Delaware County Master Gardeners

News for Delaware County Master Gardeners

Vol. 12 No. 1 January, 2007

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Doesn’t this picture represent a typical January?? With temps in the 60s, we may see an onslaught of insects this summer.

Welcome back to the Master Gardener program for 2007!

We're brimming with new ideas and enthusiasm and look forward to a very rewarding year.

Our last official group activity of 2006 was the Holiday Party. We had 94 Master Gardeners and guests attend our volunteer recognition affair. The Social Committee, chaired by Hope Jones-Gary and assisted by Marie Trexler received many well-deserved compliments. Master Gardeners from Chester County helped to plan this year's event, and are looking forward to working with us for next year's party. Thanks to everyone who helped to make it a great success.

We welcome 21 new Master Gardeners from the class of 2005. Certificates and pins were awarded to new members attending the Holiday Party. Ten-year pins were presented to the class of 1996. Those MGs are: Liana Bauerle, Joe Daniels, Gerri Eunson, Susan Johnson, Steve Kosiak, Patty Rahi, and Linda Barry. Fifteen-year pins were presented to Diana Breen, Marcia Martin, and Gerry Paradis from the class of 1991. We also recognized Master Gardeners who have contributed 500, 1000, and 1500 volunteer hours. Those honored were Joe Daniels with 1500 hours, Carl Pfeiffer with 1000 hours, and Jane Baserga, Darlene Delany, Steve Kosiak, Chantal Wildman, and Alyce Zellers, all over 500 hours. Congratulations to all of you who have contributed so much to the home gardeners in Delaware County.

The US Airways tickets went to Steven DeShields of Oreland, PA, who purchased the Memorial Bench Donation Ticket from Tracey Carson's father. Mr. DeShields was very grateful and excited about planning his trip. We collected $1304 in donations for the bench. The bench has been delivered, and will be installed in Smedley Park this spring.

You will find the Volunteer Opportunities for 2007 in this mailing. Please read the list carefully. There are some changes from last year. The

final Membership List will be printed and mailed with the February newsletter. If you have sent me your committee selections for this year, they have been recorded. Any changes you wish to make in your committee choices should be sent to me by the end of January. (If you forgot to send the contact information and committee choices, please remember to send it.) We do need additional volunteers in the Smedley Teaching Gardens. If you would be willing to give a few hours to the maintenance and improvement of these gardens, your help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to Marty Roelandt for being so patient in collecting this committee information and for compiling it for us. Also thanks to Barbara Meahl who prints and organizes the materials for our newsletter mailings, and updates the committee information for our new membership list.

We hope to see you at the January 16th meeting in Smedley Park, beginning at 7:00 pm. At that meeting we will elect officers and hear from the Committee Chairs about the plans for 2007. If you have questions about the volunteer opportunities, they will be addressed at this meeting.

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Grant Writing Workshop

Joyce Morrison, Cooperative Extension Director, has arranged for a Grant Writing Workshop to be presented in Smedley Park on Wednesday, February 7, from 6-9 pm. (Snow date is Feb. 28th) Master Gardeners, 4-H volunteers and Cooperative Extension Board members are invited. Master Gardener Development and Fund-Raising Committee members are urged to attend. Other interested members are also invited. Please call the office if you wish to participate in this workshop.

Master Gardener Cookbook

Please submit recipes for our cookbook to Chantal Wildman before April 1st.

In case you have not been receiving MG news flashes via email from Linda, please add Linda Barry's email address (lrb16@psu.edu) to your email address book to avoid having her emails sent to your spam folder.

Odds 'n Ends

Flower Show Volunteers Needed

We will be staffing the Penn State booth at this year's Flower Show on Saturday, March 3 from 3:30 during the Members Preview, and on the Opening Day, Sunday March 4 from 1 to 6 pm. Four volunteers are needed for each shift, although we would welcome additional help. Volunteers receive free admission to the show. The show theme this year is "Legends of Ireland", and our exhibit will be about common landscape mistakes (Bloopers II), including topping trees, mulch mistakes, planting too deep, bad pruning, misapplication of fertilizers and pesticides, etc.

Volunteer training will be held on Tuesday, February 20, from 3:00-5:30 in the Maple Room at Montgomery County. Snow date is Feb. 21. Show volunteers are required to attend, unless excused for a good reason.

If you are interested, please email Gayla McCluskey

The PHS Flower Show is also in need of Clerks and Barrier Aides to assist with judging on March 3, 6, 7, and 9 from around 8:30 am to 1 pm. Clerks record the judges' decisions while Barrier Aides create a "space" in which the judging can occur without interruption. PHS prefers that one volunteer as an Aide before working as a Clerk. There is also a need for Office Workers to tabulate the paperwork on these days from 10 am to 3 pm.

Volunteers also receive free admission to the Show. Even though this latter opportunity isn't an official Master Gardener Event, it does count towards required hours. If you are interested in volunteering, email Carol Revak.

Gayla J. McCluskey

Bulk Mailing Party - Volunteers needed

It's time for another bulk mailing party - this time for the Home Gardeners School brochure. We will do this on Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 10:00 am in the Environmental Center. We all need hours ( except for Joe who probably already has his) so please consider coming to help. The coffee pot will be on and there will be muffins or bagels to sustain us.

Please call Linda or me if you are planning to come just in case winter decides to arrive with snow and we need to postpone it.
Barbara Meahl

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Kathy Hornberger presents a 15-year pin to Diana Breen at the Holiday party.	Joe Daniels is shown receiving a certificate for his 1500 hours of service in 2006 from Alyce Zellers at the Holiday party held at Ridley Creek State Park.

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