PLANT WNY MEETING MINUTES
Wednesday, October 9, 2024
McKinley High School – 1500 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14207
6:30pm
The meeting was called to order at 6:35pm by Lou Sardo, president.
Much appreciation was given to McKinley High School for providing the tour and meeting space.
It was determined we had a quorum.
Roger Restorff, treasurer, presented the financial report for PLANT WNY. The financials were emailed to the membership prior to the meeting and included the profit and loss statement and balance sheet.
Committee Reports
CNLP Awareness and Promotion – The NYSNLA Conference will be offering the CNLP exam this October. Roger Restorff has offered to coordinate the CNLP booth at Plantasia this year. He will work on a scheduled and indicated it will be staffed just at certain times. The CNLP booth will also promote the Association,
Ed Day/Trade Show – Speakers are lined up and sponsors have started to sign up. Kerry Mendez is the keynote speaker. There will be DEC and CNLP credits.
Golf Outing – The outing was held October 7 at the Springville Country Club. The weather was great, we had good attendance. It was a successful event and most likely will take place at Springville Country Club in 2025.
Harvest Dinner – The Harvest Dinner will take place Thursday, November 7 at the NY Beer Project in Orchard Park. Sponsorships are available.
Our award recipients were announced: Congratulations to Teresa Buchanan – Person of the Year and Chevalier Outdoor Living – Business of the Year. The awards will be presented at the dinner.
Historian – Matt Dore is the archivist of the association. He has files dating back to the early 1900’s. The Executive Board would like to put together a group of members that can assist Matt with sorting and determining what should be digitized. Members who know about our history will be directly asked to assist.
Landscape Awards – Entries are due October 24.
Social media/Marketing – Maria Provenzano gave on our Instagram and Facebook accounts including engagement statistics and demographics. She stressed the importance of liking and sharing as it helps with our algorithm. Although our engagement is up, it ebbs and flows depending on what our activities are. We all need to be outreaching to other communities to increase our engagement.
Membership – Teresa Buchanan is willing to assist with membership promotion at Plantasia. Steve Sypniewski suggested we do what other regions have done – a phonathon to call former members and we can do this early January. Teresa Buchanan said we should adopt the popular saying of “See it, shoot it, send it” and take a photo of landscaping trucks and send to the membership committee for follow-up.
Plantasia – This will be Plantasia’ s 23rd show and it would have been the 25th if not for COVID. Through Plantasia we can support McKinley High School and SUNY Niagara and they in turn support us. We need help with volunteering, setup, plant distribution and more. Theme is Welcome to the Jungle.
State Reps – The NYSNLA Conference will take place October 20 – 22 in Albany. There is a full agenda. There are different rates if you just want to go one day. ISA, DEC, CNLP credits are available. There will be a CNLP room that will include CNLP study and the exam.
Buffalo Zoo – Several events will be taking place at the Buffalo Zoo. PRISM meeting will take place Thursday, October 17. October has Halloween events including Boo Bash for adults and Boo at the Zoo for children. Plantasia donated three large palms and they will be planted in the rainforest.
McKinley High School – Continued collaboration with Plantasia and PLANT WNY will continue as it is a very beneficial and rewarding relationship for both organizations. Ron Callea thanked the Foundation, Plantasia and the Association for all their support to the students.
SUNY Niagara– Carolyn Stanko thanked the Foundation and PLANT WNY for all they do. Members have provided field trips and internships to the students. Horticulture enrollment increased 147% – growth has exceeded any other program at NCCC. Recently students have been out to Draves Arboretum for tree id and to Lavocats Nursery for a greenhouse tour. Congratulations were extended to Carolyn Stanko upon receiving the NYSNLA Educator of the Year award and to Steve Sypniewski upon receiving the NYSNLA CNLP of the Year award.
New Business
Election of 2025 Board
Lou Sardo asked for a representative from the Nominating Committee to nominate the incoming secretary to the 2025 board. Steve Sypniewski made the motion to nominate Nick Fleckenstein as incoming secretary. The motion was seconded by Roger Restorff. Nominations were closed.
The 2024 Slate of Officers were presented as follows:
Ryan McMillan – President
Roger Restorff – Vice President
Crystal O’Hara – Treasurer
Nick Fleckenstein – Secretary
Lou Sardo – Director
Crystal O’Hara, as PLANT WNY secretary, cast one vote for the election of the 2025 Board of Directors as presented. All were in favor.
Lou Sardo asked for a motion to nominate a member to the Audit Committee. Roger Restorff made the motion to nominate Steve Sypniewski to the 2025 Audit Committee. Kim Schichtel seconded the motion. Nominations were closed.
The 2025 Audit Committee was presented as follows:
Teresa Buchanan (term ending 2025)
Kristy Schmitt (term ending 2026)
Steve Sypniewski (term ending 2027)
Crystal O’Hara, as PLANT WNY secretary, cast one vote for the election of the 2025 Audit Committee as presented. All were in favor.
2025 Budget
Ryan McMillan presented his proposed 2025 budget. It is based on the 2024 budget and due to the cost-of-living there has been a slight increase to several budget categories. Roger Restorff made a motion to accept the 2025 budget as presented. Kim Schichtel seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Additional New Business
Chestnut Ridge Tree Planting
The Chestnut Ridge Conservancy will be planting 30 trees at Chestnut Ridge Park on October 26. Roger Restorff is coordinating volunteers. CNLP credits are available and Carolyn Stanko will give extra credit to SUNY Niagara students. Information will be emailed.
Meat Raffle
Meat raffles can be lucrative in fundraising. There is a company that runs the event and our upfront cost is minimal. We would need about 100 – 150 people to attend. Many members showed interest and we will be pursuing this fundraiser.
Lou Sardo asked for a motion to accept the minutes of July 17, 2024. Nick Fleckenstein motioned to accept the minutes of July 17, 2024. The motion was seconded by Kim Schichtel. All were in favor.
Dave Clark motioned to adjourn the PLANT WNY meeting. The motion was seconded by Chris Zeisz. Meeting was adjourned at 7:28pm.
Respectfully submitted by:
Joyce Janson
PLANT WNY Foundation Meeting
The Foundation meeting was called to order at 7:29pm by Teresa Buchanan, president.
Teresa Buchanan, as Foundation trustee, moved to nominate Steve Sypniewski to the Foundation Board with a 5-year term. The motion was seconded by Roger Restorff. The 2025 PLANT WNY Foundation Board was presented as follows:
Kim Schichtel, CNLP, Trustee (term ending 2025)
Matt Dore, Trustee (term ending 2026)
Phil Tripi, Trustee (term ending 2027)
Phil Colarusso (term ending 2028)
Steve Sypniewski, Lifetime CNLP, Trustee (term ending 2029)
As Foundation Trustee, Kim Schichtel cast one vote for the slate as presented. All in favor
Matt Dore, treasurer, gave a little history of the Foundation for the students and anyone else not familiar with our Foundation. We have $546,000 in the endowment. Dividends and interest of $30,000 – $40,000 is generated and the funds get allocated to causes, projects, etc. Foundation pays for the social media work done by Maria Provenzano, funds plant material for McKinley High School, ED Day attendance for NCCC students and more. Scholarships are available. A new endowment fund was started from memorial donations made in memory of George Schichtel and Chuck Taft. This fund will be used for scholarships.
Roger Restorff motioned to adjourn the Foundation meeting. The motion was seconded by Kim Schichtel. Meeting adjourned at 7:30pm.