Washington State Gourd Society · PDF filethat friendship and look forward to seeing you again! Myrna Grigsby President ... Page 4 Washington State Gourd Society Mu’s News,

Winter 2010, Volume #2—Issue #4 www.wagourdsociety.org

Presidents Message 1, 2

Christmas Party 3

GAE Website 4

Jim’s Pig 4

Pumpkin Fruit or Veggie 5

Gourd Patch Updates 6

Judges Training 8

Featured Artist 10, 11

Fundraisers 12, 13

Picking Pumpkins 14

Volunteering 18

Upcoming Events 19

The end of the holidays always bring differ-ent opinions about it. I grew up in a family that was so much fun and we were blessed to have two parents with a way of making these holidays special for us as children. We al-ways had the biggest and best tree in the whole neighborhood and kids always wanted to hang out at our house. Christmas Eve was spent visiting folks around our tiny town and when we were through we'd head to our Grandparents home where a family party was going on. After everyone went home, my Mom and Dad and sisters would spend the night (where I might add my middle sister, Vicky, would throw up, every darn year, and we'd have to leave our little bedroom so sheets could be changed and "spills" wiped up)! to ready ourselves for that quiet trip, Christmas morning down the staircase trying not to wake any of the adults. If any of us three girls could make it down the stairs with-out slipping and tumbling to the bottom, waking everyone in the neighborhood, we would round the corner and see the presents and our stocking chocked full and with screams of delight the grownups would make their way down stairs and the festivities be-gan! Thanksgiving was also a special time with our family. All of the Aunts and Uncles and cousins would go to someone's house and those of us in Junior or Senior High couldn't wait to eat so we could make our exit and head to the big football game between us and that "other" school! We girls all wore our white Mums with a big red "H" centered on it and spent the rest of the day hollerin for our team! Then on to the big dance after-wards...Memories..what would we do without them? Our Grandparents and parents are gone

and with that came new traditions, new homes, and memories to make. I hope each and every-one of you made some wonderful memories this past holiday season.

One of our members, Shirley Loman has made the most gorgeous quilt ever and donated it to us to raffle off at the festival. This quilt consists of pictures of gourds that several of our members did (all were invited to partake). It really is stun-ning! Since she had a few left over pictures, and wanting to use them all, she made 3 different quilted pillows that she also donated. This is what helps WSGS become as successful as we've been; selfless members who step up to the plate and help in everyway possible!

The festival is front and center and will remain there until July. Vendors and Teachers are sign-ing up, entertainment is being lined up and the media blitz has started. We won't know if we receive the grant money I applied for with the Grant County Tax and Tourism Committee until some time this Spring. Keep your fingers crossed! If anyone would like to send letters of support, let me know and I will give you the info on where to send them.

I know I sound like a broken record, but have you emailed our Volunteer Chair, Carmen Easter to get your name on the books to help us out at the festival? Your job can be as small or large as you want it to be, but we definitely need the help! Carmen's email is [email protected]

Continued on page 2

Washington State Gourd Society

President - Myrna Grigsby

Vice President - Dynva Todd

Secretary - Diane Frederick

Treasurer - Bob Riveira

Membership Secretary - Patty Burke

Webmaster - James Ozburn (Oz)

Newsletter Editor - James Ozburn (Oz)

Director - Stacy Annon

Director - Kate Franchimon

Director - Dotty Cooper

Director - Jim Martin

Director - Alana Riveira

Director - Evie Scribner

**Remember to pay your 2010 membership dues! Memberships run from Jan. to Jan.**

Page 2 Washington State Gourd Society Mu’s News, Winter 2010 Volume # 2, Issue # 4

We will be having monthly meetings and urge all to attend. The information is always on the home page of our website. Let your voice be heard!

Alan Sweeney and I would like to have another Judges Training class in Eastern Washington sometime in May or June. If you live on the east side of the mountains and would like to attend this class, let me know and we'll get it scheduled. Even if you have

no plans to ever judge an event, it helps to learn how the judging process works and make you that much more aware what Judges look at when judging a competition..

