2016 Summer PDIJune 22-24, 2014

Spring Lake, MIWednesday, June 229:30 - 9:45 Registration & Check in (Comstock Hotel and Conference Center)

9:45 - 10:00 Door Prizes and Opening Bids for Silent Auction

10:00 -10:05 MAAE Board Introductions and Instructions for the Conference (MAAE President)

10:05 -10:30 MAAE Professional Development Session- MAAE Officers

10:30 -11:00 Creating partnerships and collaboration with Michigan State University and MSU Extension – Jeff DwyerLearn about the program offered by MSU and MSU extension. The executive will discuss overviews of various programs and educational materials that extension has to offer. Find out how to build relationships in your community that will benefit your program.

Jeff Dwyer is the director of Michigan State University Extension. Michigan State University Extension is committed to being responsive to Michigan’s needs in the most efficient way possible. As a result, Mr. Dwyer has built a structure to facilitate seamless response and action on important issues facing the state of Michigan and Michigan Agriculture.

11:00 -11:30 CTE / FFA / MSU Updates - MSU Staff

11:30-12:00 Lunch at Poolside – Burger & Brats

12:00 – 12:30 Travel time from conference center to Annis Water Research Institute

12:30 – 3:00 Annis Water research Institute –Water Resources Outreach Education Program

Tour the Annsi Water Resources institute and take an educational 3 hour tour aboard the research vessel W.G. Jackson. AWRI's mission is to integrate research, education, and outreach to enhance and preserve freshwater resources. The site is home to two research vessels, an indoor aquaculture research facility, and roof garden demonstration. AWRI consists of 3 programmatic areas and offers exciting research and education opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff.

Agrisicence Research Projects - Gain Ideas for Aquatic Research Ag Mechanics - Constructing Green Roof, Constructing a Rain Garden Cutting Edge Curriculum - Project Wet, Hosting a Water Festival Environmental Skills - Research on Muskegon Lake aboard vessel DJ

Jackson

Dr. Janet Vail, Research Scientist at the GVSU Annis Water Resources Institute, coordinates onboard outreach programs that reach over 5,000 K-12 students per year. Her Ph.D. is in Science Education (environmental education). She is the Michigan Coordinator for Project WET and is an author for two Michigan Environmental Educational Curriculum Support units.

3:00- 3:15 Travel time to NOAA Research Station & Break

3:15- 6:30 NOAA Research Station – Lake Michigan & USS Silversides Submarine Museum Tour NOAA GLERL's Lake Michigan Field Station (LMFS). It is the home port for NOAA Great Lakes vessels, which operate throughout the Great Lakes. It is also the platform for the long-term observations research program on Lake Michigan.

See up close the first federal vessel to run completely on nonpetroleum products. The GLERL’s marine diesel-powered vessels in the Great Lakes are now fueled by B100, or 100% soy biodiesel, a true alternative energy source for propulsion and electric generation.

The LMFS supports GLERL's Ecosystem Dynamics theme with on-site researchers, laboratory facilities and storage, and direct access to ship resources. The LMFS also provides a base and accommodations for offsite researchers from GLERL and partner agencies. Science at LMFS is primarily focused on field-based long-term observations and field-based shorter-term process studies in Lake Michigan.

Dennis Donahue is the marine superintendent at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Lake Michigan Field Station in Muskegon. A graduate of the Great Lakes Maritime Academy and University of Michigan, he spends a good portion of his time on vessel decks. Donahue and the Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab’s Green Ship Initiative has led the nation by successfully converting all shipboard systems to biofuels and biolubricants.

Tour the USS Silversides Submarine Museum and learn about naval history. Experiment with a remote operated underwater vehicles and learn how your students can build one. You will get to explore the submarine and learn to use Project Wet activities as a guide to host your own water festival. Lean about the history of sand mining in Muskegon and how the reclaimation has turned the former sand dune into a residntial development and marina.

Frank Marczak is the executive director of the USS Silversides museum. The retired Muskegon Community College President and former Physics teacher oversees the historic World War II submarine the USS Sliversides and Naval Museum. His mission of educating the public about naval history and the science behind submarines is key to the popularity of the museum that allows overnight guest aboard the submarine.

