President's Letter

Focus on the Garden

My climbing roses are blooming a deep fuchsia.  I can see through the window that they need to be reattached to their arbor.  Summer can be a time of respite, but I relax through the activity of cleaning out garden beds and closets.  It was a busy school year and I am hoping to focus on my backlog of tasks. It is that new ability/time to focus that I find relaxing.  That, plus the early morning walks in my garden.

I will make time for some garden fun and inspiration though.  The Master Gardener Association of Northwest Michigan is a sponsor of the Friendly Garden Club Garden Walk on Thursday July 19.  Always a fun time, this year we will have a table at Advanced Master Gardener Cheryl Gross’s house.  Her native plant garden is featured on the garden walk.

We also have a fun tour of the Edible Trails Project at the DeYoung Farm on August 7.  Hope you can join us.  The plantings of edible plants – from berries to vegetables – is a form of permaculture and very interesting.

The board will be doing some housekeeping as well as Treasurer Glynis Waycaster and I migrate MGANM financials from Excel to Quickbooks.  This will make our annual financial reporting so much easier and less time-consuming. The financial update is one of several initiatives in progress to make the job of the board more sustainable.  

Another part of our housekeeping is sending out the membership survey for some planning activities this fall.  You can find the link to the survey here.  We are trying to capture basic demographic information on our members to better serve them, as well as input for planning the programming for 2019.  Answers are confidential - and no names are asked in the survey. Please submit the survey by July 15 so that we can review the findings at the August board meeting.

In November we have board elections.  It is not too early to start thinking about serving on the board.  Both Judy Reich, our secretary, and I, have terms that are up this year as well as two director positions.  We have staggered board terms so not every board seat is up for election every year. But we also have term limits so we need new people with fresh perspectives and insights to serve.  Serving on the board is a fun and easy way to earn your volunteer hours and serve your community. Please consider joining the board! For more information on what board service is like email info@mganm.org.

Happy Gardening!  Thank you for all you do!

Michele Worden, AEMG, MGANM President