Executive Board Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

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Members Present: President Dan Sokoloski, Vice President Alan Fitzgibbon, Shirley Waggoner-Eisenman, Hilton Holcomb, Linda Lemieux, Charles Spencer, Becky Dus, David Barkley and Richard Boland.

Meeting called to order by the president at 9:00 A.M.

Charles Spencer reported on Urban Youth Horticultural Activities which include charter schools as well as traditional public schools. These activities are separate from Life on the Farm. The first classes in the Urban Youth Horticultural program will be held on Thursday and Friday, July 21 and 22. Another session will be held on Monday, August 1.

Dr.Frank Blazich will be with us on July 28 and 29 parts of which will be open to the public as previously announced.

On September 17 Charlie will be at Wal-mart in Southport. More classes will be conducted throughout the county in branch libraries.

Linda Lemieux gave the treasurerÕs report. At the end of the month we had a balance of $17,154.64 less outstanding checks. An additional $2,750.00 was allocated to the Botanical Garden at the last meeting for picnic tables, grills, etc. Also, $1,500 was allocated for use in the Greenhouse.

Becky Dus reported on the Newsletter. Becky and Lisa are in communication regarding our procedural goal of having the newsletter editors evolve into the web page editors, performing the same functions working with others to assemble the latest information, putting it into literary form then passing it on to Lisa for the web edition. These details will be worked out by Becky and Lisa .The small number of members who do not have computer access will continue to receive the print version of the newsletter for the present time.

David Barkley reported on the state wide 4H horticultural judging competition. Overall, the team from Brunswick County did well. The new propagation beds are ready and will be filled with a new kind of propagation medium. This will be picked up and delivered on July 20. Irrigation and mulching are still to be dealt with in the Botanical Garden.

Shirley Waggoner-Eisenman reported on speakers for monthly meetings. In consultation with David Barkley, speakers for the remainder of the year have been set with the exception of September. In August we will have Steve Bamabara from the entomology department of NCSU. In October we will have Irv Evans who is the state Coordinator for Master Gardeners. In November we will have our district director, Dr. Wanda Sykes who will talk to us about the relationship between Master Gardeners and Extension and what is happening in the Southeast District. Suggestions for topics and speakers are welcome. The goal is to invite people from NCSU and reserve the local talent for emergency fill-ins. The long range goad is to extend our learning from the manual. Shirley will be participating in a workshop in August on ÒCritical Conversations.Ó More information on this later.

Hilton Holcomb stressed the lack of labor for maintenance and special projects in the garden. Presently, David and Al are doing the lionÕs share. The excessive heat seems to be the problem. It was hoped that the county will provide funding for summer help. Another issue is the invasion of deer which are eating plants. Charlie reminded the board that the garden is not a Master Gardener garden and most of the volunteers are not physically able to withstand the summer heat in its maintenance. Dan suggested that the $2,500.00 appropriated by the county for the garden might best be reserved for the hiring of summer help.

Hilton was asked to develop a strategy for dealing with this matter. The kind of work and the timing of work must be considered.

Ash Tyler reported that ÒEncoreÓ azaleas have been bought and reported in anticipation of the fall plant sale which is tentatively scheduled for early October. It is anticipated that this event will be substantially promoted among the public.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully,

Richard Boland, Recording Secretary

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