Mark your calendars now for our next Winter School on Thursday, Feb. 20 and Friday, Feb. 21, 2014 in Murfreesboro, TN at the Rutherford County UT Ag Center. Your TMG Advocacy Board has been hard at work planning the program and WS14 is shaping up to be one of the best yet.

Thursday, Feb. 20 is scheduled for the Leadership Track and Friday, Feb. 21 will be the Education Track. Although speakers are still being confirmed, the schedule of sessions is shaping up to be exactly what you requested. The following are some of the topics that are planned:

* fund raising and grants
* marketing your organization (including social media)
* officer training
* organizational finances
* recruiting and retaining members
* improving organizational communication
* health and benefits of plants
* how to deal with the public
* plant diagnostics
* horticultural therapy
* cooking with herbs
* improving indoor environments with plants

There will also be special breakout sessions for both small organizations and large organizations to discuss ideas and issues specific to their size group. Another new session this year will be a special orientation-type class for first time attendees or those who would just like to understand TMG a bit better.

As usual, there will be presentations to our TMG award winners and Search for Excellence winners, display booths from each county organization about their programs and events from the past year, regional alliance meetings, a silent auction to raise funds for the TMG endowment fund, and lots of great time to visit and network with your fellow TMGs.

Your UT Extension leadership will be on hand for a special meet and greet for all Winter School attendees. Come introduce yourself and get to know your leaders on a personal level. Dr. Cross, Dr. Burns, and Dr. Senseman have all been invited. We hope a new TMG state coordinator will be in place for you to meet and get to know, too.

Registration will open in a few weeks with an early bird discount rate for all those signing up and paying their fee early. Be sure to watch the Listserv, TMG website, and TMG Facebook page for more details. See you at Winter School next February!

Source: Taking Root – Tennessee Master Gardener News – Fall Issue /2013  Publisher: Carol Burdett: carolburdett@live.com

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