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Ventura County Rose Society
Board of Directors Meeting
March 3, 2004

The meeting of the Board was called to order by Dawn-Marie Johnson at 6:40 p.m. at the Greenhouse Café on March 3, 2004. Attending were President Dawn-Marie Johnson, Vice President Ingrid Wapelhorst, Treasurer Earl Holtz, and Board members Arden Holtz, Jim Delahanty, Jane Delahanty, Brian Keele, and Joanne Smith. Barbara Morse, Membership Chair also attended.
Cindy Mastro, Secretary, was absent. 

1. A motion was made and seconded to dispense with the reading of the minutes of the last meeting.

2. Treasurer’s Report – Treasurer’s Report for the 2004 Budget was conducted online and through the newsletter. With a vote at the February 26, 2004, VCRS meeting, a Motion to approve the budget was made by Janet Sklar, seconded by Kay Abbott, and the membership voted their unanimous approval of the VCRS 2004 budget.

OLD BUSINESS
1. Auction Report Update – Jim Delahanty

  1. We brought in more money this year than last but with many more roses. Our per-rose bid price dropped from an average of $19-21 last year to $10-11 this year. Next year we should consider cutting back our total offerings from 350+ roses to between 200-250. Apparently, other rose societies in the area with auctions around the same time noticed lower bid prices.
  2. Too much effort is being expended in storage and transportation.
  3. We need to get new people to help out in the major jobs.
  4. We should consider getting bareroots and distributing them the day of the auction.
  5. Plastic pots would be less costly than peat pots.
  6. Pictures of the roses (which we had last year) would be helpful to increase interest in/desire for the roses.
  7. Our niche is in rare, unusual, and hard-to-find roses.
  8. It has been suggested that we move the date of the Auction from a Thursday night to a Saturday afternoon, allowing for setup in the morning, closing by 4:00 p.m. or so.

2. Membership List Distribution - The membership list will be maintained by the Treasurer, who will keep the 
newsletter editor and the membership chair current.

3. Barbara Morse, Membership Chair, discussed her ideas of the position and suggested that the role should include greeting new members, introducing them to current members, giving out packets of information on the VCRS, ARS and possibly CR’s, putting together pictures of Board members so that new members will become familiar with who’s who in the organization. Barbara will start putting the packets together.

4. Brian Keele reported that the Stagecoach Inn irrigation problems appear to be fixed. He also announced that he will be moving to Oregon this summer but would like to continue the newsletter from there. 

NEW BUSINESS
1. VCRS 2004 On Line Survey Results – Jim Delahanty.
Twenty people responded of 77 inquiries on the internet—a good response. The responses listed in order of 
importance #1 – Newsletter, #2 – Garden Tours, #3 – Services we provide, such as availability of CR’s, monthly programs, and the library. Most people praised the Board and the leadership of the Society. It was 
recommended that we adapt the survey format for Barbara Morse’s new membership packet; Jim Delahanty will modify the survey for this purpose.

2. Chair positions to be filled: CR Liaison, Rose Auction co-chairs for all positions, Rose Show and Celebration, and any other events and tours, including the 2005 Fundraising Garden Tour.

3. “Good to Grow – 100 Roses for the Ventura County Garden” – It was suggested that we have enough copies made to give to nurseries for their distribution; many nurseries (Green Thumb for one) have expressed an interest in receiving copies for this purpose.

Upon a motion made (Ingrid Wapelhorst) and seconded (Jane Delahanty), it was decided to expend up to $300 in printing costs for the “Good to Grow” pamphlets (and other handouts) for distribution at future activities in 
which VCRS participates. Ingrid Wapelhorst will make the copies; Dawn-Marie Johnson will help distribute 
them to the various venues.

4. City of Thousand Oaks Arbor/Earth Day. Discussion about VCRS preparations and participation at the April 27th event suggested we had enough to cover our booth, with four members throughout the day. 

5. Otto and Sons Rose Days April 24 and 25, 2004. Volunteers have been assigned to time slots throughout the
two days. Information will be available for handouts on the VCRS, ARS, and organic methods of growing roses.

6. Ideas were discussed involving the Olivas Adobe, including VCRS information handouts at a tea or garden tour and a rose show or celebration. More will be discussed later.

7. Dawn-Marie Johnson mentioned the upcoming Pacific Southwest District Consulting Rosarian School and Seminar scheduled for September 25, 2004, in Glendale, AZ. Other schools and/or seminars are being considered but are only tentative at this point.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Ingrid Wapelhorst
(for Cindy Mastro, Secretary)

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