Those Present: Lynne Marquess, Jim Arnold, Tom Anderson, Ginny Brace, Tyson Rose, George Lewis

Lynne, Jim, and Mike arrived early to interview Ms. Linnea Kriete for the NRCC Camp. We all thought Linnea was very qualified, presented herself well, and would make a good addition to the camp. Following the interview the board discussed what to do about Linnea and we decided to accept her to camp. Tom provided Mike with a check for $400 to be sent to the Forestry Board Foundation for Linnea’s tuition.

1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order, March’s minutes were approved as written.

2. Treasurer’s Report: Tom mentioned that he wrote checks to cover the 100 'Woods in Your Backyard' books, $400 for Linnea’s tuition, re-imbursement for the arboretum, and a check for reimbursement for refreshments for the Winter Tree ID Hike. Tom has taken in some funds for the $25 fee for the Neighborhood Green registration.

3. Logging Site Exams: No plans were submitted this month.

4. NRCC: Lynne reports that 21 students have been accepted so far (including Linnea). Sue Guynn is putting an announcement in the Frederick News Post next week. Lynne mentioned that the Education Committee will be meeting next during June.

5. Maryland Forest Association: Lynne received a letter stating that Karin Miller is resigning as the Director of MFA. The letter states that MFA is suffering from decreased membership, difficulty of recruitment of members for executive positions, reduced funding, and general disarray. There will be a meeting in Baltimore County next week to decide where MFA goes from here.

6. Catoctin Forest Alliance: The Meeting on the Mountain III is being held on May 13, 2011. Mike and Jim Arnold indicated that they intend to attend this meeting. The Alliance helped with the planting of 50 hemlocks at Cunningham Falls during Arbor Day.

7. Neighborhood Green: Karen Gardner ran a notice of Neighborhood Green in the Frederick News Post recently which spurred a lot of interest. This notice said to contact Heather Montgomery for an application. Heather has sent a number of applications out to people. So far, Mike has received applications and payment from 8 people. Tyson asked Mike to send him pertinent information and he will put it on the Web Site. Ginny said that she will bring cookies for the May 3 meeting. Jim said that he has a work conflict so he might not be able to lead the discussion at the May 10, meeting. Mike can sub for him if need be.

8. Nature Notes: Ginny is happy with the articles coming in. Ginny suggested that we do articles on tree shelters, and forest pests that might be present this season.

9. Web Site: Tyson noted that the web site now has a calendar of events page and asked us to submit notices of upcoming events. Tyson also suggested that we contact Bob Scheer to see if he can put together a short article with photos for his Neighborhood Green planting. Tyson said that the website needs photos. Mike will bring the camera out to the upcoming Earth Day planting on April 22, 2011 at Waterford Park.

10. Larry Sharpe Memorial planting: Lynne contacted Hagerstown Community College to inquire if we could plant a large, evergreen on the campus in Larry’s honor and place a plaque by it. Lynne talked to the Grounds Superintendent and he said that this would be fine but we should wait until the fall once all the construction is finished. Lynne and Mike will work on the inscription for the plaque and will submit it to HCC for their approval. We plan on planting a Norway spruce since it is a hardy tree and a variety that Larry liked having planted numerous spruce for Christmas trees.