The Germinator

August 2019 Issue 23 Volume 8

A monthly publication of Cullman County Master Gardener Association, Inc.
Editor: Ellen Hall

General Membership Minutes
Cullman County Master Gardeners Association
July 18, 2019

Meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m. by Pat Sharpton, President.
Everett Weir gave the Sunshine report and read the MG prayer.
Minutes of previous meeting – Motion by Michael O’Laire to accept the minutes as published in the Germinator. Second by Don Nelson. Passed.
Billy Tate, Treasurer, summarized the income and expenses for July. Motion by John Lynch to accept Treasurer’s report. Second by Michael O’Laire. Passed.

Committee/Project Reports
Fairground raised beds – Pat Sharpton reported that a lot was accomplished by four volunteers at the workday but more needs to be done. Weeds were removed, and the beds are ready to plant. Weeds also had to be removed from the area around the beds. The Lions Club was to maintain this area, but is not doing so.

Rain Garden – Holly Hirsbrunner reported that two workdays were held with three volunteers attending, and more will be scheduled. The work to install landscape fabric and newspapers covered with mulch is about two-thirds done. We still have an issue with sedge and need to use herbicide.

Bicentennial Garden – Teresa Goodwin reported that three volunteers at the workday weeded and put down mulch. The rock border was re-stacked, but the temperature was too high to use the adhesive to secure them in place.

Demonstration Garden – Ellen Hall reported that about five volunteers attended the workday. The vine at the entrance has been tied up out of the way. The work was concentrated on the front side of the garden. The back area still needs much work.

Old Business

Educational trip – Pat Sharpton asked for a volunteer to investigate one to two possibilities for Fall and report back in August. We have funds for a bus, and the Wallace bus has a reasonable cost. Overnight trips have been difficult due to cancellations. We are not certain whether the Wallace bus could be used overnight and must always work around their schedule.

Suggestions: Hills and Dales Estate, a garden in La Grange, Georgia is 3.5 to 4 hours away. Gibbs Garden in Ballground, Georgia (about one hour north of Atlanta) is best in the spring when the daffodils are blooming. The event in Jackson, Tennessee, will be on 10/3, the first Thursday in October. It is too far away for a day trip. Pat will contact Carol Reese by email to get more information.

Fall plant sale – Pat reminded the group that if the Fall sale is combined with Peinhardt Farm Day on October 19, it must be educational. For example, we could demonstrate how to plant daylilies and iris, advise on what soil to use, etc. Rachel Dawsey is to find a location for us at this event. We have blueberries, raspberries, Lenten roses, and dragon plants to sell. We would need to get daylily and iris bulbs.

A booth at the Festhalle costs $25 per day. We could sell plants there and would need two volunteers to coordinate. This is to be discussed further at the August meeting.

Membership committee – More than one volunteer is needed for this activity. The primary responsibility is maintaining and increasing membership. The committee should also report on ways to recruit and retain active members and keep membership records. Mike O’Laire will be the committee chair. Ellen Hall agreed to keep the membership records, as she needs them for distributing the newsletter, anyway. Everett Weir will continue to be in charge of Sunshine activities.
Proposed greenhouse – No progress has been made on this.

Scrapbook committee/historian — Renee Lamar will take this over.
Other information – Ellen Hall distributed Pathways, the state newsletter, via Yahoo. Stefanie Light will forward to the interns. This issue contains information about the Fall seminar in Blount county, to be held on 10/3 at Locust Fork Baptist Church.

Ellen is also working on a list of members who have paid dues for this year. She circulated a list for members to review and indicate whether their contact information is correct. Anyone not on the list should contact the Treasurer.

New Business

Master Gardener of the Year – This award has not been given for the past two years due to a concern about qualifying for the State award. We are not certain whether the State awardee has to be connected to State activities. The local awardee can be nominated at the State level but is not required to be. We need to award this locally regardless of State requirements. Any CCMG who has paid dues is eligible. The reward is payment for the State conference. Any CCMG who has paid dues is eligible.

The process: A member can nominate one person. Susan Rodgers will create a nomination form. The Board will narrow the nominations to the top three nominees. Members will vote by secret ballot in October. The winner will be recognized at the December meeting.

Program suggestions – A list was circulated so that members could suggest ideas for programs.

Fair booth – We have a volunteer to handle logistics (liaison with Fairgrounds and staffing the booth) but need someone to create the booth, set-up, etc. Tony has ideas and materials for a Fall Gardening theme and Hydrangeas. Other ideas are possible. Pete and Donnie Douthit agreed to be the creative coordinators.

