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Here's to a new gardening year!!
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Is it too early to start thinking about Spring? Our short answer is NO! It's also never too early to think about getting started on your continuing education credits, and there are five master gardener conferences coming up soon! See "Stories and News" for more information and a list of important deadlines for event registrations.
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We'd Like to Hear From You!! |
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The MMGA believes that one of the best benefits we can offer our members is information. We try to keep you up to date on what's happening around the state, and we always want to share great projects and ideas.
We keep our events calendar full of continuing education opportunities and hope that we boost attendance at these programs, as well. We list other events that we feel would appeal to master gardeners. Until the gardening season begins, we'll be sending out a weekly notice of upcoming events in an effort to save you time. You can quickly scan through to see if there's anything near you that you'd like to attend.
We'd love to know what all of you are doing. Have a project you're proud of? Tell us about it with our spotlight form. Planning a conference or symposium? Let us know by filling out the events form. Both are available on our website and just take a few minutes to complete.
Looking for ideas? You can access our archived spotlight articles.
We can only post those events that we know about, and we know we miss a lot. We'd greatly appreciate it if our members would be pro-active in getting their information to us.
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MMGA membership has many benefits both for affiliate chapters and individual members. As we start a new year here’s a round-up of the benefits you receive with your MMGA membership.
Leadership Training. This is always an important topic, especially for all-volunteer organizations. To make the jobs of chapter officers easier, MMGA sponsors an annual leadership conference for affiliate chapter leadership where we tackle issues like reports and reporting, fundraising, promoting your organization and more.
In the past we’ve held leadership conferences either annually or bi-annually, but we’ve recently added Zoom (video conferencing) roundtables to our educational efforts. Our first roundtable took place in November and was so well received that we plan to schedule others, some for chapter leaders and others for general members.
Keeping in Touch. All MMGA members receive a bi-monthly newsletter with stories about what master gardeners from around the state are doing to provide horticultural education in their communities, ideas for fundraising and spotlights on the special projects of master gardeners and individual chapters. The feedback we’ve received tells us that these stories are great for sparking project ideas that can be used in communities across the state. Additionally, during the winter and early spring months, when lots of gardening conferences take place, we send out a weekly events notice to alert you to upcoming conferences and programs you might not hear about otherwise.
We also invite you to regularly visit our website. There you’ll find a calendar of events, a list of speakers complete with their topics, travel availability and costs, a list of great places for gardeners to visit in our beautiful state and lots of good background information about MMGA.
Retail Benefits. We’ve recruited some garden retailers to offer discounts to MMGA members who display their member dues receipt when visiting these retailers stores. A list of the retail businesses that offer discounts is kept on our website. We’re always looking for more retailers who are interested in attracting more master gardeners to their business so if you have suggestions for companies to contact please let us know by emailing: president@mmgainc.org. Please include a contact name, phone number, street address and email address (if you have one).
Other Benefits. MMGA is proud to provide a collective voice for Michigan Master Gardeners as we work collaboratively with Michigan State University to continue to enhance what being a master gardener means for us all. We also provide that crucial liability insurance that allows our master gardener members to work at projects with the peace of mind of knowing the group policy covers any accidental injury to another that they might cause. We all hope that never happens but it’s good to know that if it does MMGA has a policy in place. To learn more about the insurance program email treasurer@mmgainc.org.
Thank you for your ongoing membership and support of MMGA and your commitment to science based horticultural education as an EMG volunteer!
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Like it or not, social media is very popular these days. Many master gardener associations are finding that Facebook is an easy and effective way to communicate with their members.
It's a great way to remind members of monthly meetings and work days or to organize educational outings. Pages can be open to the public or can be closed for members only.
Best of all, Facebook is free and a page can be run by one person or by a committee. It does not have to be time consuming and it can be a lot of fun.
Many of our affiliates already have websites and Facebook pages, while some have one or the other. Some affiliates have neither, and we'd like to know if those affiliates are interested in learning how to set up and manage a Facebook page.
This training can be done online so that no one has to brave icy roads. If your group is interested, please send us an email with contact information.
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2017 Smart Gardening Conference
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The Alpine Master Gardener Association will present "Herb Your Enthusiasm: 2018 Garden Seminar and Luncheon" in Gaylord on Saturday, February 24, from 9 am till 3 pm. They have an outstanding line up of speakers, and this looks as though it'll be a great event. Early bird registration closes on February 10 and seating is limited, so reserve your spot now!
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The 2018 Smart Gardening Conference, presented by MSU Extension, will be held on March 3 in Grand Rapids. Doors open at 8:50 am and the event ends at 4 pm. This conference is always a great educational opportunity with engaging speakers. You'll have full access to the West Michigan Home and Garden Show. Registration deadline is February 23.
