New Announcements
1. Leadership development training – Join us for 2022 virtual Leadership Development Training. Sessions will be held Wednesdays in October 1:00 – 2:30pm. You can choose which sessions to attend (or come to all!). All sessions (except October 26) will be recorded for viewing later. Learn more here.
b. October 5: Increasing volunteer engagement and building volunteer leaders. Join VCE Volunteer Engagement Specialist Dave Close as he shares thoughts on increasing volunteer engagement and building volunteer leaders.
c. October 12: Happy EMGs and Thriving EMG Units – Focal Points for Good Leadership. Come learn the results of a recent research project focused on volunteer happiness and what factors can help EMG units thrive. Learn what steps can be taken to make your unit even stronger!
d. October 19: Evaluation Deep Dive. Tom Archibald will lead this session on the ins and outs of program evaluation best practices, how tos, and more.
e. October 26: Leadership Dialogue. Join your fellow EMG leaders and prospective leaders, EMG Coordinators, and Extension Agents in discussion around relevant topics to your EMG units. Time will be spent discussing challenges, successes, and opportunities around: recruiting new members, retaining members, and building strong community partnerships. Come prepared to share your thoughts on these topics.
Old October Announcements
2. My Experience With Blue Orchard Bees, October 7, 2022 South Boston Halifax County Museum 1540 Wilborn Ave. South Boston, VA 24592 – My Experience with Blue Orchard Bees is presented by Halifax Extension Master Gardener Linda Logan, Linda has been organically gardening and building up her pollinators since moving to Halifax County in 2019. Wanting to improve gardening yields and the habitat for pollinators she has taken certain steps along the way, starting with the introduction of Blue Orchard bee eggs, providing the nest and the experiences that have occurred since. Linda has been a Master Gardener since 2004 starting in Mecklenburg and has given back many hours in educational programming. Pre-registration for this educational program is required. You can call the Halifax Virginia Cooperative Extension Office at 434-476-2147 ext. 0, or you can send an email to ask@ssmga.org or wmccale@vt.edu before the close of business on October 5, 2022.
3. Native Woody Plants of the Virginia Piedmont, October 14, 2022, South Boston Halifax County Museum 1540 Wilborn Ave. South Boston, VA 24592 – We hear more and more about problems with invasive species and what to do to eliminate them. Jason Fisher will cover many of our native woody plants found in the Piedmont of Virginia including the identification and use of these species. He will touch on the need for the protection and cultivation of our native plants. Jason is a certified Arborist and Central District Extension Agent who serves multiple counties in Central and Southern Virginia. He has over 25 years experience and loves his work almost as much as he loves to hunt and fish. This is a free public educational program that you will need to pre-register for by either calling the Halifax Virginia Cooperative Extension Office or you can send an email to ask@ssmga.org or wmccaleb@vt.edu
4. ESVMG Fall Symposium ” Planting with Purpose” – October 22, 2022 — The Chincoteague Center 6155 Community Drive Chincoteague Virginia
a. The Eastern Shore Master Gardeners invite you to join us for our Fall Symposium ” Planting with Purpose” . Spend the day with us learning how to bring beauty to your garden and improve your backyard habitat for all natures creatures, great and small. We have four guest speakers, each will present a different topic, they are; Barbara Ellis ” Diversity in the Garden”, Douglas Tallamy ” Natures best hope”, Ginny Rosenkranz ” Designing a Garden with Native and other Beautiful Plants”, and Mikela Boley ” Native Seed Saving and Sowing”. All attendees will be eligible to participate in our gift basket raffel, gift baskets will include local products and artwork. Tickets are $75.00 which includes a full day of thought provoking lectures focusing on purposeful gardening and includes morning coffee/Tea & pastry, a boxed lunch, afternoon snack, educational booths, and book sales. You can register online at www.esvmg.com
Old Announcements
5. Spotted lanternfly quarantine area expanded – VDACS has expanded the SLF quarantine area. It now includes the following cities and counties: Buena Vista, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Lexington, Lynchburg, Manassas, Staunton, Waynesboro, Albemarle, Augusta, Carroll, Page, Prince William, Rockingham, Rockbridge, Shenandoah, and Wythe. This is in addition to the quarantine already in place for Frederick, Warren, and Clarke Counties and the City of Winchester.
a. Read the pub “What Virginians Need to Know about the 2022 SLF Quarantine Expansion”