Mailing list for the Person County Beekeepers Association, Roxboro, NC

[James Latimer <PipesNC AT live.com>]

I need assistance with the Name of the person who got 4th place for their photo in the NC State Fair.  Please review and let me know of any additions or changes. 

Person County Beekeepers Association

Minutes
October 20, 2016
County Office-Auditorium

PRES REPORT.  Todd Walker started the meeting at 7 PM.  He welcomed all members and guests.  Introduced the guest speakers for the evening, Hannah Levenson, Research Technician from David Tarpy's lab at NCSU and her undergraduate assistant, Vicki Blanchard.  They will be talking about the effects of pollinator habitat at North Carolina's agricultural research stations on both honey bees and native bees.

SECRETARY. Jamie Latimer asked everyone to please sign-in.  September minutes were posted the day prior and copies were made available at the sign in table.  Approval of September minutes requested and received . 

FINANCIAL REPORT.  Amanda Blanks presented the financial report, it shows the club having a Beginning Balance of $6361.98, Monthly Income of $110.00 (Tshirts, hats, raffle tickets) and Expenses of $1351.20 (Veterans Memorial, tables, weights, cloths, NCSBA membership).  Leaving an Ending Balance of $5120.78.

The club has started to collect 2017 dues, $15 for NCSBA and $5 for PCBA.  Forms are available to fill out and return next month.

VP REPORT.  Whitney Barnes reported on a successful Bahama Days event, there was a lot of interest in visiting beekeepers hives to understand what is involved in being a beekeeper.  18 jars of honey were sold, Todd Walker donated $40 of the sales to PCBA.  The club participated in 2 Ag Days, one for 1st graders and one for k-5, they were fun and educational.  A few members visited the Orange County wax workshop, observed the differences and similarities.   

FUND RAISING.  Mac Blanks stated we have 300 raffle tickets out, printed 200 more.  We have raised $438 dollar from t-shirt and hats. Currently we have donations from Mary, Whitney and Todd; we need 3 more members to donate 2 jars of honey for the raffle.  Please bring money for the tickets to the November meeting, we will be doing the drawing at that time.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH.
VETERANS MEMORIAL PARK.  Lynn Wilson gave a progress report.  The "garden of volunteers" included committee co-chairs Stan Morton, who first planted the idea with the Veterans, took care of weed suppression in the planting beds, and planted 2 15-gallon redbuds  and Susan Hodges, who made designing the garden, finding the plants, and guiding the installation a full-time VOLUNTEER job for months.  Four workdays fielded the committee members PLUS Tom and Linda Savage, Larry, Whitney and Kathryn Barnes, Ben Brodfuehrer, Cecil White, Todd Walker, Robert Brauer, three Wilson-Killough grandsons, and my spouse Paul Killough.    Community members who volunteered their time AND heavy equipment to make impossible jobs possible were:  Michael Dixon of Hurdle Mills Feed and Farm with his compost-delivering truck; Richard Vining of the Veterans Council with his front-end loader to spread compost; Kelvin Wilson who first delivered the mulch free of charge in his dump-trailer and then brought a front-end loader to spread the mulch; and Wendell Cox who supervises the County crew that will do the ongoing maintenance, used a backhoe to excavate holes for the 15-gallon redbuds AND provided a water faucet "key" and hose for watering until the plants are established.   (And thanks to Amanda Blanks for meeting me with checks during our plant-shopping week!)
Things we'd still like to do include ongoing watering while the plants settle in.  Then next spring we hope to spend the last $100 budgeted for the project to add ornamental oregano that wasn't available this fall and replace any plants that fail (after we figure out why they failed).  Then we'd like to add another layer of mulch for weed suppression and invite partners to help.
Members are invited to listen to this evening's program by NCSU Field Research Technician Hannah Levenson and her undergraduate assistant Vicky Blanchard and begin to think about how we will measure the effectiveness of our pollinator-friendly gardening efforts and how we can encourage other Personians to plant pollinator-friendly gardens.

OLD BUSINESS. 

PCBA ELECTIONS.  We will be electing new officers at the November meeting, please consider nominations for service.

NC STATE FAIR.  Club got 1st place for the booth for 3rd year in a row.  Whitney encouraged everyone to consider participating next year.  Some of the other ribbons earned through the club members: Katheryn got 2nd place for her observation hive, Todd got 1st for 50 lbs of honey, Group effort earned 4th in the Gift Baskets and ??? got 4th for her photo.

NEW BUSINESS.
BEE SCHOOL.  It was agreed we should continue to have a bee school.  Classes will start January 12, 2017.  Costs will increase from $60 to $75.  Includes Book, materials and PCBA membership.

CEDAR GROVE.  There is someone interested in having a beekeeper come out and do a hive inspection.  Verify they are prepared for winter.

COUNTRY CHRISTMAS.  Tom and Linda Savage have invited the PCBA to setup a booth at the Country Christmas celebration they are having on 11/19 from 3-til dark.  All are welcome to come out for a hay ride through the woods.

PESTICIDE SPRAYING.  NC will be spraying due to flooding related to the recent hurricane. Pay attention, hopefully it will be kept East where most of the flooding occurred.  A $200 donation has been offered (but ) to help avoid scenarios like what happened due to unannounced spraying in SC.  We have not been able to reach the person that offered the $200 and have not determined how to direct the money to this cause.  

POLLINATOR HABITAT.  Hannah Levenson and Vicki Blanchard, from NCSU presented initial results of research on pollinator habitats across the state.  The goals for their research is to inventory Native and Non-Native pollinators in each study area, Adopt practices that are currently harmful to pollinators to encourage forage, and Plant diverse forage for all pollinators in the area. 

ATTENDANCE.   19 members and 2 guest.


RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,  James Latimer, 11/17/2016