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The Tollgate Farm News Volume 19 Issue 8 August 2013
MSU Tollgate Gardens Volunteer General Meeting in the Conference Center
Thursday, August 15, 7:00 PM
Members of the Michigan HarrihoodMembers of the Michigan HarrihoodMembers of the Michigan Harrihood On Thursday, August 15, join Tollgate volunteers to learn about Members of the Michigan Harri-hood. This new program on mammals includes some fun stories, a lot of props (remember muskrat on a stick?), and an account of the amazing Detroit Beaver colony at Conner Creek.
Recently retired curator and supervising interpreter of the Lake Erie Marshlands Museum and Nature Center, Gerry Wykes is the National Association for Interpretation’s Distinguished Professional Interpret-er of the Year for 1989 and the author of a truly interesting blog, Naturespeak: A Naturalist’s View of the World, which includes original articles, photo-graphs, videos and illustrations. You can find it at www.blogsmonroe.com/nature/ or follow the Nature-speak link from www.OnceUponAMichigan.com. Gerry’s lively keynotes were well received at MGAWC’s Growing with Master Gardeners confer-
ences in 2008 and 2010. His educa-tional and entertaining presentations were enjoyed at Tollgate and Fox Run in 2008 and 2010.
Tollgate Garden Volunteer Important Dates and Events Aug Meetings Sept Meetings
13 Fall Fair Meeting 7:00 PM 3 TGAC Meeting 7:00 PM
15 TGV General Meeting 7:00 PM 10 Fall Fair Meeting 7:00 PM
19 TGV General Meeting 7:00 PM
Aug Activities Sept Activities
17 Xeriscape/Office Gardens 9:00 AM 7 Hosta and Children’s Gardens 9:00 AM
24 Rose, Heritage, Rock Ledge Gardens 9:00 AM 14 Fall Fair Clean-up 9:00 AM
20 Fall Fair Set-up TBD
21 Fall Fair (Set-up 8:00 –10:00 AM) 10:00 AM
28 Plant Division and Potting 9:00 AM
2013 Tollgate Open House
Photo by Larry Bolam
Photo by Renee Cottrell
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GREETINGS
Greetings All, Open House a Wonderful Day: Thanks to the efforts of our many wonderful volunteers, the recent Open House was a great event. The many Tollgate volunteers, the beautiful gardens and the good weather all contributed to making the 2013 open house a great event. Even though it threatened rain for the event all week, the spirits of our visitors and volunteers were undeterred. The quilt raffle raised a lot of money for the gardens. After all expenses were paid, the quilt raffle raised roughly $250. Our quilt winner this year was one of Tollgate’s own volun-teers, Connie Marcangelo. She was thrilled to receive the beautiful quilt made by the Tollgate Quilting Bees. I would like to wish a big thank you to all who contributed so much to the event.
Ginger Meyer Award: I am accepting nominations for the Ginger Meyer award. The recipient of this award is recognized as the Tollgate Volunteer that has done the most for Tollgate over the years. You are welcome to send me your nomination in an e-mail. Simply indicate who you feel has contributed above and beyond to Tollgate over the years and why. This is your chance to help us recognize those in our midst that have really given of themselves so that we all can enjoy the site more.
PAR and Pumpkins: The Plant a Row for the Hungry garden is doing very well this year. John Woodrich and crew have already harvested well over 700 pounds of produce that has been sent to the good folks at Forgotten Harvest. Thanks to a grant from the Americana Foundation, the PAR garden also has a new storage shed for boxes, rototillers and other garden items. The pumpkin patch is doing very well. There are lots of plants and the pumpkins are just starting to show. We should have loads of kid-sized pumpkins by the time the Fall Fair rolls around. All of the wonderful cool, wet weather that we have been having this summer has slowed the pumpkins down a bit. Pumpkins, and their sisters the tomatoes, appreciate some hot summer weather to bring out their charms to the fullest effect. Even so, I think we should be fine by the time the fair gets here.