6:30- 6:45 Travel to Port City Princess Dinner Cruise

7:00- 9:30 Dinner - Port City Princess Dinner Cruise

10:00 - ? Hospitality Room 203

Thursday, June 23rd

7:00 – 8:00 am   Breakfast at Holiday Inn Grand Ballroom

8:00 – 8:30 am   Travel to Kitchen 242

8:30 – 10:00 am   How to Start a Successful Cottage Food Business or Food Processing SAE with Kick Starter KitchenKitchen 242 is a certified commercial kitchen in downtown Muskegon located at the Muskegon Farmers Market The kitchen provides a rent-able facility for food business entrepreneurs to prepare their products in an approved kitchen. Community kitchen space is also available where cooking classes and culinary events can be held to enhance community awareness of good nutrition. Get trained on the cottage food guidelines, making an SAE food business profitable, foods permitted to sell, food safety procedures, production, labeling, packaging, storing & transporting your products. Certificate of participation available upon completion of training.

Dana Gannon is a Nutritionist with Muskegon Public Health Department and Manager of Kitchen 242 since 2015.

Dairy Foods with the Cheese LadyLearn about the various cheese, locations and what it takes to be an entrepreneur in the food science Industry. This session will compliment your dairy foods CDE and a bit of flavor to your food science classes. Learn how your students can turn their passions into profits.

In July of 2004 Kathleen Fagan Riegler resigned her real job. After over 20 years of driving and selling, it was time for a change.

Tongue in cheek she suggested to her husband to go to the Muskegon Farmers’ Market and sell cheese. The previous April they had been in Provence, France. The open-air markets provided countless hours wandering and watching the vendors. Because she was in the cheese business, the cheese vendors particularly intrigued her. In less than 3 weeks she had a name, a Department of Agriculture license and a sign. The Cheese Lady.

Fast forward to 2016, not only had she opened a store in Muskegon but franchised 5 others Cheese Lady stores throughout the state.

Shelley Essebaggers Lewis has worked with Kathleen over the past nine years as a cheese monger and at the start of 2016 year took over the Muskegon location.

10:00-10:15 Break and Travel to McLaughlin Grows Urban Farm

10:15-10:45 McLaughlin Grows Urban Farm McLaughlin Grows is an urban farm which uses sustainable, natural practices and is located in the McLaughlin Neighborhood of Muskegon, Michigan. When Community enCompass, a non-profit neighborhood development organization began exploring the idea of community gardens, several area businesses supported the idea and the seeds of diverse partnerships were planted.

Dorothy Griswold is the McLaughlin Grows Youth Education Coordinator & Americorps VISTA. Passionate about teaching about gardening, cooking and nutrition and connecting the dots

between what we eat and how we feel, Dorothy bridges the partnership between the urban farm and Mercy Health. She sees Food as Medicine.

10:45-11:00 Travel to Gillette Nature Center at PJ Hoffmaster

11:00-11:45 The Gillette Visitor Center, located in P.J. Hoffmaster State Park, is nestled among one of the nation's most impressive dune systems. Perched at the top of a large sand dune surrounded by a pristine wooded back-dune, the center features state-of-the-art exhibits to tell Michigan's unique sand dune story. See how to incorporate service learning with an environmental focus through the DNRs Volunteer Stewardship Workdays.

11:45 – 12:15 Lunch Gillette Nature Center – Catered Buffet

12:15-12::30 Travel to Hortech Trial Gardens

MNLA Greenhouse Nursery Tours12:30- 1:00 Hortech Trial Gardens – Hortech is an innovative professionally managed

Midwestern wholesale nursery, founded in 1983, which specializes in perennial plants; conventional perennials, labor saving ground covers, hardy ferns, climbing vines, and a broad array of ornamental grasses. Offering a palette of the finest native and non native species, Hortech is unique in that our plants are test grown in our trial garden and evaluated for hardiness, beauty, and sustainability. Hortech was founded by a biologist, David MacKenzie, who maintains that plant culture should be a biological, not chemical, activity.

1:00-1:10 Travel and Discussion with Amy Frankmann

1:10-1:50 Spring Meadows - Proven Winner Wholesale. Dale Deppe founded Spring Meadow Nursery with his wife, Liz. Today, large and small nurseries from across North America look to Spring Meadow to do their propagation and to bring them new and exciting plants. We’re a market leader in the propagation of flowering shrubs, potted liners, and starter plants. Spring Meadow Nursery is also the developer behind Proven Winners® ColorChoice®, one of the most recognized brands in flowering shrubs in North America.