May you all have a happy, healthy, wonderful 2010 and for those I've not ever met, I'm looking forward to meeting you and getting to know you. If I have already met you, then know that I value that friendship and look forward to seeing you again!

Myrna Grigsby

President

Washington State Gourd Society

Mu Chapter


Full Logo T-Shirt

Full Logo Tote Bag Box Logo T-Shirt

The event was held on the Nov. 14th 2009 at Edwards Greenhouse in Boise. My entry was in the Masters Division and the category was Native American. I was awarded a 1st place in my class and was voted Peoples Choice.

Garry Carr

Saturday Night Dinner Tickets are now on sale

for the festival. Check out the festival website

for all the info.

Only 100 seats available so buy now!



I want to thank everyone that made the trip down to my home for the Christmas party! I live out of the way for most (well, okay....for all....), so it's really appreciated when you make an effort to participate in WSGS functions held at my house! The cou-ple that came the farthest goes to......(drum roll, please) Patty and Chad Vanderhoof!..they traveled from Spokane just to come to the party and meet those that they've heard from but had never met! Pretty impressive!

The food was plenty and the quality of the gift exchange is always fun to see from the carved Santa gourd (Dotty Cooper), to the Chip Carved gourd ornament (Alan Sweeney) to the beautiful Gourd Luminary (Stacy Annon) to the many beautiful and thought-ful gifts that took time and effort to make by all of us that came.

2010 is here and the festival is a mere 7 months away. That's not long, believe me..so we have a lot of work ahead of us but I know you are all up to the challenge! Remember, contact Carmen Easter, Volunteer Chairperson at [email protected] to get your name on the list to help us out when the time comes. (we are asking for an hour or two of your time at the festival, that's it!)

Reminder: Dues are due! As you know, we have changed the due dates of the annual dues to match the American Gourd Society's due date of January 1 of each year.

The dues are $15.00 for the entire year and $20.00 if you wish to receive the quarterly newsletter by snail mail instead of email. It is quite a bargain and believe me, the dues help out greatly with the cost of keeping WSGS afloat!...I want to stress the importance more than ever, with the festival around the corner, that we need you to get those dues in. You can go to our website and pay by PayPal or you can make out a check (made payable to WSGS) and mail to: Patty Burke, Membership Secretary 17620 15th Pl. W. Lynnwood, WA 98037



Hello Gourd Heads,

If you haven't checked out Bonnie Gibson's new website yet (Gourd Art Enthusiasts) http://gourdartenthusiasts.ning.com/ , you are missing out on a plethora of gourd sharing for the visual senses.

This website has something for everyone.

• You can look at over 2000 photo's of gourds and post comments or questions. You can also upload photos of your gourds.

• You can create your own page and share info with other gourd people.

• You can browse the forums for very useful gourd infor-mation, or post a question and get an answer very fast.

• There is an Events page to see what's happing elsewhere in the gourding world.

• There is a live chat section, where you can chat with other gourd people in real time.

• There is a section called The Gourd Book Store, where you can find any book related to gourds.

• A new section was added by me today for Groups, right now it is only State Societies, please join ours.

• There are over 750 members and growing fast.

• A lot of the top gourd artists and teachers are already members, this is your chance to pick their brains with questions.

If you didn't know this, Bonnie has made me one of the ad-ministrators of her site. I am helping with the technical PC related questions about the site. If you have a question that I have not already posted or answered in the forum please send me an email and I'll help you out as soon as I can.

Please visit and join the site. Here is the nice kicker, IT'S ALL FREE, did you hear me it's FREE. It's easy to sign up, put in your name, email and what state your from and you're in, it's that easy.

Here is the website address again http://gourdartenthusiasts.ning.com/ You can also find this link on the main page of the WSGS website. What are you waiting for?

I had received an email with a real cute pig on it and had sent it on to others in the WSGS saying if someone would put it on a gourd.

I would donate whatever they priced it at to the festival fund. Glo-ria Dittrick took the picture and created me a pretty cool Pig Gourd and it even has a lid. I donated the $50.00 to our Festival fund as requested.

