Page 6 - MNLGA Free State Summer 2021

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE
After what seemed an infinity of life within my COVID bubble, I feel that pretty much,
over-night, we are back to a fairly normal social life and bevy of in-person meetings
and events. Even our church is once again fully open and in-person gatherings are
starting to once again, be scheduled on top of one another.
This seemingly sudden return to normalcy was personified just last week at several
events I was involved with. First, the MNLGA and University of Maryland co-sponsored
our first “unrestricted” in-person event since the pandemic began. (“Unrestricted”
means no restrictions on social distancing and mask wearing, if the attendee was
fully vaccinated.) We had 90 people attend a greenhouse growers conference at
Catoctin Mtn. Growers in Thurmont. Thank you to Tyler Van Wingerden and his
terrific and amenable family and staff for hosting us. (Be sure to read Chelsea’s event
re-cap on page 40).

VANESSA A. FINNEY The second event was Cultivate, the industry’s largest greenhouse growers-oriented
Executive Director tradeshow and general conference, held in Columbus, OH. Once we knew Cultivate
had been given the green-light to be executed in-person, Kelly, Chelsea, and I
excitedly planned our road trip and visit. We were eager to see our industry trade
show peers again and to see and feel the post-pandemic vibe. And we were not
disappointed!

What really struck me, as someone who has essentially been literally home-bound
for 18 months, meeting people only via electronic means, was how normal it was and
felt to be in a crowd of thousands on a trade show floor. Sure, there were people who
were wearing masks and practicing social distancing, but for the most part people
gathered in clusters, shook hands, engaged in head-to-head business negotiations,
and simply had an awesome time being together and part of our extended hort
industry family. I know we are all grateful for the opportunity to engage in “real-time”
as a community again.

Speaking of events…. on the association horizon are a few more to add to your
calendar. We will host a nursery Field Day on September 16th at Fieldstone Nursery,
which is in northern Baltimore County. Fieldstone is owned and operated by
husband-and-wife team Mark Sullivan and Maripat Neff. It is known for it rare and
unusual plants, grafting, and vast assortment of Japanese Maples. Be on the lookout
for registration materials in mid-August.

MNLGA and UME are teaming up once again for our bi-annual Biocontrol
Conference. This will be held December 17th at the Maritime Institute. MAEF and
MNLGA will again be hosting a golf tournament to benefit program scholarships.
That tournament will be on September 15th in Carroll County. Registration
information will be posted on both the MNLGA and MAEF websites.
"Summertime is
And, of course, MANTS!!! We are full-on, knee deep in planning and couldn’t be
always the best happier about it. MANTS will be held, per usual, at the Baltimore Convention Center

of what might be." on January 5-7. If you wish to exhibit, I invite you to join our wait list, application to
which is found on the homepage of www.mants.com. Registration for attendees will
Charles Bowden open in mid-September.

We truly look forward to seeing everyone out and about in the weeks to come. Enjoy
the rest of your summer and stay safe. A

6 SUMMER 2021 • Free State News