2016 Plans & Updates

As we prepare for 2016, I wanted to express my best holiday wishes and to give you updates on a few CCMGA matters.

Revised By-Laws

During the December business meeting, the proposed revisions to the CCMGA by-laws were approved by unanimous vote of the members present.  These revisions are a result of WVMG’s increased service and education requirements for new and recertifying members.  The revised by-laws are posted to our website in the “About CCMGA” section.

MGIT Class

Debbie Martin and Jane Wilson have done a great job of putting a Master Gardener class together.  The classes will meet in the Fellowship Hall of Enslow Park Presbyterian Church on Tuesday evenings from 6:30 – 9:30 pm beginning on January 5.  Jane and Debbie want to welcome any member who is available for one or more classes to come to assist or to earn education hours.  This is a great opportunity to earn service or education hours,.  A copy of the class schedule is posted to our website.  Please email me (beckelhimer@gmail.com) if you would like to sign up to volunteer for one or more classes.

2016 Meeting Schedule

The meeting schedule for 2016 has been finalized with a great lineup of educational speakers. A copy of our meeting schedule is posted in the “About CCMGA” section of our website.

2016 Dues

Please remember that your 2016 dues can now be paid to our treasurer, Debbie Martin.  If you have not already done so, please send your $16 membership dues to CCMGA, PO Box 7661, Huntington, WV 25578-7661.

Website Updates

The “Recipes” section of our website has been replaced with a “Gardening Education” page for the MGITs as well as current members.  Presenters at the Master Gardener class as well as monthly Master Gardener meetings can have materials such as handouts or links posted to the site.  Please take a look at the new section of our site and let me know what you think.

The 2015 minutes, treasurer’s reports and meeting schedules will soon be moved to an “Archives” page where the documents will still be available to members but will make way for 2016’s information.

I will look forward to seeing everyone at our February 20^th meeting or better yet, at one of the upcoming MGIT classes.

March Update

WSAZ Home and Garden Show

First on everyone’s mind is the WSAZ Home and Garden Show on March 13-15.  A great lineup of speakers will be on hand throughout the weekend who will be sharing gardening information and useful tips.  This is a great opportunity to gain hours of education or service for renewal of your MG certification. If you would like to volunteer and have not already signed up, please contact Connie Berk (berkc@marshall.edu, (304) 696-7341 (W) or (304) 429-7318 (H)).  She is especially looking for volunteers to help with the speakers, handing out and collecting evaluations, calendars and other tasks.  She is also looking for volunteers to assist visitors at our booth, especially on Saturday the 14^th.  Of course, there will be a hospitality room for our group so feel free to bring a snack to share if you would like.  Victor Simpson has made arrangements for the purchase of a beautiful quilt that will be auctioned off at our booth.  This is always a great fundraiser for us.

WV Master Gardener Conference

The 2015 WV Master Gardener Conference is coming up on March 27-29 at Pipestem Resort.  If you cannot attend the conference but have items to donate to the fundraising auction, please bring them to the Home and Garden Show and we will see that they are entered into the items for auction.

Dues

Our treasurer, Greg Norris, asks me to remind you that 2015 CCMGA dues ($16) can be mailed to PO Box 7661, Huntington, WV 25578-7661. 

Perennial Exchange and Plant Sale

This year the Perennial Exchange and Plant Sale will be held in conjunction with the Tri-State Sustainability Fair on May 16 at Heritage Station.  The Perennial Exchange and Plant Sale will run from 10 am until noon.  This is a great opportunity for Master Gardeners or MGITs to earn volunteer hours.  All of your time spent planting, tending and preparing plants for the exchange and sale counts toward volunteer hours for renewal or certification.  You will also have an opportunity to swap perennials with others from the group so you can delight another gardener with your excess perennials while adding variety to your own garden. All proceeds from the plant sale go to CCMGA so the value of your plant donations can be fully tax deductable since we are a 501c3 organization.  Following the Perennial Exchange and Plant Sale, volunteers from our club can staff our booth until 5 pm to give out information on our group, when we meet and how to become a Master Gardener.  Please contact Connie Berk (berkc@marshall.edu, (304) 696-7341 (W) or (304) 429-7318 (H)) to sign up for a time to work the Perennial Exchange and Plant Sale (10 am – noon) or the informational booth (noon – 5 pm) on May 16 at Heritage Station.

Lapsed Membership Reactivation

When I met with our advisor, Rich Sherman, earlier this week he communicated that he is very interested in assisting members who have gone inactive in regaining active membership.  He is willing to be as flexible as he can possibly be in getting members back with us.  More information on his “amnesty plan” will be available at our Tuesday, April 14 meeting.

Refreshment Committee

Joan Firth, Anne Ray, Mary Beckelhimer and others in the group have expressed an interest in forming a refreshment committee to bring snacks for sharing at monthly meetings.  If you are interested in being involved in the refreshment committee, please contact Joan (jmfirth@live.com) who is chairing the committee.

CCMGA Website

In meetings with the CCMGA officers we are really attempting to cut down on the number of email messages that we send out.  No one wants to fill your inbox with a ton of mail.  To that end we are trying to be post notices and events to our group’s website (http://cabellcountymastergardeners.com or http://cabellcountymg.blogspot.com/) and to keep the calendar on the right side of the page current.  If you click on an event on the calendar you can learn more details and even a map to the event location is provided for many entries. Just recently we have updated the webpage with information on speakers for the WSAZ Home and Garden Show.  If you look on the “About CCMGA” tab of the website, you will find links to our updated bylaws, maps to meeting locations, the slate of upcoming speakers for our monthly education sessions as well as notes from previous sessions, meeting minutes, treasurer’s reports and other pertinent information.  In addition, all prior posts are archived on the website to you can look up previous events easily. If you scroll to the bottom of the page and click the link that says “Older Posts” you will see information from previous posts.  At this time, our website has had nearly 1200 visitors.  We hope to make that the primary method of communication for our group.  Even this email will be posted to the website!

I hope to see everyone at the WSAZ Home and Garden Show in a couple of weeks.  Please feel free to contact me at beckelhimer@gmail.com at any time.

Steve Beckelhimer, President

Cabell County Master Gardener Association