Dulling Spray is not a sealer but it is used by artists to photograph work and "temporarily" remove the glare. Gourd artists especially love it and I am now a dealer of this product.

The Americana sealer that Hellen discussed is hard to find but I am working with DecoArt to have one of my distributors get it for me.

Another great water based sealer that I've been using for years is Jo Sonja's Polyurethane. It is a brush on but leaves no streaks and cleans up with soap and water. Unlike most sprays it won't drip and has no odor so it can be used safely indoors.

Nedra Denison



Here is another article from Durant Ashmore. This article is about pumpkins which are in the gourd family. This is a very interest-ing article.

A man wanted to know "Is a pumpkin a fruit or a vegetable?"

First of all, we have to get our definitions of fruits and vegetables in order. Every one knows that vegetables are what your mother makes you eat when you are five years old. There is no way around this definition, buster, and if you know what is good for you, you will always eat your vegetables.

If you have additional questions about what a vegetable is, just go to your local diner. You will have a selection of meats to eat, and with that you will have a choice of vegetables. The vegetable selections are clearly marked. Green beans, potatoes, macaroni and cheese, rice and gravy, corn, beets (ugh!), broccoli, okra, et al are all clearly defined in black and white as members of the vegetable family.

There is only a minor bit of confusion when it comes to a diner's definition of vegetables. Kallam, my 12 year old, is quick to point out that peach cobbler and banana pudding are also listed under the diner's vegetable category. To him, a meal of macaroni and cheese, peach cobbler and banana pudding fulfills the requirements for all the daily food groups. With a menu like that, he is seri-ously considering vegetarianism as his preferred lifestyle.

As you can see, the method for determining the validity of a food being a vegetable is not foolproof. If you still have questions about this, it's best to ask your mother.

Of course, everyone also knows what a fruit is. A fruit is what you get when you open a can of fruit cocktail. You get apples, pears, grapes and maybe a pineapple or two. It's cut and dried and there can be no argument about this.

However….. when it comes to tomatoes, well, arguments seem to be the rule of the day. The argument over whether a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable became so serious about 115 years ago that the issue had to be decided by no less a body than the Supreme Court of the United States. You would think that the Supreme Court would have more pressing issues to deal with, but apparently it was a different world 115 years ago.

Back in 1883 congress passed a law. This law was a tariff law that imposed a tax on vegetable importers. Needless to say, the guys importing tomatoes weren't very happy about this tax until they miraculously had an epiphany. The plump red fare they were importing was not a vegetable after all. It was a fruit!

It took ten years for the ardent question of whether a tomato was a fruit or a vegetable to wind its way through the halls of justice all the way to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court ruled that actually, after all, a tomato was indeed a fruit according to the leading botanists of the day. How-ever, in all its infinite wisdom, the court also ruled that for purposes of the 1883 Tariff Act, tomatoes would be considered a vegeta-ble. So the answer the esteemed justices arrived at after ten years of judicial deliberation turned out to be no answer at all.

Botanists have their definition of what a fruit is. To them a fruit is a seedpod surrounded by an ovary. A fruit cannot exist unless there is a flower involved.

By this definition tomatoes are fruits. Also, squash, cucumbers, peppers, eggplant, okra, beans and avocados are all fruits. Wouldn't you love to open a tin can of fruit cocktail about now with squash, beans and peppers in a syrupy sauce? The botanists have only succeeded in complicating a concept that could be so very simple.

Botanists don't have a definition for what a vegetable is. They really chicken out when it comes to defining this term. Botanists don't want to make their mothers mad.

Common usage generally regards a vegetable as any part of a plant that is eaten that is not a fruit. This means a potato, a celery stalk, an onion, asparagus, brussel sprouts, corn, rice, lettuce, collards, spinach, etc. are all vegetables. Macaroni and cheese is a vegetable because it is a byproduct of the macaroni plant.

So what we are able to realize after considerable debate in the highest chambers in the land is that pumpkins are a fruit. That is, unless you want to import them after 1883. Then they are a vegetable.



