PLEASE READ: News You Can Use

News You Can Use!

November 2023

Hello Shoshana,

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

Updates from your Volunteer Coordinator
Information on a new resource from OSU - the Bug Bite site
Information for the Stinner Conference & the Ohio Apple Seminar on Zoom
& 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 Tammy L. Currier, your Volunteer Coordinator

Dear MGVs,

A big thanks to the MGCC for getting your hours in by 10/31 - you did yourselves proud! There were only 21 of you to follow up with - that is a big improvement over times past. Thank you for all you do!

Recertification: Please remember to recertify in December. I will send out the call as soon as the link for 2024 goes live. Do not recertify until I tell you the 2024 link is up. Once available, you'll find the link at the top of your Hands on Connect homepage.

Remember to take your time going through the recert 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 the end of December.

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

Tammy

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MGCC Dates at a Glance:

November 13th - The 17th Annual Stinner Summit; REGISTRATION CLOSED!

November 14th - Backyard Garden to Fork: Ohio Apples; REGISTER HERE!

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

For more information on these dates, see descriptions below.

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A New Resource from OSU: Bite Back at Biting Pests

Stay safe while putting your garden to bed, romping in the leaves, or walking in the park or woods with OSU's new Bite Site. Developed in partnership with tick, mosquito, and bed bug experts, this new site offers valuable guidance and links to resources.

*Since ticks are active year-round - the Bite Site has you covered!

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Backyard Garden to Fork: Ohio Apples

Learn more about Ohio apples with Greene County Horticulture Program Assistant Kim Hupman and Family and Consumer Sciences Educator Laura Halladay. You'll learn the first steps to starting a backyard orchard, along with information on selecting, storing, and serving Ohio apples.

When: November 14th, 2023, 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM

Where: Zoom

Questions: Contact Laura at Halladay.6@osu.edu or Kim Hupman at Humpan.5@osu.edu

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The 17th Annual Stinner Summit - November 13, 2023

If you're interested in urban agriculture - this event should be pretty interesting. It will take place in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park's Happy Days Lodge and is held annually as a tribute to Dr. Ben Stinner, who was a pioneer in regenerative agricultural research and a great connector of people.

Each year the Stinner Summit gathers researchers, farmers, educators, policy leaders, and organizations from across the state. Through a participatory process, specific project ideas are crafted during the Summit and funded through the Stinner Endowment Fund. This year, they will be encouraging projects focused on building more resilient and equitable food systems in metropolitan regions.

We invite you to help us design and lead these projects by attending the Summit this fall. The Summit provides an excellent opportunity for networking, sharing, and designing impactful projects, and there is no cost associated with attending.

When: Monday, November 13th, 2023 - 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Where: Happy Days Lodge / CVNP/ 500 W Streetsboro St / Peninsula, OH 44264

REGISTRATION CLOSED!

MGVs earn ONE CE per ONE hour of instruction

-submitted by Maggie Rivera, Summit County ANR Educator

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CONTINUING EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES:

(Note: Cuyahoga County CE opportunities will always be listed first, followed by CE opportunities available in other Ohio counties, so remember to scroll down. New listings will be shown first followed by opportunities listed in chronological order.

* 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:

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.

2023 Hour Requirements: 25 Volunteer Hours / 10 Continuing Education Hours.

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 2023! 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 the second Saturday of the month, 9:00 AM - NOON. Just one date remaining: 10/14.
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)

MG OSU Liason - Kathy DeJohn (non-voting)

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, November 2oth, 2023 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.

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