President Dan Fortier called the meeting to order at 10:30 a.m. 35 participants attended.

Motion to approve March 2025 Secretary Minutes made by Carol Barany. Seconded by Reggie Sanderson. Motion approved.

Treasurer’s Report by Gilbert Plascencia:
  • March funds remained steady with some fluctuations in the investment accounts.
  • Utilities – $4300.00 billing in April. $2900.00 bill paid in March.
  • Cash on hand is $9,000.00 in checking account which should cover expenses through the MG Plant Sale in May.
  • Gilbert encouraged MGs to turn in their plant sale expenses as soon as possible to allow tracking of overall plant sale expenses.
  • Inquiry made if the thermal screen helped to reduce utility costs. The screen helped, although the Cascade Gas increases are costing more for less units of use. Cost would have been more without the installation of the thermal screen.

    Motion to approve Treasurer Report made by Patty Dion. Seconded by Lucille Meyers. Motion approved.

    Investment Advisory Group reported by Gilbert Plascencia:
    • Melody Westmoreland is Chair with Rick Russell, Dan Fortier, Gilbert Plascencia, and John Strong as members.
    • Purpose – to review YCMG investment accounts and track with policy guidelines.
    • Committee decision to hold steady with current accounts. The committee will meet again in July.
    • Consideration is being given to changing our banking relationship with Solarity due to some banking issues. If a change is made, it will occur by summer this year.
    Greenhouse reported by Camille Smith:
    • All is looking good in GH. MGs are doing a great job!
    • Expectation is for a good sale.
    • 1,000 Parisitic Wasps arrive today, 04/16. Darrell Monroe will release them in the GH this week.
    • 4 new hoses are now available for watering.
    Plant Sale reported by Reggie Sanderson:
    • Reggie announced that the plant sale meeting would follow today’s Foundation/Program meeting.
    • Sign up sheets available at today’s meeting for plant sale work assignments.
    ▪︎Election 2025/2026 Officers – Slate of Nominees:

    Election 2025/2026 Officers – Slate of Nominees:

    • President – Rick Russell
    • Vice President – Dick Larson
    • Secretary – Carrie Chicken
    • Treasurer – Gilbert Plascencia
    • At Large – Steve Kuhn
    • At Large Second Year – Beatrice Reiss
    • Past President – Dan Fortier

    A request was made for any further nominations from the floor. None offered.

    Debra Kroon requested that the election of Officers be presented through the Secretary in one slate. A unanimous vote was made to elect the entire slate of officers.

    As part of the election of officers, it is noted that the authorized account signers on all banking and investment accounts for the Master Gardener Foundation of Yakima County are Rick Russell and Gilbert Plascencia.

    Answer Clinic reported by Kim Foster:
    • Information provided by Kim and discussion on the request for a subscription for a new software version for Clinic data collection.
    • A budget revision for the Clinic is required to cover the one year subscription cost for the FileMaker Pro software of $1,320.00 with tax totalling $1,430.00 annually.
    • Justification for this expenditure was provided.
    • Discussion by members indicates support due being an essential expenditure, education is a primary organizational goal, YCMG would be a leader in the State in implementing this software, it is inexpensive in comparison to other software programs, it will provide internet accessibility for MGs to Clinic data.
    • Motion to approve request to fund the software subscription for one year was made by Gini Obert. Seconded by Debra Kroon. Motion approved unanimously.
    Arboretum Garden Tour Discount Purchase reported by Mary Hewitt:

    Sign up sheets available for interested MGs. A $30.00 ticket with discount is $24.00. Clarification that the discount price is received when buying 10 or more tickets in a group buy but cannot be an add on to the initial purchase.

    Advanced Education Conference (AEC) reported by John Strong:

    Reminder of the upcoming Advanced Education Conference on September 26 & 27. Registration opens June 1. YCMG will hold a local social gathering in connection with the AEC.

    AEC Scholarships:

    Gilbert Plascencia advised that $1,000.00 for AEC financial assistance will be made available to MGs from Foundation funds. 10 $100.00 scholarships will be available. Last year only 6 were used. Gilbert hopes that all 10 will be claimed this year.

    The Foundation Meeting was concluded at 11:02 a.m.