If your interested in finding other people in your area that are as passionate about gourding as you are please check out our Gourd Patch page http://www.wagourdsociety.org/Patches.htm If you need help contacting people in your area please contact Oz [email protected] as he has a complete list of all members and their contact information. We currently have four Gourd Patches formed and meet on a monthly basis.

The North Sound Gourd Patch encompasses the North Puget Sound area and meets at the Baxter Community Center http://www.wagourdsociety.org/NSGP.htm

The Crystal Gourd Patch encompasses the South Puget Sound area and currently meets at the home of Stacey Annon. http://www.wagourdsociety.org/CGP.htm

The Nuthatch Patch encompasses the area around Spokane area and currently meets at the home of Carmen Easter. http://www.wagourdsociety.org/NHP.htm

The Bellevue Gourd Patch encompasses the area around Seattle/Bellevue and currently meets at the home of Dotty Cooper. http://www.wagourdsociety.org/BGP.htm

It has been very exciting to watch our gourd patch grow, we have been getting new gourd enthusiast every month. There have been several demos and classes. Some have been basic wood burning, china painting, gold leafing, and even 3-D drawing. Everyone is willing to share ideas, their skills, products and services and product information.

We are pleased to welcome our newest enthusiast ~ Gloria and Crystal from Bel-lingham and Toni from Lynnwood.

North Sound Gourd Patch meets the first Tuesday of every month at the Ken Bax-ter Community Center, Marysville, WA 12-2:30 ~ there is a $3 donation request for room fees. All are welcome!

The Crystal Gourd Patch met at the home of Stacy Annon's on Sat. the 16th.

Stacy showed everyone how to apply the Radiant Rain dyes that she purchased from Betsy Roberts (Galaxy Gourds) at Leisers Gourd Festival last year.

In these pictures: Above Stacy Annon. Left—Alana Riveira and Sally Favors. Far Left—Myrna Grigsby and Sandra Palmer. Left Bottom—Dynva Todd.





On January 9, 2010, Alan Sweeny, AGS Master Judge held a class to certify new judges under American Gourd Society training guidelines. The purpose of this class was to train them to be more effective judges of gourds by reinforcing and clarifying standard-ized procedures that are required in AGS sanctioned competitions. Congratulations to you all!

(from left to right) Toni Davenport, Shawna Stout, Patty Burke, Dotty Cooper, Sandra Palmer, Bob Riveira, Alana Riveira, Evie Scribner, Dynva Todd, Diane Frederick, Stacy Annon (Sitting) James Ozburn (Oz) & Garry Carr

Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year....Victor Borge

Written by Martha Bloom of http://marthasgourds.com/

As gourds dry out they go through a molding process. For this reason, gourds should always be kept outside while they are in this stage, and kept outside even after they are dried. I try to do all my cleaning outside also, but since we have long winters that is not always possible. Sometimes I will need to get some new ones cleaned if I run low for projects or for sale. I try to keep this at a mini-mum especially now since I have learned more on the dangers of mold spores.

When you work with moldy gourds, you are releasing millions of mold spores which are the culprits in health problems.

Dan Dunkin, of The Gourd Reserve, has some wonderful information on molds and their dangers at his site, thegourdreserve.com.

Some symptoms of gourd flu that I've heard talked about mainly affect the respiratory system. But from what I read at Dan's site, mold can be tied to a lot of other problems, such as lupus, MS, brain damage, cancer, and the list goes on.

When handling gourds you should always wear a respirator and gloves to help prevent spores from entering your respiratory system. If you don't you are increasing your chances of getting gourd flu.





Our featured artist for this newsletter hails from Highland, Califor-nia. Let's give a warm welcome to Darlene Propp. Darlene was really honored to be asked to be our featured artist. Here are some pictures of my work and a little bit about me.

I discovered gourds in 1998 and found they were the perfect artist's surface. Over the years I've experimented with many media and especially enjoy woodburning, carving and painting gourds.

