News You Can Use!

December 2023

Hello Shoshana,

Here is the December 2023 edition of News You Can Use featuring:

• Updates from your AC Chair, ANR Educator, & Volunteer Coordinator
• Recertification is LIVE!
• Information on upcoming MGCC Annual Meeting & newly forming MGV Plant Propagation Team
• Nature Center at Shaker Lakes reopens seed library for 2023/2024
• Recognition of the MGV Ben Franklin team for their philanthropy
• Pollinator Partnership Steward opportunity
• & more...
• MGVC "Update" Archive

*NYCU is published once a month October - April; twice a month May - September.

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If you have any questions on information found in News You Can Use - contact Tammy L. Currier at currier.37@osu.edu.

Help us build our social media presence by following the Master Gardener Volunteers of Cuyahoga County Facebook page and by sharing it with your friends. If they share, we will expand our reach!

If you have information to share in the next News You Can Use contact Tammy L. Currier at currier.37@osu.edu.

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Update from Ellen Comeau, your Advisory Committee Chair

Hello, my fellow MGV's,

Well as you can see, I survived my year as Advisory Committee Chair.

And thanks to the members on AC, and all of you, including Tammy, my term went well. So well in fact, I got voted in for another year. Thanks for the confidence, AC members.

I'd like to take this moment to thank all of you for the great work you all did to keep this organization at its best.

I know for a fact that many of you have gone through personal hardships this year. Personal health issues or the health of a loved one, elderly care, or loved ones passing have been at the top of the list. I feel for all of you as I go through it too. We are a big family and when one of us suffers, we all feel your pain. You're never alone.

Yet through all of this, you got your hours in. I'm very proud of the efforts all of you have put in this year.

And as you’ll see in this issue of NYCU, many will be honored for their efforts at the MGCC Annual Meeting on January 13th. I'm personally inviting everyone! I have a great team putting this all together so please plan on attending..



We had a great year of activities to participate in and fun opportunities to get our CE's and 2024 promises to be even better.

Of course, we're all excited to know there will be a new Basic Training class coming, but we also hope to have some new and interesting activities for you to participate in, as well as great programs for CE's.

Lastly, I'd like to thank Tammy for all she does for our organization. Great job!

And thanks to Morning who also has survived her first year. She has a lot on her plate but she's there when we need her too. We'll be looking forward to working with her as we prepare for our new BT class.

Thanks again for all you do!

Please have a wonderful & safe holiday season!

See you all next year –

Ellen

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Update from Morning Robinson, your ANR Educator



Greetings MGVs,

I hope you're enjoying the mild winter weather we've been experiencing so far this season - fingers crossed it continues. Weather aside, I want to thank you for your commitment to serve as volunteers on behalf of The Ohio State University Extension and hope you will carry this dedication into 2024.

I'm sure you'll all be pleased to know there will be an MGV Basic Training in 2024. If you are interested in teaching, mentoring, providing food or just want to be kept in the loop, please be on the lookout for a date for the Basic Training Committee meeting to be held in January. I'm looking forward to working with you on conducting a successful 2024 class!

Dig-In! Community Garden Training is coming again in the spring. If any MGVs are interested in teaching a class or mentoring during the growing season, please reach out.

And lastly, Cuyahoga ON-GRID - the ANR blog, which provides information on urban farming and community gardening as well as OSU Extension updates, is looking for submissions. MGVs are welcome to provide seasonal gardening tips or share their experiences with a particular plant, these can be anonymous or direct quotes. Also, please encourage those who are interested to subscribe, community engagement and CEUs are often cross posted on the blog.

Thank you again for all you do!

Happy Holidays!

Morning

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Update from Tammy L. Currier, your Volunteer Coordinator

Dear MGVs,

The time to RECERTIFY is NOW! The link is now live on Hands on Connect. Log into your account to find the link at the top of your Hands on Connect homepage. Follow page by page instructions.

If you need a tutorial, follow this link: https://mastergardener.osu.edu/sites/mgv/files/imce/Recertify_0.pdf!

Remember, Recertification is required for liability purposes and for a volunteer to be in good standing which is relevant to their background check.

Please take your time going through this process - information is required from you on several pages. If you don't take your time and rush through, the system will flag you as having not completed the process and I will have to reach out to you again.

*All MGVs planning to volunteer in 2024 need to complete this process by December 31st.

Wishing you all a holiday season filled with the comforts of family and friends!

Tammy

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MGCC Dates at a Glance:

• January 12th - 19th, 2024 & January 19th - 26th, 2024 - Ecuador Trip; REGISTRATION CLOSED!

