Linda Morgan, President called the meeting to order and introduced the guest speaker. Flora Stump of Crago’s Nursery spoke to the Master Gardeners on landscaping. She discussed why we landscape and what to consider when starting a project. Buying a new home, the sale of a home or changing the look are usual reasons to landscape. The style desired, wheither formal, informal, a combination, or to look like the neighborhood or to blend with the house style are all factors. The family makeup and setting of the house and how much on-going work will be needed should also be considered. Other factors discussed were sun exposure, using a focal point, balance in the yard, and using computer programs to help design. She emphasized that there is no right or wrong landscape choice, rather be flexible and open to change.

Announcements: 

MEETING LOCATION for the April 25th meeting has been changed! Meeting will be held at the Elks Lodge at 5th and Plum. Meeting time is at 6:30 for the Master Gardener Appreciation Night to welcome class of 2001, plant swap, refreshments, etc. 

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).

Mary McDonald presented the Leaping Frog to Claire Loeffelman. Congratulations!

Gardener’s Tip of the Month: postponed due to illness.

Secretary’s Report: Minutes from February meeting were approved. No correspondence to report. Members of the new 2001 Master Gardener class in attendance were introduced and welcomed.

Members were reminded to review address labels on new MG handbooks available for pickup at the meeting and at the Extension Office, if incorrect, please report to Laura McConnell.

Treasurer’s Report: Current balance is $2655.69. 

Timekeeper’s Report: Remember to report your hours. All hours for the MG year ending April 30th need to be turned in ASAP. Mary will take information on the standard reporting card, either mailed in or left at the Extension Office, or you can e-mail her at MCBUMPER@aol.com with your hours BEFORE APRIL 30th. Mary McDonald has a log of hours-reported to-date, if you need to review. March meeting attendees can log 1 volunteer hour for the meeting and I educational hour for the landscaping program.

Coordinator’s Report:

Laura McConnell reported on the following 

Extension Office Project for 2001 Class: Asked that current MG volunteer to lead new class members in different activities focusing on Extension Office sprucing up, such as outside flower beds and flower boxes on porch. If interested, please contact Laura. 
• Festival of Trees 2001: She polled the membership to see is there is interest in participating in the festival of Trees in Marysville. This would be a marketing project, involving trimming a tree for the annual tree festival sponsored by the Memorial Hospital Twigs. Our interest in participation needs to be communicated to Twig now, but the project will not startup until late summer. 
• Honda Dollars for Doers grants: Laura described a Honda project focusing on employees and spouses to donate $200 to organizations in the community, such as MG. See Laura for more information. 
• Master Gardener School: Going well, remember the April meeting will be our official welcome to the new members 
• Reference Library: Laura still needs some help at the office to complete the cataloging of some reference materials. 

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. Volunteers and 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 Siegel. 
• Plant A Row for the Hungry: L McConnell stated that Karen Long developed a flyer listing all the local agencies that will accept fresh produce donations this summer. This will be the extent of the MG involvement in this project. The flyers will be available at different functions, and will be included in the Garden Tour handouts. 
• Heritage Trials: no report 
• Inventory: no report 
• Legislative Lunch: A Hoopes reported that the lunch at a local correctional facility had legislative representatives and representatives from the different areas of the Extension Service describing their areas of expertise. The public projects and programs were discussed, and a tour of the facility was done. E Hornsby praised A Hoopes descriptive speech concerning MG programs. 
• McCloud Park: G McVey reported that the perennial meeting scheduled for March 30th needed to be rescheduled to April 7th, and would be held at the same time as the first McCloud Clean-up Day. Please remember to bring your favorite rake or clippers and help out- Clean up and meeting will start about 9 am at the park and go until l1:30. 
• MG Directory: C Loeffelman asked that members indicate on a sheet if the information in the last directory was still current, since many directory forms have not been turned in .Members were provided new forms to fill out if desired. Directories are to be published for the April meeting. A group photo was taken at the end of the meeting for publishing in the directory. One will also be taken of the 2001 class in one of the next sessions. 
• Milford Park Center: J Westfall reported that there has been one meeting to date to begin the planning process. He has asked that all members that have signed up to work on this project, to meet April 6th ,at the park at noon to assess the site and begin actual planning. 
• Tour of Gardens: C Loeffelman thanked all the volunteers both from the membership and the new class members, making the start of the project go really smooth. She also complimented Bambi and Laura for their hard work in getting donations of prizes and money for the tour. Based on the funding commitments from sponsors, Claire asked that she have a funding level of $500 to draw on for pre-tour expenses. E Hornsby made the motion and M McDonald seconded it, with passage by the membership. All were reminded that the committee chairmen were meeting after the regular meeting. Signup sheets for the garden committees were made available to the members. 
• Vet’s Memorial: E Hornsby reported that the design work is done, and just waiting on some final communications with the city. The shrub workshop is scheduled for April 28th and had flyers available to get out to the public via the MG. Time will be from 9 a.m. until noon for $5 fee. This workshop will be open to the public, with a lecture, demonstration and then hands-on planting. She then asked the membership to provide a funding level of $200 to cover expenses and teaching materials not covered by registration fees. After discussion, motion was made by S Hess and seconded by J Perez and passed by the membership.
• Volksmarch: No report 
• Website: J Perez reported that the web site will be up and available as of April 4th, 2001. She has had lots of input and ideas. Hopes to put pictures of garden Tour, McCloud Clean-up Day, and other projects on the web. 

Project Selection Committee: L Morgan presented committee report. It was stated that the committee is a review process, to identify those projects that meet Union County MG project criteria. The committee will present selected projects to the membership for their acceptance or not.
• Methodist Mothers Chums Club: requesting a speaker C McMahon reported that she had an audience of about 40. L Sanford provided a display that was very helpful. This was an approved project from February. 
• Unionville Center: has requested again this year for Master Gardener judges for their annual summer lawn contest. D Coleman and E Hornsby volunteered to be the judges this year. 
• Plain City Bicentennial Park: has requested assistance in designing upgrades. Membership voted to do this project. L McConnell will have sigh-up sheets on this project. 
• Mill Valley School: gardening mentor program This project was tabled at the last meeting, and L Morgan gave an update. The greenhouse is nearing completion and the teacher/sponsor is requesting approximately 1 to 1.5 hours a week in MG help to work with the students on learning how to do transplanting. Linda has not been able to obtain a working scheduled at this time due to the school’s Spring break period. Therefore, this project remains tabled until further discussions can be held. 

Union County Hort Line: L McConnell discussed J Hixon’s desire to promote the Union County Hort Line. Since April is Library Month, he has bookmarks promoting the Hort Line and Laura asked that they be placed in various libraries. Members took bookmarks to distribute. 
• Junior Master Gardener Program: C MaMahan spoke about a new Junior Master Gardener program being started as part of a 4-H group in Richwood. She is leading the eight children in this effort. She explained that the books required for the program will cost the 4-H members each $20 and asked if the MG membership would pay $2 toward each child, for a total of $16. After discussion, the membership voted to provide $5 per child, for a total of $40. 

Next Meeting: April 25, 6:30 p.m., Elks Lodge Master Gardener Appreciation Night. 

Don’t forget the plant swap!

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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