Every gourd shape, each technique, all types of embellishments inspire me to new artistic endeavors. While I am still in the process of finding my own distinctive style of gourd art, I am having a great time learning from other artists and trying new ideas.

I am the regional coordinator for the San Bernardino County Patch of the California Gourd Society. I also hold memberships in the American Gourd Society, Canadian Gourd Society, Arizona Gourd Society, Washington State Gourd Society, Fallbrook Gourd Patch, Orange County Gourd Patch, Temecula Valley Gourd Patch, Red-lands Art Association, National Wood Carver's Association, Soci-ety of Decorative Painters, Memory Box Artists, Gypsy Tolers, and am a published author. I hold accreditation as a judge for the American Gourd Society. I was recently given the task as Adminis-trator Greeter on Bonnie Gibson’s new website “Gourd Art Enthu-siasts”.

http://gourdartenthusiasts.ning.com/



I have had the honor of being a contributing artist to the Gourd Patch Quilt Project, the Gourd Patch Wall Hang-ing, the Canadian Gourd Society Wall Hanging, Ashanti Mother project, the Message In A Bottle pro-ject for servicemen and women overseas, and Gourd Calendars 2004 and 2005 published by Margie Malone. I have also been selected as a judge for an online gourd competition. Another thrill was taking part in the art-work on the California Traveling Gourd, in collabora-tion with another San Bernardino Patch member, Chris Souza. I have won numerous awards with my gourds and love to "spread the gourd glow". My gourds have been seen in the Jasmin Gallery in La Jolla, California and currently at the Redlands Art Association Gallery.

The Warrior Horse, Poinsettia Gourd and Wax resist Doll were done in classes. The other pieces are original designs.

See more at my websites below.

http://www.gourdoozie.com http://www.picturetrail.com/str8edge http://www.flickr.com/photos/dragongourd/ www.dragongourd.etsy.com



The Asian Traveling Gourd was drawn on Thanksgiving day and the lucky winner was Leslie At-wood of Lake Stevens, WA. Con-gratulations Leslie.

We have finished all the tiles for the Spring Wall Hanging. This wall hanging will be raffled off in the early part of 2010. If you would like a block of tickets, email Alana Riveira and she will get them to you . [email protected] Check out the panels here www.wagourdsociety.org/Wall-Hanging-2.htm



Shirley Lowman has created a beauti-ful "gourd quilt" to be raffled off at the 2010 festival.

Members contributed pictures and Shirley turned the pictures into “patches” for the quilt.

She then methodically incorporated all the patches to create this one of a kind gourd quilt and three gourd patch pil-lows.

Tickets for the Gourd Quilt are $5.00 each. Tickets for each Gourd Pillow are $1.00 each. See our Fundraiser webpage for more details.

African Traveling Gourd

The African gourd is done and will be raffled off May 22 2010. Check out the pan-els here http://www.wagourdsociety.org/African-TG-2009.htm

Hurry and get your tickets for this awesome gourd. Contact Dynva Todd [email protected] or Alana Riveira [email protected]

Pillow—1

Gourd Quilt

Pillow—2 Pillow—3



Monday, Oct 19, 2009 - Herald staff writer Sarah Kehoe/Columbia Basin Herald

MOSES LAKE - Seven-year-old Darien Valeez swayed from side to side, attempting to carry a pumpkin almost as big as himself. "I wanted to get this really large pumpkin so I could take it home and carve it out," Valeez said. "I am going to put a big happy face on it." Valeez and four second grade Peninsula Elementary classes gathered at teacher Joan Dopps' pumpkin patch to collect pumpkins and gourds Friday morning. Joan and her husband Tom Dopps have had second-graders come pick to their patch for 22 years.

"It gives the students the chance of being in a learning environment out-doors," Joan said. "The trip ties into class lessons about agriculture, social studies and math." Joan said she has been a farmer all her life. Her family enters items from their Moses Lake farm into the Grant County Fair every year. "I begin growing pumpkins in my garden and my principal caught wind of it and mentioned the kids would like it," Joan said. "I brought students over and it has been a tradition ever since." Joan said students learn about the life cycle of pumpkins before coming out to the patch. "They are always really excited to come out and seem to have a fun time," Joan said.