• January 13th - The MGCC Annual Meeting; SAVE THE DATE!

For more information on these dates, see descriptions below.



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What: 2023 MGCC Annual Meeting

When: Saturday, January 13, 2024 / 11:00 AM

Where: Independence Civic Center /

6363 Selig Drive / Independence, Ohio

* Doors open at 11:00 AM; Brunch served 11:30 AM

* Meeting/program starts at 12:00 PM

* Featured speaker: The MGCC's own Donna Schneider -

"Feed Me! Growing Plants for Pollinators."

All MGV's are encouraged to attend the Annual Meeting and learn important information for 2024.

Invitation to follow via Constant Contact - watch for it!

For more information or offers to help, contact Susan Pandoli at:

susanpandoli@yahoo.com

MGVS will receive ONE CE for attending

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Join the Master Gardener Volunteer Plant Propagation Team

Do you enjoy propagating plants? From houseplants to herbs, flowers to shrubs to trees (all non-invasive of course) and regardless of method, if you have an interest, you may be interested in joining the newly forming Master Gardener Volunteer Plant Propagation team. The primary focus of the team will be growing plants for Plants in the Park (PIP). However, other functions may arise that can be addressed as the group grows.

If this is something you would like to get involved in or if you have access to space we could use for our plant propagation, please contact:

-         Dave Appel at 216-973-6618 / appeldb@gmail.com

-         Don Landek at 440-823-1816 / donlandek@gmail.com

-         Tammy Currier at 330-599-7734 / currier.37@osu.edu

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Another Round of Applause for the Benjamin Franklin MGVs!

With money donated by Ben Franklin Master Gardener Volunteers earlier this year, they were able to buy several bags of school supplies for our fourth graders at Ben Franklin School, and, with the money left over, they recently purchased over a dozen gently used winter coats and new hats and gloves for our students in need. And, they still have money left to buy anything our teachers may require during the rest of the year!

In addition, the knitting group, Yarn Over Beachwood, has been knitting hats and scarves for our kids over the last few years. This year they not only knitted hats and scarves, but also donated several coats. A big thank you to Yarn Over Beachwood!

Anything not used by our fourth graders is made available to other students in need of a warm coat or hat or both.

Thanks to all of you who donated items or money - Ben Franklin MGVs are the best!

-submitted by Pat Mraz, MGV 2007

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Attention Native Plant Gardeners: The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes has reopened their Native Seed Library for 2023/2024

The library is stocked with over 75 species of plants native to Northeast Ohio. Members and non-members are welcome to come and take up to seven packets of seeds.

NCSL will also be hosting seminars on native seed propagation and other subjects related to native plants. Consult their website for details.

Where: 2600 South Park Boulevard / Cleveland, OH 44120

When: Tuesday-Sunday, 10 AM - 5 PM. Closed Mondays.

If you come for seeds, take a minute to hike one of their trails like the All-People’s Trail that takes you on a wooden walkway over our marsh. Or the Stearns Woodland Trail that winds through their restored forest environment.

-submitted by Sue Strauss, MGV 2014

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CE Opportunity: Get Certified as a Pollinator Steward!

The Pollinator Partnership's 2024 registration for their Pollinator Steward Certification Program is now open. Topics covered include an introduction to the wonderful world of pollinators, how they live and thrive, threats to pollinators, and how we all can help. Details will be provided on habitat creation for pollinators in many landscapes including parks, rights-of-way, urban gardens, and farms. Additional information on pollinator identification and how to spread your knowledge will be provided.

This course is ideal for home gardeners, land managers (large and small), farmers, and anyone that wants to do more to support pollinators.

* Join the Pollinator Partnership's growing community of Certified Pollinator Stewards - register today, spaces are limited!

To learn more/register, follow this LINK!

Note: This opportunity is approved for CE's.

MGVs earn ONE CE per ONE hour of instruction

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From ME to ALL of you:

A Winter Haiku

Feathered with hoarfrost,

skeletal branches dip low;

crystallized arches.

~ Tammy L. Currier, 2023

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* Cuyahoga County: Looking Forward to Next Year's CE Opportunities

Stay tuned for 2024's CE opportunities - can't wait to see what the committee comes up with!

MGVs earn ONE CE per ONE hour of programming





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Continuing Education Webinars from CFAES

With lots of interesting sessions - CFAES Lunch & Learn and Happy Hour webinar sessions are the perfect way to expand your horticultural knowledge, as well as your knowledge of the natural world - all while earning required CE's.