Tour of MG projects – Stefanie Light will find out whether the interns are interested in a tour of the MG project locations. This would be scheduled for a Wednesday in September. A question was whether to include St. Bernard as the location for the Bloomin’ Festival, but it was thought the school might not be receptive to this.

Reporting volunteer hours – Tony Glover reminded the group of the need to report volunteer hours and CEUs to remain a member. Auburn University personnel have been grumbling about costs, and are looking for programs to stop funding, so it is critically important to document what we are doing. Volunteer activities and number of contacts are used to evaluate the MG program and calculate the return on investment. Volunteer hours are valued at $22 each and compared to the Extension Service time and cost to support the program. If the estimated value is greater than the cost, that is good. We need to enter hours throughout the year since we don’t know when the University will review the data. The MG mission is to support Extension programs.
Meeting adjourned at 11:16 A.M.
Program – No program was presented after this meeting.
Submitted by: Stefanie Light, Secretary

Board Meeting Minutes
Cullman County Master Gardeners Association
July 18, 2019

Attendees Present: Pat Sharpton, President; Stefanie Light, Secretary; Billy Tate, Treasurer; Imogene Hamilton, Board Member; Renee Lamar, Board Member; Michael O’Laire, Board Member.
Absent: Ben Johnson, 1st Vice President; Susan Rodgers, 2nd Vice President.
Meeting was called to order by Pat Sharpton at 9:00 a.m. Topics discussed included:
• Project reports – All Gardens had at least one workday since the previous meeting.
• Educational trip – The proposed overnight trip would need lots of work to coordinate. We need a member to take this over.
• Fall plant sale – The focus must be educational to be combined with Peinhardt Farm Day. We need a coordinator to work with Rachel Dawsey on this.
• Membership chair – The previous chairperson has resigned. The primary responsibility of this position is maintaining and increasing membership. The chair should also report on ways to recruit and retain active members and keep membership records. The membership form goes to the Treasurer, who updates the member list and sends it to the membership chair. The form includes information on what the members are willing to do. The Treasurer pointed out that some members have not been completing the form. It is published in the Germinator and should be completed every year. The Board decided to distribute the form at the October meeting to be completed right away. To collect dues payments, the Treasurer issues a list of members who are current with dues. Anyone not on the list needs to contact the Treasurer.
• Scrapbook committee – Ellen Hall has the book from the previous chair. Renee Lamar will take this over.
• Master Gardener of the Year – The President will inform members about this at the membership meeting. The process: A member can nominate one person. Susan Rodgers will create a nomination form. The Board will narrow the nominations to the top nominees. Members will vote by secret ballot in October. The winner will be recognized at the December meeting. Pat expressed a concern that at the State level the honoree tends to come from the same few counties.
• 2019 programs – The 1st Vice President has a program scheduled for September. He needs feedback on whether the members have liked the programs thus far this year. Program ideas: Stefanie Light recommended a speaker for August. We could invite Chambers Nursery, but the presentation would need to be educational rather than commercial.
• Power of Produce – We may have to give up this activity if we can’t get volunteers to staff the booth.
• Fair booth – We have considered not having a booth at this year’s Fair. We need someone to coordinate this. Perhaps we could have co-chairs, with one of them handling logistics. Stefanie Light volunteered to be the logistics co-chair if someone else will be responsible for everything relating to the booth.
• Treasurer’s report – In June we had $27.00 income from plant sales and $50.00 expense for Power of Produce. Motion by Mike to accept. Carried.
• Minutes of previous Board meeting – Motion by Imogene to accept the minutes as published in the Germinator.
• Project tour for Interns – Stefanie volunteered to arrange a tour to show the project locations to the interns. Some volunteer drivers may be needed. The Board would like for Stefanie to assess the level of interest among the interns before proceeding.

Adjourned at 9:45 a.m. Submitted by: Stefanie Light, Secretary

Cullman County Master Gardeners Association, Inc. P.O. Box 1483 Cullman, Alabama  35056

Rain Garden Results!

After 3 days of intensive weeding, pruning, and spraying with Sedgehammer this summer, the Rain Garden at the North Alabama Agriplex is looking so much better! Just need to replace hail/sun damaged information signs on the deck rail, and she will really shine! 

Many thanks to the brave MGs who were able to tolerate the heat to do the work: Everett Wier, Michelle Powell, Elaine Johnson, Alisha Millican, and Holly Hirsbrunner.

Photos and text by Holly Hirsbrunner