Peninsula's Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) pays transportation costs for the trip and seed growers give the Dopps family a discount on pumpkin seeds. "It has expanded each year," Joan said. "This is the first year we also let the kids pick out gourds." Ashlyn Shepherd, 7, picked out a large pumpkin and five gourds, shoving them in her bright pink backpack. "I am going to carve all of them, giving them eyes and a mouth," Shepherd said. "It is really nice of Mrs. Dopps to give us pumpkins."

Students brought garbage bags, plastic bags and backpacks to put their selections in. Many kids couldn't hold everything they wanted in their carriers. "I like the little pumpkins best because they are easier to carry," said Chase Vanstrom, 8. "I plan on putting them around my house." Valeez brought his grandfather to help.

"It is fun being here with my grandson," said Lupe Lopez. "I think this field trip is such a good experience for the students. They get to be out, exploring and seeing what happens on farms." Joan said the pumpkin patch is a family affair. "We enjoy seeing the kids finding the perfect pumpkin and exploring," Joan said. Along with Joan and Tom, the Dopps' dog and cat were there to greet the stu-dents and parents. "I'm so glad the weather cooperated today," Joan said, pointing to the sunshine and a cloudless sky. "It has only rained one time since we have been doing this."

Joan has taught second grade for about 30 years. "I guess I just love the age," she said. "They can read and are starting to become independent." After picking out pumpkins and gourds, the students sat down on the Dopps' lawn and compared their selections. "I

got this big pumpkin because it is really cool and will be easy to carve," said Lillian Merrill, 8. Trevor Loera, 7, took two gourds out of his plastic bag and begin dancing with them. "It was so fun searching for big pumpkins," he said.

Peninsula Elementary second-grader Trevor Loera examines the large pumpkin he picked out at the Dopps' family pumpkin patch Friday.





I am teaching "Introduction to Gourd Art" at the Frances Anderson Cul-tural & Leisure Center in Edmonds. My First class is this Saturday Jan. 30. I am scheduled to teach this class again on March 13th. My appli-cation is being added to the Spring/Summer Craze to include the dates of May 15th and July 31st. The class will place a simple design on a 4" gourd, woodburn it, add overall color and simple embellishment. We will also demonstrate the opening and cleaning of a gourd. Strong emphasis will be put on safety when working with gourds, the safety equipment and where to find these things. Returning students will be able to progress by learning further techniques in color, pine-needle coiling and using everyday ob-jects and found objects to embellish their gourds. Class feed back will direct the projects and media to be used in upcoming classes. This is also a format to introduce inspiration from WSGS, AGS, books, websites and much more.

Toni Davenport





By James Ozburn — Oz

According to the dictionary a Volunteer is: Someone who gives time, effort and talent to a need or cause without profit-ing monetarily.

Time is a huge factor when it comes to volunteering. Many people are just to busy or prefer to spend free time relaxing. Effort is also a factor, how much sweat equity will I have to give up for free and is it worth the effort? Talent is a small factor, as many people volunteer to help in anyway possible. Most people volunteer to learn something new or bring a certain talent they al-ready have which benefits that particular organization. When you combine all of these together to give time, effort, and talent you truly give back to the organization you are volunteering for.

Four years ago, I had no indication what I was about to get myself into when I picked up my first gourd. The first two years of my gourding adventure I thought I was going at it alone in the state of Washington. Over time, I found others in our state with the same passion and fascination in gourds as I have. Through my curiosity of gourds there was a small group of us that started emailing each other back and forth. There were a few attempts at organizing a group but nothing very serious came about.