Visit the following links to register for current webinars and to listen to past webinars:

• 2022-2023 Webinars
• 2021-2022 Webinars
• 2020-2021 Webinars

Happy Learning!



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MGV Coordinator "Important Info" Archive: Please use this ongoing archive to access important and helpful information shared by myself to assist you in being an effective MGV.

Need help finding MGCC Projects or Roster? Follow these steps:

• Log into this LINK
• Scroll down to MY COUNTIES
• Click on the grey box titled: SEARCH PROJECTS to locate full list of current MGCC projects. Click on the title of the project to access description.
• Click on the grey box titled: ROSTER (located to the right of the SEARCH PROJECTS box) to locate the names, status, phone, and email addresses of your fellow MGVs.

HANDS ON CONNECT TIPS:

• Accessing Hands on Connect: - BOOKMARK the following link: https://mgvolunteers.osu.edu/ - doing so will provide easy access to the site and you won't have to reach out to me. : )

•  REMEMBER to log-in - the log-in button is in the upper right corner - 0therwise, the information you see does not directly pertain to you.

•  The Roster is located under the heading - MY COUNTIES. The Roster is in the third grey box to the right.

• If/when you are interested in a project you need to reach out directly to the chair in charge of that project to sign up. For instance, if you wanted to work with the Community Garden Mentors, you would reach out to Emily Roll. Contact information for every Master Gardener Volunteer is located under the ROSTER in Hands on Connect.

• Do NOT use the Hands on Connect sign-up feature – it is more a function of the system than a sign-up tool. Expressing interest basically pins the project to your page and allows you to then log any volunteer time spent or CE's earned.

• Take the time to familiarize yourself with the site - you can't break it and it will be much easier to use once you've clicked on a few links. You can't get the lay of the land, so to speak, until you explore.

2024 Hour Requirements: 25 Volunteer Hours / 10 Continuing Education Hours - due October 31, 2024.

Your volunteer and continuing education hours should be earned participating in county and OSU Extension sponsored activities and continuing education opportunities. The goal is to support our county's projects benefiting the public and to gain OSU Extension-approved, science-based knowledge.

DON'T DELAY - start earning hours as soon as you can in 2024! It's always easier to accrue hours when our programming is in partial to full swing than to wait until our programming has wound down and hours are due to try and scramble to find hours to fulfill your requirements.

BUSY CAREER or HOME LIFE & WANT TO REMAIN AN MGV? - for those of you working full time, we know work gets crazy, so consider opportunities you can do at home to maintain your status as an MGV:

• Volunteer at Ben Franklin Perennial & Herb Demo Gardens Saturday offerings - stay tuned for dates!
• Participate in Telephone Hotline (task completed from the comfort of your own home).
• Join the Ask a Master Gardener team (questions answered online - also done from the comfort of your own home).
• Become a member of the Tech Team (also from the comfort of your home).
• Assist community gardens by becoming a Community Garden Mentor - mostly you respond to phone calls.
• Be a regular contributor to the MGCC Facebook page.

 Please keep the information shared above for easy access.

If you have any questions about the information I have shared here, please let me know.

Thanks for all you do,

- Tammy

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Master Gardeners of Cuyahoga County

2023 Advisory Committee Members:

Chair – Ellen Comeau

Secretary – Deborah Osgood (2024)

Treasurer – Gretchen Faro (2024)

Assistant Treasurer - Cheryl Dever (2024; non-voting)

Co-Chair Internal – Rita Politzer (2022)

C0-Chair External – Beth Murphy (2024, 2nd Term)

Fundraising Chair – Dave Appel (2023)

Current Members-at-Large :

Beth Conroy (2023)

Deb Dougherty

   Mary Ann Dyer (2023)

    Deb Hanzel (2023)

 Ed Levine (2024, 2nd term)

Susan Pandoli

Joan Pellegrin

  Mary Jo Rawlins (2023, 2nd term)

     Cathy Wheeler (2023)

NOTE:

• This chart is a work in progress. Currently, there are 17 Advisory Committee members; 15 voting; 2 non-voting positions
• The MGCC will transition over time to a new Advisory Committee Organization Chart to include 12 members total, 9 voting & 3 non-voting.

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Next Advisory Committee Meeting is Monday, January 22nd, 2024 at 4:30 PM in the OSU training room at Fairhill Partners.

If you plan to attend to observe and listen, or if you'd like to be placed on the agenda (time permitting) please contact Ellen Comeau at wallpaperhanger@att.net.