April JCMGA Working Groups Summaries

 

Community Outreach Working Group

Chair, Ronnie Budge

• Update on Community Gardens:
  • Sherri Morgan held her first meeting with the Community Gardens Network. They discussed JCMGA’s grant program and set a deadline of May 1 for applications. Sherri will work with Barbara Low to update the grant and contact information on JCMGA’s website.
• ­Update on Josephine County Home Show:
  • Sandy Hammond reported that it was well worth the time of the seven JCMGA volunteers who staffed our information booth over three days. They sold $700 worth of Garden Guides and garden hats, distributed numerous flyers, and took names of persons interested in being contacted about upcoming JCMGA activities.
• Update on Bee City Phoenix Earth Day Celebration:
  • Kathy Rogers, Barbara Low, and Grace Florjancic will staff a JCMGA information booth at Blue Heron Park on April 20.
• Update on Medford Open Streets Project:
  • JCMGA will have an information booth in downtown Medford on May 17 from 4-8 pm.
• Update on Speakers Bureau:
  • Colet Allen is beginning to plan a fall series of programs for the Medford and Rogue River libraries.
• Update on Friends of the Gardens:
  • A promotional flyer has been prepared using the new logo. It will be reformatted for rack cards and there will be a page about the program on the JCMGA website. An orientation video is being prepared. There will be an informational meeting on March 22 which people can attend in person or via Zoom.
• JCMGA 2024 Strategic Plan:
  • The draft Strategic Plan was reviewed with an eye towards the COWG’s role in carrying out the activities listed, and suggestions were made for adding or removing the COWG at various points. Barbara Low will make the revisions. It was agreed that all of the activities the COWG is currently involved in should be continued, but at a level that can be sustained with available volunteers. For example, booths should be informational only, without trying to sell plants, which requires much more effort.
• Volunteers:
  • There was discussion about the need to involve more members in the work of JCMGA and to train individuals to take over from current leaders of activities.

Fundraising Working Group

Chair, Jane Moyer

• Met and discussed the upcoming Spring Garden Fair. We will be selling the Garden Guides at the Earth Day event on April 20 and at the Medford Streets Event on May 17.

Garden Working Group 

Chair, Janine Salvatti

• The Demonstration gardens are starting to be cleaned up. The Fig Garden pruning project is on hold because of Janine’s injury.
• They are scheduling several volunteer work parties in the gardens.

Marketing and Technology Working Group

Co-Chairs – Barbara Low and Keltie Nelson

• We have worked on a JCMGA Marketing plan.
• We are looking at training people for the different areas that we manage so that more than one person is able to do the task.

Member Services Working Group

Chair, Barbara Low

• JCMGA Chapter (Membership) Directory is just about ready to be sent to the printers..
• We finished the details for the Information Meeting on the Friends of the Gardens which is Friday, March 22. This program will start in April.

Program Support Working Group

Chair is Grace Florjancic

• I am very happy to announce we have been awarded funding to pursue some horticultural therapy activities with older adults in our rural libraries. It is a short 6-month grant, so we are quickly getting this ball rolling! Check out the Coordinator’s Colum for more details.

Spring Garden Fair Working Group

co-Chairs – Marcie Katz and Lucy Pylkki

• They are busy getting ready for the Spring Garden Fair, which is May 4 and 5 at the SOREC Extension.
• Volunteers are still needed. Colet Allen and Barbara Low are working on getting volunteers.

Winter Dreams Summer Gardens Working Group

chairs are Colet Allen, Susan Koenig, and Barbara Low

• We are getting the presenters for the 2024 WDSG!
• We have taken the suggestions from the 2023 WDSG Survey to help decide what topics we wanted to include in the 2024 WDSG.