Then one day, this quirky, very motivated lady in Montesano hitched up her gourd filled bandwagon. She plopped herself down in the seat, grabbed the reigns and came barreling out of her barn. Did I mention she owns a very enormous lasso, which she used to round up eleven of us. On the 13th day in October 2007, all twelve of us unanimously hopped onto Myrna’s gourd band-wagon. Along the way we have hit a few bumps and potholes, lost a couple of riders and gained a few new riders. Every once in awhile she steers us into the bushes where inevitably someone gets whacked in the face with a branch or two. We all seem to hold on to see what’s coming around the next bend in the road. For some of us it’s like watching a train wreak, you want to look the other way but you find yourself drawn in to see what is going to happen next.

Being one of the founding members of this society, I find myself trying to anticipate what is happening on the other side of that train wreak. I wake up some days and can’t believe I am sitting in the seat next to this woman. I know for a fact on the second day of this ride Myrna told her husband Larry to remove the hand brakes from her bandwagon. She said something to the effect that they were weighing down the wagon and to also remove the side rails, we can get more people on that way. I think, if Myrna could, her bandwagon would be 300 feet wide with no rear end. You see we have the people that sit up front and there are the people who sit in the back. The people that are sitting in back of the bandwagon are just holding on, timidly thinking maybe no one will notice me sitting here. Then there are the people in the middle of the bandwagon, they don’t want to fall off but are not sure what they should do or how to ask what to do. Then there are the few that are all packed on that not so wide front seat with Myrna snapping the whip and charging forward on this outrageous gourd induced ride.

I myself, put an extraordinary amount of my own personal time and energy into our WSGS website. I realize volunteering large chunks of personal time is of my own choosing, which at this time I thoroughly enjoy and plan to keep enjoying in to the fu-ture. That being said, I made a commitment to myself, Myrna and the WSGS when I volunteered myself to be webmaster and news-letter editor. I also realize that we as a group are laying the groundwork as volunteers to the future of this organization. Without peo-ple stepping up to the plate, whether the task is small or large, volunteering one hour or several hours, this venture of ours would not be were it is today without many people volunteering their own personal time.

Becoming a volunteer you have to ask yourself a few questions: What do I want to get out of this organization? Do I just want to be a member that keeps to myself? Or because I took the time to join this organization, how much am I willing to sacrifice to help the organization move forward? Whatever your answer may be, we need you, and any time you are willing to give in helping make this venture the best ride of your life. Please volunteer for something even if it’s only a couple hours during the festival, we need your help.

This might be your last issue of the newsletter if you have not renewed your WSGS Membership. If you are uncertain if you have renewed please check the Membership page toward the bottom of the page. If you have renewed, your name will be highlighted in orange. If your name is still in white this will be your last newsletter until you renew your membership. Don’t miss out on the next newsletter it will be choked full of infor-mation concerning the festival.


Advertising Rates for WSGS Newsletter 3x3 (Business Card Size) 1 Issue: $10.00 2 Issues: $19.00 4 Issues: $35.00

1/4 Page 1 Issue: $10.00 2 Issues: $29.00 4 Issues: $55.00

½ Page 1 Issue: $22.00 2 Issues: $43.00 4 Issues: $85.00

Full Page 1 Issue: $40.00 2 Issues: $79.00 4 Issues: $158.00

Deadlines: Winter Feb. 15 Spring June 1 Summer Aug. 30 Fall Nov. 15

Past issues can be found here: Mu’s News Back Issue’s

Please contact Oz if.... You would like to recommend anyone to be our featured artist, You would like to write an article for the newsletter, You would like to submit

a tutorial for the newsletter, We welcome all feedback and on ways you think we could improve our newsletter and/or website

Our mailing address is: [email protected] or [email protected] Our telephone: 360-249-8144

Copyright (C) 2008, 2009 * www.wagourdsociety.org * All rights reserved.


The American Gourd Soci-ety Board has voted to adopt iContact as their email provider for official business emails. AGS would like everyone that is a member to go to their website AGS www.americangourdsociety.org and add your name and email to the iContact list. This will help you to receive important informa-tion quickly, and save AGS significant money versus in the past when they had to send everyone a postcard for important, timely information.

Documents

Washington State Gourd Society · PDF filethat friendship and look forward to seeing you again! Myrna Grigsby President ... Page 4 Washington State Gourd Society Mu’s News,