Board Blurb: July 2025
- Jul 9
- 4 min read
7/09/25
Prepared by Laurel Watt (2025 RCMG Secretary)
Summary for the June RCMG Board of Directors Meeting
The RCMG Board of Directors Meeting was held on July 8, 2025, on Zoom. The next Board Meeting will be a retreat on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. with the location to be determined.
Special Guests
Volunteer Coordinator Update – Brianna Gohde
Brianna Gohde announced that a change in her status is looming, resulting in a significant decrease in the tasks she can perform in support of our program. Darren asked the Board to consider forming a leadership team for the U of M Extension Ramsey County Master Gardener Program. This group would work with RCMG volunteers to support operations and administrative tasks separate from the non-profit’s fundraising work. The Board will discuss this at next month’s retreat.
Plant Sale Committee Update – Molly O’Rourke
Molly O’Rourke reported on a tremendously successful 2025 plant sale. Revenue exceeded 2024 and what was budgeted for 2025, expenses were under budget, and expected profit is just over $29,000 at this time. Some areas to work on include better training for cashier volunteers, more signage with photos of mature plants in bloom, and reducing duplicative financial roles and processes. The Board will also discuss how much more growth is desirable for next year’s plant sale at the August retreat as per the request of the Plant Sale’s co-chairs.
Committee Updates
Communications Committee Update – Stacy Sola & Nanette Boudreau
Stacy is working on the design for the Climate Action Project Handout. Nanette noted that requests for additional signage for the plant sale next year will be a big job, but they will develop a template and process for getting these signs made.
Education Committee Update – Gene Ranieri & Sue Mason
The July monthly meeting will focus on the proposed name change of the Ramsey County Master Gardeners. The meeting will include a presentation by the task force chair and discussion among members and interns.
The August meeting will be hosted by the Washington County Master Gardeners with Dr. Mark Seeley as the guest speaker. The SUG will be released within the next week. Because the meeting will be held at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi, there will be limited seating, so watch for the SUG and sign up soon.
Also, Garden Gates continue this week with two more scheduled for Thursday July 10th, and there are more to come!
Finance Committee Update – Laura Savin
The committee will be having a retreat in July to work on their agenda for the rest of the year, including how to publicize the Purchasing Policy, developing the financial aid policy, and other items. They will be recruiting new committee members as well as seeking a new chair when Laura's term ends in December.
Membership Committee Update – Tiffa Foster & Susie DeShon
Tiffa and Susie led a Tech Help session for interns on June 24th at the Barn that was well-received. They continue to monitor overall intern progress: five interns have completed their internship, three have removed themselves from the program, and Susie and Tiffa are contacting 45 interns who are at risk of not completing the program. Travis Sandlund joined the meeting and will be a new co-chair in 2026.
Leadership Updates
Secretary Update – Laurel Watt
The June Board Minutes were approved.
Treasurer Update– Kathy Passe (Interim Treasurer)
The following monthly treasurer reports were approved.
Program Coordinator Update – Darren Lochner
Darren continues to work with the U of MN Extension State Master Gardener Leadership team and Ramsey County on the proposed name change of the program.
He also reported that Melvin Giles passed away last week. Melvin was involved with many RCMG programs such as the Children’s Peace Garden and was active in the Rondo Neighborhood and the Urban Farm and Garden Alliance.
Darren is also working to get volunteers to enter their hours. We are way behind previous years in total hours recorded by RCMG volunteers because of the delay in implementing the new system.
Chair and Vice-Chair Report
Vice-Chair Report – Beth Fritcher
As noted above, Plant Sale Co-Chairs Molly O’Rourke and Cheryl Brady requested that the Board set a growth target for the 2026 Plant Sale. This will be one of the topics for the August Board retreat. This needs to be addressed fairly soon as some plant orders need to be placed as early as August of this year.
Chair Report – Kay Wimer
Kay reported that the meetings between the Corporation committee and Extension representatives Tim Kenny and Diane Griewe to discuss the relationship between the 501c3 Corporation and the University of Minnesota have been paused as we work through the issue of changing the name of the RCMG program. We currently do not have a timeline for resumption of that discussion.
New Business
No New Business.
Old Business
No Old Business.
2025 Board Leadership: Kay Wimer (Chair), Beth Fritcher (Vice-Chair), Laurel Watt (Secretary), Kathy Passe (Interim Treasurer), Gene Ranieri (Education Chair), Susan Mason (Education Co-Chair), Tiffa Foster (Membership Chair), Susie DeShon (Membership Co-Chair), Nanette Boudreau (Communication Chair), Stacy Sola (Communication Co-Chair), Laura Savin (Finance Chair), Darren Lochner (Program Coordinator).
