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Sandy Hammond

Mar 31

Josephine County Home Show Success

By Beet 2024 04 April

 

The Jackson County Master Gardener Association participated in the Josephine County Home Show on February 16, 17 and 18. The event was held at the Josephine County Fairgrounds, and despite uncooperative weather, there was a good response at our booth.

The booth was attractively decorated with beautiful hanging pictures of a variety of plants. We handed out many brochures on native plants, pollinators and other valuable garden subjects. We also provided information on the Spring Garden Fair, Winter Dreams/Summer Gardens and the Master Gardener Program. Seven wonderful Master Gardener volunteers answered a multitude of questions and encouraged people to sign up to be contacted with additional information. We also sold $700 worth of Garden Guides and garden hats! A good time was had by all.

Jan 03

Volunteers Needed – Josephine County Home Show

By Beet 2024 01 January

Volunteers Needed

Jackson County Master Gardener Association is participating in the Builders Association Josephine County Home Show in Grants Pass.

The show is on February 16th, 17th, and 18th in the Floral Building at the Grants Pass Fairgrounds.

We will have a booth with our volunteers to answer questions and to pass out our many brochures and sell Garden Guides.

This will be a fun event and a great opportunity to meet and greet the public.

Volunteers are needed to be in the booth.

The event is

  • On Friday, February 16th the hours are 12:00to 5:00 p.m.
  • On Saturday, February 17th the hours are 10:00 to 5:00 p.m.
  • On Sunday, February 18th the hours are 10:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Please contact Sandy Hammond to volunteer.

email   sandrahammondmg@gmail.com

There will be a volunteer meeting at the extension at the end of January

 

Nov 29

JCMGA Fall Festival 2023

By Beet 2023 12 December

The Fall Festival of 2023 was an experiment that we learned a lot from. We did not have the field for parking as we did for the Spring Garden Fair, so we held back on advertising, resulting in lower attendance then we would have liked. A good time was had by all who attended though, with an added treat being the spectacular eclipse visible in the parking lot in the morning.

 

The Native Plant Nursery did their usual great job of selling their plants, earning the majority of the income for the day. Greenhouse #2 was full of Christmas items, beautiful glass garden art (made by Master Gardeners) and Christmas cacti. Wonderful cookies and beverages were free to the delight of all who attended.

 

There were several vendors who participated, including Sanctuary One with two adorable goats. The leftover Christmas items were donated to Sanctuary One for their future fundraising events.

 

Sep 29

JCMGA 1st Annual Fall Festival

By Beet 2023 10 October

The 1st annual Fall Festival is set for October 14th

at the SOREC Extension, 569 Hanley Road, Central Point.

This will be a 1-day event.

The hours are 9:00am to 2:00pm.

  • A fun day was had by all on September 15th making glass garden art. Some volunteers made their art project to keep, and some made garden art to sell at the Fall Festival.
  • There will be 6 outside vendors along with our wonderful Native Garden nursery.
  • The event will be outside and in Greenhouse #2.
  • We will even have Sanctuary One bringing their goats for petting and viewing.
  • There will be holiday items such as wreaths and decorations along with garden art.

 

Cookies and beverages will be provided for free.

 

Thanks to Jane Moyer there will also be beautiful Christmas cacti for sale.

 

Parking will be in the parking lot only so carpooling is a good idea.

 

Aug 31

1ST ANNUAL JCMGA FALL FESTIVAL

By Beet 2023 09 September

The Fundraising Working Group is organizing the 1st annual Jackson County Master Gardener Fall Festival! The event is scheduled for October the 14th from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, and will be held at the Extension parking lot and greenhouse.

 

This will be a smaller event than the Spring Garden Fair because of limited parking.  We’re happy that there will be 5 to 7 outside vendors, along with the Master Gardener Native Plant Nursery. Sanctuary One will provide a live display of goats. The Fundraising Working Group will sell holiday items such as wreaths, Christmas cacti and garden art.

 

We are excited to provide yet another fun event for our Master Gardener students, veterans and the public. In the near future, requests will be sent out for volunteer help.

May 31

An Unsung Lady

By Beet 2023 06 June

Sandy Hansen is a proud JCMGA graduate of the class of 2017. Her husband graduated in 2016 and convinced her it was a great “club” to join. Apparently, she agreed with him because she soon accepted the role of helping Linda Holder with the tremendous responsibility of organizing vendors for the Spring Garden Fairs in 2018 and 2019. Back then we had over 100 vendors at the Expo. Sandy learned her job well and developed great rapport with the vendors. This year, with the new experiment of holding the 2023 Spring Garden Fair at the SOU Extension, Sandy successfully acquired wonderful vendors. She followed through with them from the initial contact to the ending farewell, making sure they all had a satisfactory experience.

 

Sandy also assumed the role of Communications Work Group Chair (now called the Marketing and Technology Work Group), which she held for several years. She once again stepped up to the plate with efficiency and competence. She was a “calmer downer” for me, which I needed a lot. She is a friend and very good at handling tense situations.

