report
• Plain City Beautification-Sue Hess and her committee met and are beginning design.
• Reference Library - Audrey Hall is working on classifying the reference library using the standard Dewey decimal System.
• Tour of Gardens- Claire Loeffelman stated that the plans for the tour are proceeding as scheduled. Workers are needed on specific committees, including one garden group, publicity, and demonstrations. As always, please contact Claire or Laura if you are interested in volunteering. The next team meeting will be held toward the end of May, once the tickets and other printed information has been created
• Vet's Memorial -E Hornsby reported that not a lot of work has proceeded much in the last week. George McVey spoke on the hardscape issue. This is mainly the effort needed to get the monument moved. The perennial design is done and meeting with randy later in the week. The Shrub workshop is scheduled for April 28th with openings still available for members to attend. 
• Victorian gardening -Joy Scheiderer described a local program being offered on May 26th open to the public. A flyer was given to everyone attending. Victorian gardening practices will be described and discussed the Painted Lady. 
• Volksmarch - George McVey spoke about the upcoming event that would go through McCloud Park on the Saturday before Mother's Day. 
• Cookbooks - The books are on schedule to be delivered late May. We are not sure if they will be available for Mother's Day.

Project Selection Committee - L Morgan reported no new projects at this time. 
• Linda Morgan then asked the membership to speak on other new business.
• Extension Office/Class of 2001 Project - Janice Purse and Joy Bingman both discussed this effort. It involves sprucing up the office with the development of a Legacy garden. The plantings will be based on donations from the membership, so if you have anything to donate, please send that information to Joy. Janice will coordinate a team of volunteers who will plant the garden after it is laid out. 
• Farmer's Market - John Walkup gave the history of the farmer's market and invited anyone with products to sell to come and join the fun at the market. 
• Photography - The Class of 2001 had multiple class pictures taken - Hope all have received a copy. If not, look for it in the next membership directory.

Attendance: J Bingman, M Black, D Brake, A Burnard, C Burnard, P Bushdorf, D Coleman, C Dally, G Fancey, A Hall, S Hess, A Hoopes, E Hornsby, Marsha Kiss, Matt Kiss, S Larioa, C Loeffelman, K Long, L McConnell, M McDonald, C McMahan, G McVey, N Mead, L Morgan, M Pace, J Phillips, K Pohlman, J Purse, C Rasoul, S Rausch, L Reamsnyder, L Sanford, J Scheiderer, R Schutt, E Scotti, R Smith, C Switzer, S Wade, J Westfall, B Wheeler, b Winner, A Wyatt, C Zerby, J Zimmerman

Next Meeting: May 23, 7:00 p.m., Marysville Public Library 

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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