Master Gardener Foundation of Washington State
Executive Board Meeting
June 5, 2024

Held on Zoom

ATTENDANCE

Present were: President Tana Hasart, Exec VP Cathi Lamoreux, Treasurer Gilbert Plascencia, Secretary John Strong, State Program Lead Jennifer Marquis, Past President Don Enstrom, Patricia Bosh, Erin Hoover, Debbie Benbow, Kitty Lundeen-Ness, Marylou Krautscheid, and Steve Spitzer.

OPENING

President Tana opened the meeting at 4:00 pm.

STATE LEADER REPORT

Jennifer reports that the evaluation efforts continue with surveys being built and rolled out. Early returns from surveys are good. She has asked that all chapters have at least one Local Food event evaluated this year.

Program Coordinators will have their first in-person retreat since before the pandemic. It will be in Ellensburg in July. The agenda will include inclusion, diversity and equity, a CE policy upgrade, program evaluations and program / foundation relations. Resources for local areas from the state foundation will be highlighted.

The Advisory Team will have its second meeting next week. Award nomination announcements went out this week.

In response to a question, Jennifer confirmed that evaluations are to be done for master gardener events, not events put on by outside entities.

TREASURER REPORT

Showing the financial reports for May, Gilbert noted that there was little activity, and no major changes to our situation. Sponsorships are starting to come in for the NWFGF from local chapters.

AEC 2024

Debbie reported that as of last evening, 72 have registered for the conference. Stripe will pass along to us the registration funds on a weekly basis.

Marketing efforts include weekly Facebook posts. An e-blast will be out every few weeks, and flyers will be sent to all chapters for printing and distribution. Joyce (email: jfraizer123@gmail.com) is doing a great job in this area, and is looking for testimonials from MGs about why they are registering and looking forward to the conference. Please pass those along for her to use.

The AEC team is considering offering repeat registrations in January for folks who missed the conference. They would be able to view recordings of all sessions. The registration fee would be the same as the original AEC.

Tana has begun working with Dave Scott, from Spokane, on recruiting sponsors.

Cathi reports that the entire program is set, and there are no cancellations so far from instructors. Live Oak has emailed all presenters to arrange for recording sessions, A few have already begun. There is still a need for session moderators. The program team will have first choice of sessions to moderate.

The job of Site Selection has been renamed to Format Development. For 2025, that must be underway very soon. Five volunteers have stepped up to participate, and Cathi will lead that team. There are several new and varied formats being considered, and suggestions are welcomed. AEC volunteers for 2025 are needed. Spread the word!

AWARDS

Patricia has sent out the appeal for nominations for all awards.

NEWSLETTER

Erin notes that she will step down from the position of newsletter editor. A replacement is needed. She will announce that position in her notices for the upcoming edition of Seeds For Thought, and will prepare a draft job description.

BYLAWS, ETC.

Cathi notes that her team working on our corporate documents has been amazing and they have toiled diligently. Section A is complete and Section B work is beginning. They need to review Policy and Procedure, and ensure that all documents coincide, including the Articles of Incorporation. The proposed bylaws revision will be presented at the July meeting.

ANNUAL MEETING

The Annual meeting will be held on Friday morning, September 27, as the opening event of the AEC. It will be followed by the State Awards Presentation. All master gardeners are invited to attend that meeting. Conference registration is not required. Elections will be held. We must research the most convenient way to accurately count votes of official board members (representatives).

Impacts of the state foundation for the current year will be an important part of that meeting. Suggestions included: Evergreen Thumb podcast, our outgoing newsletter editor, NW Flower and Garden Festival booth, Uniting Foundation Websites, MS 365 implementation, and AEC collaboration.

Planning the timing of the annual meeting is critical. Time must be allowed for the Awards, but we don’t want to cut off discussions at the meeting.

GOOD OF THE ORDER

It was noted that the OSU Master Gardener Social Media Training module is very good.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 5:45 p.m.