2018 November

Waldo County Extension Association

Minutes

November 13, 2018

Call to Order: Anna M. called the meeting to order at 5:42p

Members Attending: Anna, Anne D., Aktan, Darcy, Eric, Matthew, Samara, Theresa

Members Absent: David, Katy, Ken

Staff Attending: Rick, Viña, Liz

Minutes of October Meeting

On a motion by Eric, seconded by Theresa, the minutes were approved with the understanding that Anne would forward updates that were not captured on the website’s minutes.

Financial Report

No change from last month since the report. Rick explained that there is a $17-18k salary bill coming due which will be reflected on next month’s budget report. For anyone interested, the Waldo County Budget meeting is scheduled for 30 November from 6-8pm at the District Courthouse in Belfast. All are welcome to attend to watch riveting county budget discussions live. On a motion by Theresa, seconded by Matthew, the financial report was approved as presented.

Civil rights update: NSTR

4-H Foundation funds

Rick presented the 4-H calendar and program update. See attachments. The 4-H Auction was a huge success, earning nearly $10k (Jodie, is this an accurate number?) to support 4-H programs in the county. Kudos to Jodie Martin for her efforts in facilitating the excellent event.

Despite the relative success of the auction, members discussed the historical low turnout for this event. Viña – not wanting to “spill the beans” raised the potential for the 4-H Auction to occur on the same day/location as Rural Living Day. All members agreed this would be an excellent idea and tabled to discussion for a later meeting when Jodie and Joyce might be able to discuss further.

Liz mentioned that the Belfast Garden Club was interested in partnering with WCEA to provide funds for scholarships. Additional discussion included perhaps partnering with other entities providing scholarships to include MOFGA, and the Maine Farm Bureau to establish a common proposal format that would streamline application submissions and facilitate collaboration between the organizations to increase the number of qualified applicants for these scholarships. This will need to be an agenda topic and will need a committee established to follow through, if this is deemed an effort the WCEA wants to tackle.

Food Systems & Youth Development Programming

See attachment. Viña requested that members provide suggestions on places in Waldo County to have food preservation classes. Places suggested were the Varney Building in Brooks, the Unity Community Center, the Unity Food Hub, and the United Farmer’s Market of Maine in Belfast. The competition for the Harvest of the Month call for artists has been extended to 30 November.

Winter Farmer’s Potluck

After the meeting, Anne coordinated with the United Farmer’s Market of Maine and has secured Saturday, February 16, 2019 for the Winter Farmer’s Potluck at the same price as last year – $250. Darcy has volunteered to be on the potluck committee. The committee is soliciting suggestions for themes, speakers, and performers. Anne will send out a separate email to members requesting ideas and suggestions.

Sub-Committee Reports

Rural Living Day Planning Committee

Members spent about 15 minutes brainstorming potential classes for the Rural Living Day. Staff will put ideas into a spreadsheet for members to review at next meeting. RLD committee will discuss prior to the next WCEA meeting. See embedded photo of brainstorming session. It was also suggested that a “save the date” announcement be sent out soon by the Extension Staff. Members of the committee include: Vina (Chair), Liz, Anna, Darcy and Dave M. was volunteered in accordance with his wishes to be put on a committee when he is not present at a meeting.

Update on New Dean and Director for Extension

No announcement has been made. There are two candidates and they are being considered by the President and Provost.

Snacks for next meeting

Anne D. volunteered to provide snacks for the next WCEA meeting on December 18 at 5:30p.

Adjournment

On a motion by Aktan, seconded by Anne D. the meeting was adjourned at 7:10p.

Assigned Tasks:

Extension Staff:

Put RLD ideas into spreadsheet, provide to Viña
Include “Scholarship Collaboration” as agenda item for 18 December

All Members: Think of panel discussion topics and participants for the Winter Potluck