Fall Fair: Now that the Open House is behind us, it’s time to concentrate on the 2013 Fall Fair held this year on Saturday, September 21st. We need the help of all of our volunteers to make this event happen. As always, the Fall Fair Committee is doing a wonderful job pulling this year’s Fall Fair together. A lot was done at the recent craft work day on July 30th. There is still a bit more to pre-pare, so keep your eyes peeled for other opportuni-ties to cut, paste, snip, and apply googly eyes for fall fair craft activities.
Thank you for all that you do! Roy
from the Tol lgate Farm Manager
Roy Prentice
Photo by Minnette Prentice
Kathy Coleman, Judy Poole Connie Marcangelo (Quilt Winner) and Nancy Roggers
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NNNotes from the President
My thanks to all the contributing volunteers who gave their time and effort to make our 2013 “Art in the Gardens” Open House a successful
event! The guest traffic was steady the guest com-
ments were favorable and the gardens were looking
great. We found the shorter tours ending at the scheduled gar-
den talks to work well and we will be working on the flow of foot traffic so guests can be exposed to all the artists participating. The music throughout the venue was also terrific. Any other feed-back would be appreciated so we can build the quality of this event to best showcase the features of Tollgate.
Now on to our planning for Fall Fair. Please consider a few hours during the week as well as our organized work days and volunteer planning meetings between now and the Fall Fair week end. Look for info in the newsletter and e-mails.
As we do each year, we would like to have a variety of candidates for all positions available for the membership to choose new officers for the TGAC. We nominate in September and vote in October to give all members plenty of opportunity to participate in our organization. Please consider nominating yourself or another willing member to run for any of the elected positions (President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary) or offer your services for committee positions. This is a great way to stay active in volunteering when circumstances may not let you participate physically in the gardens.
You can get a copy of the by-laws online or by request from me at any time. Please feel free to ask me or another TGAC member how you can serve as a TGAC officer.
Ginger Meyer nominations still being accepted please bring to the August meet-ing. There are many members that appro-priately demonstrate the devotion to the site and willingness to share with others their love for gardening that defines this award.
“In my life and in my work, flowers represent so many positive things to me: spirit, creativity, happiness, love and most of all, the natural world’s persistent inclination toward beauty.”- Mary Engelbreit
As Always, Thank you for being a Tollgate Garden Volunteer.
Renee Cottrell, President Tollgate Volunteers
Photos by Renee Cottrell
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Barbara McCleary Mike Todoroff and Heiner Hertling
Richard Onica Cath Post
Displayed in the Tollgate Conference Center were Photographs by Ann Davies
The Grand River Band Art Durow and Fellow Musician, Barry Art
ists
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NURSERY NOTESNURSERY NOTESNURSERY NOTES Your fall divisions will be much appreciated for next spring’s plant sale. Please note that there is a plastic coffee can on the potting bench for labeling plant name and bloom color. Pots are available in the near-by shed. If you cannot pot the plants you need to contact me so volunteer help can be arranged to pot before the donated plant divisions die. We will use the large holding area in the shade structure as the drop off location for donated, potted and labeled plants. From here we will relocate to the appropriate shade or sun location. Look for planned division days on the site beginning after the Fall Fair.
I am still recruiting for members of the Nursery team. It is a great opportunity to take on one row of the nursery to learn, and contribute to the maintenance of this area. Call me if you are interested at 248-398-2562. Thanks to the members who have joined this team!
I am sad to say that Tollgate lost a good friend recently. Long-time Tollgate volun-teer, Denny Nielsen, passed away after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. Denny was a great guy. Although you may not know Denny, you have surely seen his work. He volunteered at Tollgate mostly in the fall, making plant ID signs for the gar-dens with his good friend Bob Savageau. Since fall is a quieter time of the year than the hectic summer. I was able to take the time to chat with Denny and share an oc-casional lunch. Denny was truly a warm human being. He had a wealth of life-stories and shared them freely. I will miss seeing him around the farm.
Roy
Obituary information at:
http://www.casterlinefuneralhome.com/memsol.cgi?user_id=1050927
Remembering Denny Nielsen
Kayla Clouse RoseMary Curatolo Jan Elvekrog
Shirley Euwer Kelly Gies Roy Hybl
Marilyn Kinderman Teresa LaRosa Brian Louwers
Connie Marcangelo Andrew Mefta
A Special Thanks!A Special Thanks!A Special Thanks! To all of you who made a donation to help the Tollgate Gardeners make Tollgate a more
beautiful place. Your donation is greatly appreciated! The support that you have provided will continue to help our program prosper and grow. Thanks again and Happy Gardening!