1:50-2:00 Travel and Discussion with Amy Frankmann

2:00-2:20 Zelenka Farms, Berry Family of Nurseries take pride in the vast selection of trees, shrubs, perennials, roses and ground covers that we grow. With top-quality brands like Forever & Ever® Plants, it's no wonder we're the largest container-grown plant producer in the United States. Starting with just 10 Acres of production in 1993, the Berry Family of Nurseries has grown to over 8,000 acres in active production in six states across the country, making it the largest wholesale grower in the country. With our diverse locations and climates we are able to produce a wide range of products that will thrive in many climates across the United States

2:20-2:35 Break, Travel and Discussion with Amy Frankmann

2:35-2:45 The Cardno Native Plant Nursery has more than 350 species of native plant and seed in stock, in addition to genotype-specific seed. Our full-service native plant nursery can immediately provide native plant and seed material, from wetland and prairie seed mixes to the deep-rooted native plants critical for shoreline stabilization and erosion control. Our team can also perform contract growing or create a custom seed mix for your next native landscape project.  We also provide natural coir bioengineering materials  that can be prevegetated with appropriate native species  to help advance ecological restoration and stabilization work. 

2:45-2:55 Travel and Discussion with Amy Frankmann

2:55-3:45 CountrySide Greenhouses – Mega Retail. Originally established in 1982 as a small wholesale production facility with just a single hoop style greenhouse. Initially the owners grew just a very basic plant listing of spikes, sprengeri, and vinca vine. It has made many changes and is today the 320,000 square foot $7 million expansion sells 225,000 hanging baskets and 120,000 flats of flowers during the busy spring and summer seasons. The MAEAP certified facility is the largest retail greenhouse in the state of Michigan.

3:45 - 3:55 Travel and Discussion with Amy Frankmann

3:55 - 4:30 Great Lakes Hops - Great Lakes Hops offers a collection of select, fully rooted hop plants and crowns. They do not sell rhizomes. All hop varieties are continually and carefully inspected for viruses and disease. Only superior plants are cleared for further propagation. Further, all varieties are tested in field trials at our modern facilities in Zeeland, Michigan for vigor, yield, and growing suitability in our region. Improved hop varietal selection & breeding is a continual ongoing process. The best select varieties of craft brewing hop plants available to hop growers in the U.S.A. Take home a couple of hop plants and start your own hop yard.

Amy Frankmann, executive director of the Michigan Nursery and Landscape Association, began her 15-year career with the MNLA as an office manager and quickly moved up to vice president for education and expositions. Amy provides a strong voice for Michigan's "green industry." She has helped students find internships and permanent employment by creating the MNLA student program and the industry placement session. She has also served on the FFA Foundation Board of Directors, where she is credited with gaining numerous scholarships for FFA career development opportunities. Through her contacts, she has promoted FFA programs throughout the nursery and landscape industry

4:30 – 5:00 Travel to Coopersville

5:00 - 6:30 Coopersville Workshop options

Fairllife/Continental Dairy – Tour the facility where Fairlife is made, a new milk-based drink created for Coca-Cola. Dubbed "Milka-Cola" on Twitter, Fairlife is a reconstituted milk product that boasts higher protein, less fat and more calcium than standard milk products. Fairlife, which costs roughly twice as much is regular milk, is distributed by Coca-Cola's Minute Maid division. Fairlife is made from milk shipped to a new plant located next to the Continental Dairy Facilities. The two plants receive more than 5 million pounds of milk -- about 625,000 gallons -- each day from some 20 dairy farmers in the region.

Zero Turn Radius Training the National Safety Council (NSC), in partnership with mower manufacturers Toro and Exmark, introduced a new training program to instruct commercial lawn care equipment operators on the safe operation of zero-turn radius mowers. Since its release, professional landscape contractors have report benefiting from sharing the Commercial Equipment Operators’ (CEO) Safety Training Program with their work crews. Designed for field or classroom use, the CEO training package includes a trainer’s script, an instructional DVD, plus participant handouts to help reinforce the lessons learned in each module.