 

Now Sandy is concluding her vendor and communications responsibilities. For all that she has accomplished, we give Sandy Hanson our gratitude and respect.  She has been a real asset to our group, and we are lucky to have her.

 

 

 

 

 

May 31

What a Great Fair!

By Beet 2023 06 June

Sandy Hammond

Chair of the Spring Garden Fair

 

The 2023 Spring Garden Fair was an experiment that succeeded! We did not know how many people would attend or how the vendors would react to having the fair at this year’s location.   Fortunately, we were able to use the 20 acres adjacent to the extension grounds for parking, making for easy public access.

The great news is IT WORKED! The plants were exceptional this year, thanks to the 2023 Practicum students and mentors. The Native Plant Nursery also provided some outstanding plants for the sale.

The revenue from our sales was over $14,000. Not bad for a 6-hour fair.

The vendors were signed up and organized by Sandy Hansen. The site was organized by Lucy Pylkki. Both women did a terrific job. The radios we purchased for communicating during the fair proved invaluable in making things run smoothly.

The parking folks also did a great job wrangling thousands of cars. A special thanks to Brian Smith (husband of Nicole Smith, 2023 student). His experience was critical in getting a parking system up and running.

There were so many valuable volunteers – and by golly – they sure are appreciated.

Give yourselves a big pat on the back!

We learned what to do and what not to do for next year. It just proves that Master Gardeners are about more than just plants; they are people who can succeed in keeping our association thriving and growing as well.

 

 

 

Apr 30

JCMGA Spring Garden Fair

By Beet 2023 05 May

The 2023 Spring Garden Fair is going to be held at the extension on May 6th from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Set up for the fair will be on Friday the 5th all day. We have approximately 20 paying vendors and 6 nonpaying vendors. Some examples of nonpaying vendors are SOREC, the Plant Clinic, and the Fire Department. Vendors will be in the auditorium, in the outer limits of the parking lot and in the arboretum. Our vendors are primarily plant vendors. Others are garden art, garden equipment, and garden furniture. There will also be live demonstrations in the small classroom. There will be an 11:00 am demonstration of worm composting and a 1:00 pm class on how to transplant your plants. Students from 4-H will hold on to plant purchases while shoppers enjoy the fair. Students will then assist in taking them to your vehicle, if needed. Donations are welcome.

The Practicum classes, Native Plant Nursery, and the Propagation Garden will sell their plants with much pride.

The fair is free to the public. This is a test run for the Master Gardener Association. We have great enthusiasm and confidence that we can make this event a success.

 

Mar 31

JCMGA Spring Garden Fair – May 6

By Beet 2023 04 April

 

The 2023 Spring Garden Fair is going to be held at the extension on May 6th from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Set up for the fair will be on Friday the 5th all day. We have approximately 20 paying vendors and 6 nonpaying vendors. Some examples of nonpaying vendors are SORAC, the Plant Clinic, and the Fire Department. Vendors will be in the auditorium, in the outer limits of the parking lot and in the arboretum. Our vendors are primarily plant vendors. Others are garden art, garden equipment, and garden furniture. There will also be live demonstrations in the small classroom. There will be an 11:00 am demonstration of worm composting and a 1:00 pm class on how to transplant your plants. Students from 4-H will hold on to plant purchases while shoppers enjoy the fair. Students will then assist in taking them to your vehicle, if needed. Donations are welcome.

Because of limited parking, all Master Gardeners, overflow parking and some vendors will be parking at Hanley Farm. There will be shuttle drivers to take people back and forth. The drop off and pick-up area is in front of the Experiment building. The Practicum classes, Native Plant Nursery, and the Propagation Garden will sell their plants with much pride.

The fair is free to the public. This is a test run for the Master Gardener Association. We have great enthusiasm and confidence that we can make this event a success.

 

 

Dec 31

Fundraising Working Group

By Beet 2023 01 January

Jackson County Master Gardener program is a non-profit group. This, however, does not mean we do not want to raise money and have a small profit to keep the bills paid and our JCMGA programs funded.

There are several sections of the Fundraising Working Group. One section is Grant Writing. The other sections include the Go Fund Me drive, the Grange Co-Op rewards program, the Garden Guide for the Rogue Valley: Year ‘Round & Month by Month sales, the 50/50 money drive at special events and the Bottle and Can return. (Pick up bags for the bottles and cans in the entry of the Extension.)

We have done several yard sales on campus in the past. These proved to be somewhat successful but are extremely labor-intensive to justify going forward. In November, we had a Holiday Bazaar and Native Plant Sale. Many items, including wreaths, swags, gnomes, Christmas stockings and tree ornaments were made over several months by enthusiastic members.

Going forward, the plan is to have a Fall Festival fair on campus selling Christmas items and native and Practicum plants.

Ours is a FUN group, which is the first three letters of FUNdraising. We are a group where laughter and brainstorming are abundant.

We meet at 1:00 pm on the 3rd Friday of each month at the OSU Extension. We are always looking for volunteers and ideas. Please contact chairperson Sandy Hammond at 541-826-5296 or email sandyhammond@q.com.