MGV Meeting Minutes
December 8, 2022
I. Opening – Bob Eister opened the meeting at 6:30 pm.
a. Pledge of Allegiance (Veteran Volunteer) – Chester Kaschak led the MGVs in the Pledge of Allegiance.
b. Birthday Recognition & Welcome – Bob recognized all the MGVs with December birthdays.
II. Specific Topics
a. Secretary Recording – Bob thanked Kathy Costa for taking the minutes of the meeting.
b. Committee Reports
i. Community Outreach – The tree is up at Fellows Riverside Gardens. Cancer is the theme for our tree. Bob Thanked those who decorated the tree and encouraged all to visit the display.
ii. Education – Pam Baytos told us she needs more greens for her classes. Natalie Fraser said she can bring all the greens needed. Pam told us her centerpiece classes are full and Pam told us she needs MGVs to assist her with these classes.
iii. Veterans (Building and Wreaths) – Chester told us there was a good turnout of MGVs assisting with laying the 106 wreaths at the Veterans’ graves. Chester said all involved presented a nice ceremony at the cemetery. Unfortunately, the weather was rainy that day but some member of the press showed up. Bob offered special thanks to Mike B. for setup and Chester for speaking at the program. Also, thanks to all the members in attendance.
c. Administrative Report – Kristen
i. HOC Hours need to be entered by the end of December. If you have not entered hours, you’ll receive a call from Candace. All MGVs need to complete their required hours and enter them into HOC and also complete their recertification.
ii. The OSU Extension office will be closed during the holidays from December 23rd to January 2nd.
iii. Anyone that has not voted or signed up for committees, please contact Kristen.
iv. There will be a new MGV Training Class for 2023 from February 7th to April 25th. The classes will be every Tuesday. If you know anyone who is interested in the MGV training, you can see Kristen after the meeting or notify the extension office. After the application is completed, there will be interviews of potential applicants for the MGV training.
v. There will be a tour of the Fellows Gardens during the schedule for the 2023 class and the 2020 and 2022 classes will be able to participate, since they were unable to go during their training classes.
vi. MGVs can sign up to be a mentor for the 2023 Class. Some education will be provided to assist the MGVs in being a mentor.
vii. There will be teaching Opportunities for 2023 in Garden Art in June and July. The Garden Art classes will be held from April through December.
Coffee with Masters will be started and renamed Morning with Masters. If anyone is interested in teaching a class, notify Kristen to get on the schedule with your topic. If you want, you can find someone to help you do a class. Some ideas are herbs and herbal teas. Marilyn said to contact her if anyone want assistance to teach a class.
III. Business and Discussion
a. Marianna Eister told us that Eric has scheduled the dates for the Garden Conference. Topics and speakers are being discussed. The dates will be April 22nd and 29th at the extension office.
b. Peg Zeleznik told us the Hospitality Committee will need MGVs to help with food with the new class starting on February 7th. The food certificate is only good for 3 years, so check to see if your certificate needs updated. Helping to prepare food is a good way to get hours because you can get hours for shopping, preparing and bringing food to the office.
c. Kristen reminded us that Banquet RSVPs are due by January 1st. Kristen can take your RSVP after the meeting.
d. Bob asked if anyone read the latest newsletter. He asked the group to state what bird did he write about and what question did he ask in his article? (Bob wrote an article in November about leadership and the lessons we can learn from geese. He reminded us that geese honk to help guide and support each other as they fly following their leader.) Al L. had read the article and correctly answered his question.
e. Marge Greenisen showed us the new 2023 calendar done by Anissa DiLeo. The calendars have beautiful pictures of flowers and are being sold as a Smucker house fundraiser at $15 each. Marge has the calendars available at the meeting for purchase. Proceeds will help the Smucker house in Salem. The MGVs has been involved with the Smucker House and was asked to assist with landscaping design at the Smucker House.
f. Kristen said we are still looking for volunteers to help with the Centerpiece classes on December 13th and December 14th, please contact the office if you are interested in helping.
g. Kristen told us if anyone wants to talk to administrative staff or MGV officers about their concerns, she has a box they can use for their written concerns. If they want to talk to someone about these concerns, it will be important to include their name.
Kristen told us they want to get our input in the following areas:
What worked well in 2022?
What didn’t work?
Potential improvements
What would you like to see in 2023?
The MGVs were given sticky notes and asked to give input in these areas and put their sticky note on the sheet for each of these topics.
As a program review for this year, Kristen went over the responses of 2 of these areas: What worked well in 2022 and what would you like to see in 2023.
Kristen told us we will receive summaries of each of these areas at the March or April 2023 meeting.
Kristen went over the incentives of having extra volunteer hours that are on page 8 in the MGV Handbook. These incentives are a free class in Mahoning County, the OSU Extension banquet in Columbiana County and the MGV banquet. There are also other incentives that may be given if available.
Bob stated he plans whenever possible, to limit future MGV meetings to a 90-minute time limit. This breaks down to approximately 30 minutes for MGV administrative information sessions and up to 60 minutes for Education presentations as part of our regular meetings.
Bob wished everyone safe travels, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Bob adjourned the meeting.
Recording Secretary,
Kathy Costa
I found this very informative since I couldn’t attend the meeting