Pork Quality Assurance Plus Revised - In 1989, pork producers developed the Pork Quality Assurance® program, a producer education and certification program to reduce the risk of violative animal health product residues in pork. In 2007, the program was enhanced and became known as Pork Quality Assurance Plus (PQA Plus®). PQA Plus is a producer-driven program they can use to ensure U.S. pork products are of the highest quality and safe, and animals raised for food are cared for in a way ensuring their well-being. Revised in 2013, Pork Quality Assurance® Plus (PQA Plus®) provides a framework for significant, relevant food safety standards and improved animal well-being.

Building a Langstroth Hive – Get ready for your own apiary. Experience building the Langstroth hive while learning about the terminology of bee keeping and take your hive back to school or keep it at home. You will be provided with instructions along with regulations from different school insurance carriers for keeping a hive at your school. A great way to get your students started in bee keeping!

Dave Mellor – Dave Mellor teaches agriscinece at Saline high school. He has taught agriscience for over 24 years and 15 years in the agriculture industry. Dave is a graduate of Michigan State University.

Kent Bollinger - Kent Bollinger has taught Agriscinece at Coopersville for the past 29 years. A graduate of Michigan State University, Kent was named agriscience of the year in 2016.

Clarence Rudat – Clarence Rudat has taught Agriscience and Biology for the past 28 years. He completed his undergraduate degree in Agriculture & Natural Resources Education and his Master’s Degree in Biology both from Michigan State University

6:30 - 7:30 Dinner at Coopersville farm Museum – Pizza Buffet

7:30 -8:30 Coopersville Farm Museum - The Coopersville Farm Museum was built in 2001 with the primary purpose to "honor farming and rural life." While that purpose continues, the Coopersville Farm Museum & Event Center has evolved into what is now a very active part of the community, very similar to the old grange halls in rural towns across America where people have gathered together for many years. The continually changing exhibits include collections from residents all over West Michigan, tractors on loan by Ed Hanenburg, feed sacks, tools, and barbed wire donated by Corky Pals, and art from many very talented people. That's just the start! Come on in and take a leisurely stroll down Memory Lane and at the same time, you might discover something new!

Lee Ann Proia – Director of the Coopersville farm museum. Studied at Davenport College of Business. Lee Ann is responsible for coordinating adult and kids programing along with the Antique tractor show.

9:00 - ? Hospitality Room 203

Frdiay, June 24 7:30 – 8:00 Breakfast at Holiday Inn Grand Ballroom

8:00-9:30 MAAE Regional Meetings, Door Prizes and Closing Bids for Silent Auction

9:30 – 10:00 Travel to Hands on Workshops & Break

10:00 – 12:00 Hands-on Workshops

What is all the buzz about? What is going on with bees? Honey bees have been all over the media lately with talks of colony collapse and the doom of our food system. Get a brief history of bees and beekeeping in the United States and their current role in Agriculture. Untangle what is known about the root causes for their decline, and find out ways that you can incorporate honeybees into your curriculum or use as a Food for America project.as ways to get students involved to help their plight. Learn to fire up a smoker and walk through the apiary to get hands on experience learning to perform a hive check or just watch bees and beekeepers in action. You will receive a pilot copy of the new honey be curriculum developed b

Charlotte Hubbard - Since unexpectedly becoming a beekeeper in 2008, Charlotte has fallen head-over-hive with this intelligent insect. She loves sharing her beekeeping experiences and how they’ve shaped her life through humorous and insightful presentations and articles. A popular Midwest speaker, organizations repeatedly turn to her for her ability to encourage and connect with beekeepers, especially “new-bees.” Charlotte’s latest book If I Could Sit on a Bee’s Knees has just been published. With the goal of getting bee-positive information in the hands of children

Dr. Meghan Milbrath is an academic specialist in the Department of Entomology and is the coordinator of the Michigan Pollinator initiative, a program started at MSU to address concerns related to pollinators and pollination, and to work on understanding the threats and solutions for bees in Michigan. Dr. Milbrath also owns and manages Sand Hill Apiaries, a small beekeeping and queen rearing operation in Munith, MI. She began working with bees with her father over 20 years ago, and has been hooked on bees since. She most recently worked as a postdoctoral research associate in the Entomology Department at Michigan State University, studying honey bee disease with renowned bee researcher, Zachary Huang.