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San Antonio River Walk
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Has winter been getting you down? Sign up for the Texas Garden Travel Tour which departs from the Macomb County Extension office on March 16. Twelve day/eleven nights - includes motor coach transportation , lodging including 3 nights on San Antonio River Walk, many meals with all breakfasts, admissions into many gardens and iconic historical attractions, and much more. Public gardens include Dallas Arboretum/Gardens, Lady Bird Wildflower Center, San Antonio River Walk & Japanese Gardens, San Antonio Botanic Gardens, Wildseed Farm, Fort Worth Botanic Gardens, and Myriad Gardens (Oklahoma City). Registration closes on February 12!!
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On Saturday, April 14, plan to "Spring Into Gardening" with the Master Gardener Association of Isabella County. This lively conference will interest any gardeners, from beginners to advanced. Doors open at 8:30 am and the event ends at 4 pm. There will be a diverse speaker line-up, vendors and door prizes. The early registration deadline is March 16.
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"Gardening and All That Jazz" is an annual event put on by the Master Gardener Society of Oakland County. This is the sixth year of this event, and it will be held on Saturday, April 28. This day long educational conference features top horticultural speakers and includes garden market vendors and live jazz. Early registration ends March 14.
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MMGA Welcomes New Affiliates |
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MMGA is pleased to welcome two affiliates as new members! We are proud to say that this brings our total to 21 affiliates.
The Master Gardener Association of Northwest Michigan celebrated their 20th anniversary last year. The group, which serves master gardeners in Benzie, Grand Traverse and Leelanau Counties, meets monthly with most meetings at the Boardman River Nature Center. One of their most exciting projects is a green roof of all native plants that tops the association’s tool shed on the nature center property.
The Upper Peninsula Master Gardener Association is one of the newest master gardeners groups in the state, and is currently putting their structure in place. As the name implies, the group will serve the entire upper peninsula. They are building a Facebook page and a website, and plan to give educational presentations monthly, with the first on January 27. They intend to record the presentations in order to make them available to those members that can't attend in person.
MMGA welcomes both groups and we look forward to working with you in 2018!
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2018 Master Gardener Training Courses |
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Do you have a friend or neighbor that's expressed an interest in becoming a master gardener? How about a child or a grand-child? Your husband or wife or a sibling? Please help us spread the news that training courses have begun! We'll post all courses on our events calendar and on the website under the "Be a Master Gardener" tab soon after MSU publishes the information.
Clinton Township (Macomb County) begins classes on March 1. Traverse City (Grand Traverse County) and Detroit (Wayne County follow on March 8 and March 10, respectively. Four training classes are already underway.
Sixteen classes were offered around the state in 2017. It's interesting to see how interest has grown--we have a list on the website of classes offered since 2014, and more classes and locations have been added each year. Our recommendations count for a lot, so please, get out and recruit!
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Volunteer Opportunities with MMGA |
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If you thought summer was the only time to get in volunteer hours think again. Consider volunteering your talents to the MMGA on one of our key committees.
MMGA is an all-volunteer organization and we could use more help in continuing to build the organization. After only four years we’ve accomplished a lot but there is always more to do. Currently we have five standing committees including:
- Communications
- Finance
- Leadership
- Membership
- Strategic Planning
We can use members on all these committees. We need and want input and assistance from EMGs all over the state so we can do the best job possible in supporting all our members and the Michigan Master Gardener program.
We Need Skilled Volunteers
Do you have experience in communications? In accounting? Do you have skills in event planning? Are you an accomplished speaker on a topic of interest to our affiliate leadership – information that will help them continue to build strong local and regional groups? Do you have EMG contacts throughout the state that you could use to help build our membership program? Do you have a background in coaching or organizational development?
We can use your skills. And you can help the MMGA grow and develop while earning volunteer hours for yourself!
Our board and committee members live all over the state, so most meetings are held online. We try to make it as easy as possible to volunteer with MMGA and any hours spent on MMGA business counts for recertification.
Any volunteer organization is only as good as the volunteers who dedicate time and energy to it. We all know that master gardeners are among the best. We really hope that a few of you will raise your hands and sign on for a committee position.
For more information, contact info@mmgainc.org.
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MMGA Executives 2016-2017
Ruth Steele-Walker, President
Diana Zeimen, Vice President
Vicki Laurin, Secretary
Colleen Petersen, Treasurer
MSUE Advisor
Mary Wilson
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MMGA Board of Directors
Linda Andriacchi, Director
Belinda Laughlin, Director
Jan Rise, Director
Norman Scherr, Director
Sue Aagaard, Director
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About MMGA
The Michigan Master Gardener Association is a non-profit corporation with an all-volunteer board. We invite you to become involved as a volunteer and a member. Membership is open to every Master Gardener volunteer in good standing, which includes recertified Master Gardeners and volunteers in training. The cost is just $5.00! It’s less than the cost of going to a movie or out to lunch, yet that $5.00 individual membership fee helps pay for the critical liability insurance coverage that none of us can afford to be without. Your commitment to our association will help keep this insurance affordable for everyone.
Visit www.michiganmastergardener.org to join.
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