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Bakers NoteBakers NoteBakers Note The Open House refreshment table once again was filled with your donations and were enjoyed by our appreciative guests. We will once again need much more to feed the multitude who attend the fall Fair in September. No need to apologize for not baking. Costco and the other stores make wonderful cookies and are always welcome.
Many Thanks, Yvonne
The Fall Fair is less than 6 weeks away and now is the prime time to sign-up for your favor-ite craft or activity. This year Betsy Wilds will be handling the sign up. You can reach her at either her cell phone 734-846-7888 or e-mail at [email protected]. A sign-up sheet will be in the Volunteer Commu-nication Center soon. Talking about the VCC you can still drop off your returnable bottles and cans there and help sup-port the fair in many ways.
The fair looks to be a great event again and is a great way to get those extra volunteer hours in without straining your back. There will be openings for AM, PM or all day for both crafts and activities. We will also need help for set-up both Friday (time to be announced) and Saturday Morning from 8:00-10:00 AM. Lunch and snacks, breaks and shelter will all be provided but, please dress for the weather. We hope to see you there. Questions or comments you can always reach me at [email protected].
Dennis
Submitted by Dennis Roggers
FallFallFall FairFairFair
Photos by John Woodrich
The PAR Garden Crew after Harvesting 322 lbs. of Vegetables on July 30th
SIGN-UP COMING
SOON
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Photos by Darretta Ferasin
Workday ActivitiesWorkday ActivitiesWorkday Activities
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Volunteer Activity Day and Meetings Information
248-347-3860 ext. 400
● The Tollgate Gardens Advisory Council next meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 3, 2013 at 7:00 PM in the Tollgate Office Building. All Tollgate Gardens Volunteer members are welcome to attend.
● Listings to contact individual Council Members and Area Garden Leaders are available at all general meetings and in the Volunteer Communication Center.
● Tollgate Volunteer Membership is renewed annually. The 2012 Tollgate Garden Volunteers membership is from December 1, 2012 to November 30, 2013.
Farm Manager Roy Prentice - 248 347-3860 ext. 251 e-mail - [email protected]
President ........................... Renee Cottrell Vice President… ............... Peg Palmer Secretary… ........................ Dave Komraus Treasurer ........................... Sue Janczarek Membership ...................... Nancy Roggers PR ....................................... Yvonne DeMattos Fall Fair .............................. Dennis Roggers Programs ........................... Jackie Stengel Hospitality ......................... Yvonne DeMattos Farm News Editor ............. Darretta Ferasin
For membership questions or to update your current membership information send e-mail to:
MSU Tollgate Gardens Volunteers For general information and questions
Contact Roy Prentice
Tollgate Garden Advisory Council
Activity Days Activity day hours are 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM unless otherwise noted on the Tollgate Garden Volunteer Important Dates and Events listed on the first page of the Tollgate Farm News or by the Area Garden Leader (AGL).
Lunch will be provided - veggie alternatives are available upon request.
This schedule does not exclude you from working independently on the site. However, on non-scheduled days, your efforts will need to be self-directed with guidance from the garden area clipboards located in the Volunteer Communication Center.
If you aren’t getting The Tollgate Farm News
e-mail, Check your SPAM folder
Tollgate Volunteer Information
THE TOLLGATE FARM NEWS
Tollgate Gardens Volunteer Office 28115 Meadowbrook Novi, MI, 48377-3128 www.tollgate.msu.edu
Trowel Hand Pruners Loppers Garden Scissors Your Favorite
Weeding Implement Hand Saw
Plant Division Forks Shrub Rake Sun Screen Gloves Knee Pads Insect Repellant
List of Suggested Gardening Implements to Bring
from Home as Needed
Garden Tools Available for Use at Tollgate
Spades
Garden Rakes
Brooms
Wheel Barrels
Weed Buckets
Leaf Rakes
Garden Hoe
Long Handled
Garden Forks
