BY JANET HARTIN --

 Dear UCCE San Bernardino County Master Gardeners,

First off, congratulations to our new graduates! We had quite a lot of fun time celebrating Saturday at Grand Avenue Park in Chino Hills. Check out some of the accomplished graduates in the photo below. Joseph and Dona will be posting several other photos on the MG website shortly. Please help Dona, Joseph and I welcome them into our MG Family! Now what?  You will all receive regular updates concerning volunteer opportunities and social events; however, checking the calendar regularly on your own is your best bet!  Please email Joseph at jsalib@ucdavis.edu or Dona at djenkins@ucanr.edu if you have questions about anything. They are there to help ease you into the next phase!  We have everything from Powerpoints to 'buddies' to ease you into whatever activity you feel most comfortable undertaking, whether it be helping out at upcoming Sustainable and Edible Landscape Workshops across the county, answering email or telephone helpline calls, or pursuing an area of your particular specialty. As a reminder, graduating MGs are required to complete 50 hours of volunteer work by September 30th and veteran MGs are required to complete their required 25 hours of volunteerism by June 30th this year only; all recertifying MGs will be on the June 30th volunteer deadline in 2015.  Thanks to all for giving so much of yourselves and your talents to others!  I am so proud of you all.

Another item of interest that I'd like to draw to everyone's attention is the 2014 UC Master Gardener Conference which occurs only once every three years! This year's conference is being held in the backyard of Yosemite National Park, at the beautiful Tenaya Lodge on October 7-10, 2-14.

Check out the website and register here: http://ucanr.edu/sites/ucmg2014conference/

The Tenaya Lodge costs $169 a night. Although it is beautiful, there are hotels that are less expensive nearby that include:

•Days Inn Oakhurst Yosemite (7.77 miles)

•Comfort Inn Yosemite Area (8.25 miles)

•Ahwahnee Hotel (9.29 miles)

•Shilo Inn Suites Oakhurst Yosemite (9.58 miles)

•BEST WESTERN PLUS Yosemite Gateway Inn (9.71 miles)

•Oakhurst Lodge (9.89 miles)

The MG Conference $275 registration fee includes: • All track sessions • Keynote speakers • Welcome reception (Weds. Oct. 8, 2014) • Lunch and hosted dinner (Thurs. Oct. 9, 2014) • Continental breakfast (Fri. Oct. 10, 2014) • Conference activities: MarketPlace, Search for Excellence, Vendor Mall . . . and more!

Joseph and Dona will be posting information about the conference on our MG website including opportunities to carpool and cut down on individual expenses. We hope many of you can enjoy meeting other MGs from around the state and enjoy learning and sharing in a beautiful environment!

Have a great week!

Janet