(Albermarle) Peter Warren; (Chesapeake) Pinky Derieux, Jane Montgomery, Pauline Price; (Fauquier) Lenore Plissner, Jim Scibek; (Gloucester) Florace Arnold; (Goochland-Powhatan) Joe Florino, Charlie Rogers, Philip Morris; (Halifax) Bill McCaleb; (Hanover) Pamela Armstrong, Cheri Haggerty; (JCC-Williamsburg) Dale Firestone, Shirley Firestone; (Lynchburg) Judy Kinney, Karen Sacasky; (Northern Neck) Pat Rogers; (Northern Shenandoah) Chuck Walters, Sally Walters; (Prince George) Cheryl Sebera; (Prince William) Frank Reilly, Pat Reilly;(Rockbridge) Ted Jenks; (Roanoke) Kathryn Debnar, Lynn Snider, Shelby Snider; (Suffolk) Betty Freedman;(Virginia Beach) Paul Campbell, Liz Maurer, Fran Shelton, Betty Villers.

President Jim Scibek called the meeting to order at 1006.

President Scibek welcomed us all to the February meeting in the beautiful Albermarle- Charlottesville area. President Scibek introduced Peter Warren, the VCE Agent and MG Coordinator for the Charlottesville area, which includes Fluvanna, Louisa, Nelson, Albermarle and Green counties. There are over 300 Master Gardeners in this five county area. Originally they were known as the Piedmont Master Gardeners but over time, the other counties have developed their own identities and now conduct their own training classes and projects. Peter is one of the few agents that belong to the VMGA.

The December minutes were accepted as corrected. The month was corrected from October to December in the minutes and from November to January in the Treasurer's report.

Treasurer Shelby Snider reported:

President Scibek reported that the officers and VCE met January 19 in Charlottesville. They went over what we as Master Gardeners do for them and what they as VCE and the Department of Horticulture do for us. Items discussed included resolving the MG badge situation, adding a chapter on Wildlife Management to the handbook, state recordkeeping system, standardization of MG requirements and other issues of importance to all of us.

President Scibek also announced that the VMGA will be represented at a green industry seminar on February 19 at Behnke Nurseries in Beltsville, Maryland and will also share staffing duties with Hanover at a Plant Clinic Booth at the Maymont Flower and Garden Show.

Several members of the Education Committee have assisted Barbara Geer in preparing for the second "Good Gardening" symposium on March 13. Others will be present at the symposium to help with registration, refreshments, and book sales.

We are getting feedback on our articles, which is a good thing. It was recommended that we limit our unit reports to actual news about our programs (both successes and failures). Any item that is lengthy should perhaps become an article. We should perhaps remember "Who -What -Where- When- How- and Why" when giving our reports.

We now have 562 members and 87 Life members. Renewals will be sent in April to 386 members. Applications have been updated to reflect the address of the membership chair as agreed to at the December 2003meeting.

Members: Pat Reilly, Karen Sacasky, Pinky Derieux, Susie McCrea and Frank Reilly and whomever else we need.

1. Inquiries from the Hill City Master Gardeners led us to ask about special pricing for the Pest Management Guide. VCE will make the PMGs available to MGs at a price of $14.00 provided that they order in a group through their local office. This is a saving over the $20.00 cover price.

2. Pat Reilly answered an inquiry concerning the training requirements for Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Tree Stewards. In General all the Stewards training is approximately 30 hours with an equivalent requirement in volunteering after the training is complete, and to maintain Stewards status a volunteer commitment of 20 hours over and above the MG volunteer commitment.

Members: Cheri Haggerty, Shelby Snyder and Chair Frank Reilly and whomever else we can get. Angela Cahn has stepped down as a committee member, and we could use a volunteer to help with the Calendar page.

1. Since the December regularly scheduled meeting there have been 11598 visitors to VMGA.net.

6. The most popular pages in the last three months have been Hort Update and the minutes.

The Unit reps attending presented written reports or have e-mailed them to the secretary. They will be posted at www.VMGA.net.

Christy Brennan, Hanover MG and VMGA member, has been appointed to be State Fair Chair.

The committee consists of Pat Reilly, Kathryn Debnar, Mike Holmes and Paul Campbell. 550 ballots were mailed out. 205 ballots were returned and counted. The results were as follows:

4. The price should be about the same for college. I have not yet heard back from the dorm about lodging and meal rates. A day rate will be available.

5. We are encouraging dorm life, but will list some local hotels. We will not be negotiating any special rates with local hotels.

6. On-line registration will again be available.

8. The CD will come out in the beginning of March. I could use some pictures from last year. Submit to webmaster@VMGA.net

9. Prince William will not be doing the Goodie Bags this year. This is not too difficult of a job. We can get you all the old info, but there is room for creativity on your Unit's part.

Note: Roanoke volunteered to do the Goodie Bags for this year.

The draft changes to the Standing Rules were presented for final review. The membership present voted to accept the changes as proposed. They will be posted at vmga.net.

The proposed By-laws changes were brought before the membership present for their consideration. Members were asked to review these changes and transmit their comments to any of the committee members by February 29, 2004. Committee members are Kathryn Debnar, Jinny Estell, Pat Reilly and Cheri Haggerty. The proposed changes will be published in the VMGA Report. The vote on the changes will be at the June 2004 General Membership meeting.

President Scibek has had several questions regarding the handling of sales tax by local units. Susie McCrea has researched this and posted her findings at www.vmga.net. It is on the Unit Support page. The location will be published in the VMGA Report.

A discussion on what constitutes a Life Member took place. Our current membership application defines a member as an active Master Gardener in good standing. Pauline is concerned that we are maintaining a membership base where some no longer meet that requirement. This subject will be brought up as Unfinished Business at the April meeting.

76 House Delegates and 36 Senators currently support the Critical Staffing Initiative, SB30, amendment #246.

Board meetings for 2004 are scheduled as follows:

* Change from December minutes.

The meeting was adjourned at 1415.

Respectfully submitted,

Cheri Haggerty

Secretary

VMGA