February 11, 2021 – MGV Meeting

• Carolyn Fankhouser made an announcement that she is giving away a dozen windows that could be used for cold frames or hot boxes.
• Carol presided over the meeting and started off by leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
• David reported on the winter activity in the Virtual Pest and Plant Clinic.  Some IT equipment is starting to move into the clinic for the work stations we are going to be using.
• Lori said to keep the newsletter articles coming in and she is planning on having the newsletter come out the last Friday of the month or the following Monday.
• Pam reported that she has been sending out things of interest from Columbus such as current webinars we could  attend. Pam also said that if the Canfield Fair goes on this year each committee could have a display table, much the same as what was planned for last year. She will put out more information in the next newsletter. Our area at the fairgrounds will be the same as the previous two years.
• Pinky said that Bring One Take One is looking to be held late summer or early fall. Pam brought up the possibility of having a garden garage sale to go along with the event together with the shrub sale.
• Theresa said Local Flavor might do a Zoom presentation and Mill Creek Park is planning a meeting in April sometime to discuss opening of Fellows Riverside Garden facility.
• Pam mentioned a good field trip would be The OSU Phenology Garden at Hiram Biological Station in Garrettsville.
• Lori mention that Mike Beaudis was out a couple of times this winter to work on the landscaping to the right of the shed in the back of the Extension Office.
•  Marilyn said we need to come up with a project for state awards. Lori will be sending out another email to all MGVs to signup for committee work.  Lil was thinking of the Pest and Clinic video as part of a  state awards presentation . Lil was added to the list of committee members to explore ideas for state awards.
• Kristen said we are scheduling Zoom presentations into April. Pam has been sharing the zoom presentations with other MGV coordinators. They are also shared on the website and Facebook. Give Kristen a call if you want to do a Zoom presentation.
• Kristen wants some help with the a project about starting a vegetable garden with the Boys and Girls Club of Youngstown. If you are interested in helping with this project please give Kristen a call.  Lil suggested giving Carol Conaster a call to help with the planning.  Theresa said the club used to have a raised bed garden. The garden is located 3 or 4 blocks from St.Patrick’s Church on Oak Hill.
• Kristen said a few smaller projects will be coming up. She will send out a volunteer survey to see if anyone would  be interested in doing these projects.
• The VMS system is changing. MGV hours should be put in by February 15th.  The present VMS system will then be shut down.   VMS recommends backing up all your hours just in case things go sideways. Please keep a record of your volunteer hours until the new VMS system goes back on line sometime in March and training for the system can take place.  Marilyn said the value of a MGV is now up to $27.20 @ hour.
• Lori and Kristen put the group into Zoom breakout rooms. There were 3 to 4 Master Gardeners at random per Zoom break out room for about 15 minutes . The topic of conversation was plans for a spring garden or what ever you have been doing. This turned out to be a lot of fun with plans to do it again at the next MGV meeting.

Meeting Adjourned at 7:40 PM

Next Meeting March 11th at 6:30PM

– Rick Patterson  Secretary MGV