Master Gardener Foundation of Washington State
Annual Board Meeting
September 27, 2024
Held on Zoom prior to Advanced Education Conference
ATTENDANCE
At the meeting opening, Secretary John Strong announced that a quorum was met. Present at the meeting were 147 MGs from around the state
Tana opened the meeting and introduced Tim Kohlhauff, who welcomed all attendees. Tim gave brief report on behalf of State Program Leader, Jennifer Marquis, who was unable to attend due to a family celebration.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Treasurer Gilbert Plascencia presented the financial statements as of the end of August and explained several details.
ELECTIONS
Past President Don Enstrom described recent bylaw changes, and how they affect our elections. In particular, for this election, our four elected officers will served staggered-length terms so that in the future not all officers will change in any one election.
Nominees for this election include:
- President: Tana Hasart
- Vice President: Cathi Lamoreux
- Secretary: John Strong
- Treasurer: Gilbert Plascencia
Don opened the floor for nominations for each office. None were received.
The full slate of nominees was elected unanimously.
AEC 2025
Cathi Lamoreux noted that planning for the 2025 conference is already underway, mostly to determine the format to be used. The committee working on this is comprised of members from seven county programs from all parts of the state. It has been decided that AE 2025 will be virtual, with the possibility of conducting regional / county watch parties for some sessions, to afford some advantages of a live meeting.
CLOSING
Tana and Cathi teamed to present a series of slides recapping the year and accomplishments achieved by the state foundation, and encouraging participation as we go forward into 2025 from all master gardeners around the state.
AWARDS
State Awards were announced with appropriate fanfare and full descriptions of nominees and awardees.
Presidential awards are presented in each county. For for calendar year 2023, 60 master gardeners from around the state were recognized for over 500 hours of volunteer service. Further, sixteen master gardeners were awarded for lifetime achievement, defined as giving over 4,000 volunteer hours.
The State Media award went to Erin Hoover, of Grays Harbor-Pacific counties. Erin has been editor of Seeds For Thought for many years, and in the past year, she proposed and began the very successful podcast, called “The Evergreen Thumb”.
The Ed LaCrosse award winner is Mike Peronto, of Pierce County. Mike has been instrumental in the Unifying Foundation Website initiative, and launched a state-wide workgroup developing educational materials for counties across the state to use on topics surrounding Climate Change.
Master Gardener of the Year for 2024 is Debbie Benbow, of Chelan-Douglas counties. Debbie has served admirably as Advanced Education Conference chairperson for several years, and works closely with Jennifer Marquis developing marketing and program materials for the state program.
All awards will be formally presented in the coming months at in-person events in their respective counties.