North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[mangodance <bmn@iglou.com>]

rob hamilton wrote:

>     I too an one of the younger members at 40 years old. I have the same 
> thoughts as you when I hear that someone has gone.  I feel by being a 
> bit more pro-active in introducing ourselves in to some communities may 
> increase our membership a bit. I hope to connect with various extension 
> agents around the country and let them know we are here, and there by 
> passing on this information the their community. Also I hope to focus on 
> the organic/permaculture and  "slow food"/local food communities. These 
> groups are growing and are full of young people that may value the 
> knowledge that have. 

Great ideas.  We all need to do this in our states.  I've taken to 
keeing brochure copies or contact info sheets for a number of groups in 
my car.

>     We also hope to get some people up to speed on dealing with the web 
> page and I hope to work with them on some changes. Our webpage does need 
> some expansion, and I hope people on this list could add some input. I 
> would like to see each of the Interest group have its own page on the 
> site with cultivar information and current evaluations. Also I would 
> like to see more pictures from workshops and our annual meetings. I 
> think seeing other people interacting would help personalize our page 
> and encourage participation.

I'm already working on it.  The framework should be available for 
comment in a month or two.  Then it's a matter of getting people to fill 
it!  <grin>  As for photos, as someone who has taken meeting photos, it 
is often difficult to focus on the meeting if I'm focused on getting the 
photos.  But you are correct, photos would be of great help.  The other 
issue is that I'm not always sure who everyone is!  But I'll try to 
continue to dig for meeting pics I have (not many), and remember to 
bring a camera when I am able to attend others.

> Lastly, we those who have their NAFEX T-Shirts should where them wen 
> they are out gardening event.  Sometimes a curiuos person will end up 
> being a new member too.

Agreed...it is odd how well T-shirts can be used for marketing!