Are we there yet? I think that I spoke of the coming of Spring in last month's Comments.

Even though Astronomical Spring arrived with the equinox, I am still waiting

for the weather to agree. We continue to be "teased". However, a recent visit to Kelly's

Seed and Hardware where they are briskly selling their new stock of seeds and sets is

reassuring. Still time to clean out and prepare beds. Happy gardening!

- Ray Ellington, President

Extension Staff Report: Roger reported that there will be a Central Illinois Renewable

Energy Expo on April 5th and 6th at Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe. He reported that

Lynn Webb will be working with Crittenton on a new raised bed garden. Children and

parents will be working in the garden. Roger reported that ICC Demo Gardens is

moving forward. There will be one county Director and one MG from each county on

the coordinating committee. PEORIA COUNTY STILL NEEDS A MG FOR THE

COMMITTEE. The ICC garden will be based on the questions that have been asked the

most on the help lines. Roger stated that there will be an orientation day in April for

MGs to learn how to take pictures with digital camera and put them on a web site. The

date has not been set yet.

Membership: Kathy Hasselberg reported that there are still people who have not turned

in their 2008 agreement form. Please fill out and return to the Extension office.

PARC: Angela Zimmerman reported that anyone, who is interested in PARC scheduling

and finding out items that they need , may go to www.parkway.org for the information.

(for more on PARC, see page 5)

Help Line: Lee Hammond reported that the help line opened on March 17th. Larry

Stratton reported that the biggest problem seems to be getting back to the caller if there

is not an immediate answer. Larry stated that we need to get e-mail addresses and

regular addresses for callers.

Greenway: Norma Ellington reported that there will be a meeting for Greenway

volunteers on April 1 at 9 AM in the gazebo on Western Ave.

Plant Sale: Phyllis Baylor reported the plant sale will be May 3rd at Metro Center from

8 am to Noon. People are needed for money, questions, setup, and cleanup. Katie

Grady's home will be a drop-off location for plants. Bob

Coppernoll has pots. (see Plant Sale, see page 5)

Old Business:

Nancy Lemieux has moved to Denver. Her new address is:

3071 W Clyde Place; Denver, Co. 80211. She would appreciate

hearing from anyone.

Jubilee Herb Garden: Pat Middleton and Bonnie Hunt will work

on the Jubilee Park Herb Garden and would appreciate any help

that they could get.

A copy of the bylaws was distributed to everyone.

New Business: We had a guest from Hillside Village. He said that

he would appreciate any donations of red raspberry plants.

Plant of the Month: Phyllis Baylor gave a talk on Virginia

Bluebells.

Continuing Education: Pat Middleton gave a talk on planting

seeds.

- Dixie Krisher, Recording Secretary

Hi Everyone, several items: I would like to thank everyone who

volunteered to help at the training classes I was so glad that so

many of you volunteered! I especially would like to thank those of

you who graded all those quizzes and test on the last class day—

that was a marathon session!

Board meeting: Wed. April 9 at 1pm at the Ext office, all invited.

Monthly meeting: Wed, Apr 16 at 7pm in the Ext auditorium.

Potluck at 5pm, business mtg, 6pm. Program,6:30pm speaker is

Peoria MG Jennifer Voegeli speaking on Landscaping & Garden

Design.

If any of you are interested in volunteering at BelWood or hearing

about the program, Dixie Krisher and I have scheduled a lunch at

Olive Garden (Willow Knolls shopping Center, dutch treat) at

11:30 am on April 10. We will be talking about goals for this year

and bringing everyone up to speed on the activities this past winter.

Please RSVP to one of us. I will be out of town April 3-8.

- Kathy Hasselberg