Silver Creek Farms Tour - Alternative energy lab, Apiary, Equine Center, Cranberry bog Tour silver creek farms, a former wastewater treatment facility and brownfield site that is being repurposed as a farm. The site is now home to numerous agricultural activities including an equine center, apiary, cranberry bog and alternative fuels

lab. You will have a chance to rotate through all sections of the farm with hands-on lab activities you can use in your classrooms as well as how to develop partnerships between education and business. Mr. Greg Marczak is the biofuels coordinator and chemistry instructor at Muskegon Community College. Marczak partnered with Silver Creek Farms to develop and lab that supports the biological and chemical analysis and production of biofuels. The lab is located at a reclaimed former wastewater treatment facility. Mr. Marczak serves on Montague’s Advisory and is instrumental in bringing the MSU’s Institute of Agriculture Technology to Muskegon Community College.

Mr. Scott Erdman is a graduate of MSU’s Institute of Ag Technology and owner/operator of Silver Creek Farms. Founder of Erdman Tool Co., Mr. Erdman took an active role in repurposing the abandoned Brownfield waste water treatment facility with the vision of creating a truly unique farm. Mr. Erdman serves on the Montague and Muskegon advisory committees, is on the Muskegon County Fair board and assists many students with his farm and apiary.

12:00 – 12:30 Lunch Sponsored by Montague FFA Alumni                          

12:30 – 1:00 Travel to Master tag

1:00 – 1:30 Hands-on Workshops

MasterTag Tour the modern manufactoring facility of the first plastic plant tag and see how the tags you use today are made! MasterTag is one of the largest international companies committed to the production of horticultural care tags and merchandising solutions. Providing customers with creative, high quality products and outstanding customer service MasterTag is on the forefront by integrating technology into plant tags and packaging. MaterTag has the most current technology and skilled professionals striving to provide the industry with innovative solutions for a growing industry.

Rick Hughes is Owner and CEO of MasterTag.

Andy Higgins, President of MasterTag has a BS in Horticulture from Cal Poly State University and an MBA from UCLA. Higgins previously served as CEO and president of Ecke Ranch.

1:30 –2:00 Travel to Fox Barn

2:00 – 2:30Fox Barn Market & Winery

See how this fruit and vegetable farm took advantage of agro tourism by going retail. The Fox Barn Market & Winery is a family owned business in Oceana County. They grow asparagus, sweet & sour

cherries, peaches, pears & apples and offer other locally grown fruits & vegetables. The newest addition to The Fox Barn is the Winery, complete with a tasting bar. They offer traditional grape wines & their own cherry, pear and yes, asparagus wines.

Kelli Fox. She is owner, manager and winemaker for Fox Barn Market & Winery, begun in 2005 as a farm market and expanded to include the winery in 2008. Selections include wines made from apples, cherries, peaches, pears, raspberries, plums, grapes and asparagus, all raised on the family's 2,200-acre farm. The operation also includes a tart cherry processing plant, fresh apple packing facility, fresh apple cider facility and a trucking company. Kelli also chairs Michigan Farm Bureau's (MFB) state Promotion and Education committee.

2:30 –3:00 Travel to Mac Wood & Break

3:00 – 4:00Dune Succession Aboard a Dune ScooterLearn about dune erosion while aboard Mac Wood dune scooter. The Mac Wood Dune ride provides a safe, fun-filled 7 mile dune tour ride lasting about 40 minutes. You are hosted by knowledgeable drivers who understand the history and environment of the constantly changing sand mountains. A Mac Wood's Dune Ride is a thrilling experience! To climb to the summit and see spread in all directions such a vast panorama is breathtaking! Glide down the sweeps into the valleys, drive past sparkling Silver Lake, and see Lake Michigan's lovely beach! All ages enjoy the scenic rides.

Shelby Olson, granddaughter of Mac Wood, is the manager of Mac Wood dune rides. She and her husband Chris builds the modern-day Dune Scooters, turning a Ford F-250 truck into a 20-seat, handicap-accessible vehicle—with seatbelts.

4:00 Adjourn

4 :00 -5 :00 MAAE Board Meeting

Optional Friday Night

Muskegon Party in the ParkFricanos & Movie on the deck of Warship LST 939

Saturday, June 25 Behind the scenes at Michigan AdventureState Campgrounds are 10 & 15 minutes away. Hoffmaster State Park – Offers group sites https://www.midnrreservations.com/HOFFMASTERSTATEPARK

Grand Haven State Park – On the water so only a few sites left http://www.michigandnr.com/parksandtrails/Details.aspx?type=SPRK&id=449