Union County Master Gardeners met at the Union County Agricultural Service Center on September 22, 2004, with a special apple tasting session presented by our Vice President, Claire Loeffelman. Claire gave us a little history lesson on John Chapman better known as Johnny Appleseed. She discussed the why and how he began planning apple seeds throughout Ohio. Claire brought in many unusual types of apples for us to sample.We voted on our favorite apple and Claire will let us know the results at our next meeting.

Karen Long, President, opened our meeting with a welcome and call to order.


Minutes of the previous month’s meeting had no corrections or additions and were approved as e-mailed.

Treasurer:
Treasurer, Becky Rowe, gave her treasurer’s report and it was approved and put on file for audit.

Time Keepers Report:  No report.

Old Business:

McCloud Park: No report, but comments that the roses are looking great.

Garden Tour: Miriam Carson reported that garden owners have been contacted and are excited about taking part in the 2005 Garden Tour. Letters will be sent out early to have the garden owners fill out their garden histories and plant inventory.

There are 7 gardens chosen for the tour and all are in close conjunction with one another.

Education will be an element of this tour. Several rooms at the Agricultural Center will be set aside for the workshops.

On October 18, there will be a "Meet and Greet" Night for the garden owners and the chairs of each garden. This will be a social gathering with refreshments.

Garden Tour meetings will begin in January and will last approximately 1 hour.

Garden Party: It was decided that the Union County Fairgrounds was a good place to hold the plant sale and that it would take place on the 3rd Saturday of August of 2005.  It was suggested that the name be adjusted to let people know that it is a plant sale not just a party.  A new chairman is needed and Sandra Lepard and Cathy Weaver will assist them.

Adopt A Pot: Saturday the pots will be planted with ornamental kale and cabbages donated by Cuthbert’s Nursery with Cindy Shuster and Andrew Pine coordinating the planting. The 4-H'ers will be treated to a pizza party at Dominoes afterwards.

Liberty Park: Jane Payne reported that her committee will meet in a couple of weeks to put the Liberty Park Garden to bed.

Houston House: A committee is working on plans for the site.

Historical Society: No report

Legacy Garden: Old plants have been removed from the Extension Office and will be planted on the west side of the Agricultural Center into the new Legacy Garden. John Walkup is in charge of this.

Leaping Frog: Karen Mikols gave the frog to Miriam Carson for all her work on the 2005 Garden Tour.

Coordinators Report: Ellen Evans has a greenhouse for sale. Anyone interested please contact Ellen. George suggested we have plaques on the wall of the Agricultural Center listing volunteer hours of our Master Gardeners as Memorial Hospital does with their volunteers. A few apparel items are left at bargain prices. Don’t forget to e-mail or send in your choice of Master Gardener Of The Year. The deadline is October 1, 2004.

Volunteer opportunities are as follows:

1. Recognition dinner sign-ups are needed to plan the event.
2. Open House at the Agricultural Center for prospective Master Gardeners for the 2005 Class. There will be a Halloween theme. Volunteers needed.
3. Christy Clark needs a speaker to give a 15 minute talk on gardening, lawn care or landscape for October 16-17.
4. Volunteers needed for the Legacy Garden.
5. Adopt-a-pot volunteers.
6. Landscape designs for the Agricultural Center.
7. The Master Gardener Library needs worked on with a plan to check books in and out.
8. Puppet show opportunities with Jill Ricker and Marvin the Monarch.
9. The Master Gardener Website needs updated. This is a great way to advertise the Master Gardener Program, the Garden Tour and Garden Party plus any other Master Gardener activities.
   

New Business:

Master Gardener State Conference. Sign up to car pool to Wooster on October 22 & 23rd.  We will donate a door prize unique to Union County for the conference. It was decided a basket of various Scott’s products in a terra tile pot would be donated. A motion was made by Joe Johnson to keep the cost under $50 and Jill Ricker seconded it. A label will be made identifying that it came from Union County. Jill Ricker and Gloria Richardson will head this up.

Deadline for the Photo Contest is October 10. Mail or e-mail your photos to Claire Loeffelman.  Winners will be announced at the Recognition Banquet in November. Please do not put names on back of the photos.

The Ohio magazine did a story on 3 women who will visit nurseries in Ohio and then write on book on their reviews of the nurseries.

Educational hours count for attending the Affair of the Hort in Westerville.

As there was no further business to come before the group, the meeting adjourned until next month. Our next meeting will be October 27 with election of officers.

Respectfully yours,
Barbara Ramm, Secretary

Members in Attendance:

Dean Shipley	Jackie Harper
Audrey Hall	John Miller
Gloria Richardson	Miriam Carson
Mary Colatrellaq	Patsy Bushdorf
Karen Mikols	Roberta Gordon
Karen Long	George McVey
Mary Ann Haynes	Joe Johnson
Dilu Juvarkas	Amber Haynes
Claire Loeffelman	Barb Ramm
Harvey Goertz	Johanna Keiser
Sandra L. Lepard	Barb Jackson
Cathy Weaver	Jill Ricker