TO: Greetings!
NVirginia Evergreen eNews Journal In This Issue
Trees For Troops Needs Your Support Your Free Mini-Website page on the VCTGA website - Update Now Tree Wreath Winners to Governor's Mansion VA Tech Extension Christmas Tree Publications VCTGA Conference Speaker PowerPoint Presentations Tree Tag Order Info/Form VCTGA Facebook Group - How to Join Support our advertisers - hot links with each ad
Dear Fellow Members, The Trees For Troops Program is entering its 15th season supplying Christmas trees to US military families around the world. During this period over a quarter of a million trees have been donated by growers to honor our military families by giving them a real tree to celebrate the Christmas season. Virginia participated in the program even before its official beginning when Tom O’Halloran donated trees to military families at Quantico Marine Base. Many of us followed by donating trees and hosting pickup sites around the state. As the supply of trees became tight participation waned and only Mount Rogers Area Christmas Tree Growers (MRACTGA) has continued by filling a FedEx trailer each year. As you might imagine sustaining that commitment has been a challenge for their growers. I, with the support of our Board, would like to propose that VCTGA make a donation toward this effort by sending funds to Mount Rogers to purchase trees to help go toward filling the FedEx trailer this year. We are asking each farm that will have sales this season to make a donation by sending a check to the VCTGA office by November 30, 2019. Any donation will make a difference whether its $25, $30, $50 or more; Checks should be made payable to VCTGA Mail to: 383 Coal Hollow Rd Christiansburg, VA 24073 Thank you in advance in aiding in this very
Trees for Troops being loaded on FedEx
worthwhile project! John Carroll claybrookefarm@gmail.com (540) 872-8026
trailer in 2015 at Willow Springs Tree Farms with trees donated by growers in Southwest Virginia
The Trees for Troops program is in it's 15th season. We are proud to have delivered 225,319 trees to servicemen and women over the last 14 years. M ore than 800 different real Christmas tree growers have contributed trees in those 14 years
Update Your FREE Mini-webpage on the VCTGA Website Consumers use the VCTGA website Locator to find your farm or retail outlet This document provides information about the member admin area of www.virginiachristmastrees.org Or Click here to save a PDF file with the details listed below plus screen shots.
Home Page 1) Visit http://www.virginiachristmastrees.org and log in using your username and password in the upper right corner of the home page. If you do not remember your user name and/or password, email secretary@virginiachristmastrees.org
Members Only Area 2) Click the “Edit your information” link on the Members Only Area. 3) Click on the Minipage tab. 4) The first editor area is for the Products section in the sidebar on your page. 5) The second editor area is for the main content area of the minipage. 6) Click the Save button at the very bottom of the page where you are editing the minipage content to actually save the changes.
Public View Uploading New Images 1) To upload and insert a new image, click in the main content area where you want the new picture to be placed. 2) Then click the Insert Media button (fourth button from the left, looks like two mountains with a sun and says “Insert Media” if you hover your mouse cursor over it). A new window will appear. 3) To upload a new image, click “Add New” at the top of the second pane. 4) The form at the bottom of the window will change and show a Choose File or Browse field. Click the button to open a standard file dialog window. 5) Locate the file on the member’s computer and click “Open” or “OK” depending on the computer. The file dialog window will disappear. Click Save in the form at the bottom of
the window. 6) The new image will be uploaded to the member’s directory and it will appear in the list in the second pane. 7) The member can then click on it to select it and then click the OK button to insert the image into the page and close the window. 8) Click the Save button at the very bottom of the page where the member is editing their minipage content to actually save the changes.
Inserting Images 1) To insert an image, click in the main content area where you want the new picture to be placed. 2) Then click the Insert Media button (fourth button from the left, looks like two mountains with a sun and says “Insert Media� if you hover your mouse cursor over it). A new window will appear. 3) In the new window, click on the Library Images folder in the left pane. A list of all pictures uploaded by the member will appear in the second pane. 4) If the member just wants to select one of those images to add to the page, click the image. A preview of the image will appear in the right pane and the link to the image will appear in the form at the bottom of the new window. 5) The member can adjust various settings for the image in that form (size, alignment, padding, etc.). 6) Once everything is set, click the OK button to insert the image and close the window. 7) Click the Save button at the very bottom of the page where the member is editing their minipage content to actually save the changes.
TIP: Click here for Virginia Tech Extension Christmas Tree Publications
Click Purcell Ad for full-size ad and Here for link to their website
VCTGA Grand Champions Headed to the Governor's Mansion in Richmond for the Annual Tree and Wreath presentations to the Governor and First Lady Northam on December 2.
Grand Champion Tree John Houston Sweet Providence Farm, Floyd, VA
Grand Champion Wreath Lori Grove Caritas Tree Farm, Mt. Solon, VA
VCTGA Conference Speaker PowerPoint Presentations as PDF files (Click on the title to open a PDF copy of the presentations, which you can also print/save to your computer)
1. State of the Christmas Tree Industry, Trends and Opportunities - Jeff Owen, NCSU 2. Advancements in Technology, Weed Management and Controlling Cones - Jeff
Owen, NCSU 3. Basics of Soil Structure/Influences on Nutrient Availability - Dr. John Galbraith, VA Tech 4. Practical Application of Soil Survey Information in Selecting Species for Your Farm Matt Carroll, Natural Resources Conservation Service / Claybrooke Farm LLC 5. VA Tech School of Plant and Environmental Sciences - Dr. Michael Evans, Director 6. So You Want to Sell Preserved and Prepared Foods on Your Farm? - Lisa Ramsey, VDACS Regional Food Safety Manager 7. Growing Your Small Business , Sandy Ratliff, Virginia Community Capital
ALPHA NURSERIES: Click on their ad above to open a full-size PDF copy. Click here to go to their website
Order Your Tree Tags TODAY - Limited Supply!
Exclusive New VCTGA Facebook Group for Members Only A new VCTGA membership benefit was introduced at our annual conference in Natural Bridge by Ryan Clouse – a VCTGA Facebook Group! This is different from a regular Facebook page, in that what you post only goes to other VCTGA Group members. Ask a question, offer tips, new resources, post photos, etc. Ryan is also setting up a resource clearinghouse page for Extension Publications, PowerPoint presentations from VCTGA meetings, and other information that will help you be a more successful/profitable Christmas tree business. To Join: 1. Log into your Facebook profile. 2. Enter “Virginia Christmas Tree Growers” in the search box at the top left of the page. 3. Click the Groups tab to see a list of groups related to your search term. 4. As above, click on the name of the group to learn more, or click Join to become a member of the group. 5. You will have to wait for your membership request to be approved.
For additional info or help, contact Ryan Clouse rclouse@mafc.com or Jeff Miller, secretary@VirginiaChristmasTrees.org
Did You Use "It's Christmas! Keep It Real!"?
What do You Think?
Virginia Christmas Tree Growers Association 540-382-7310 Secretary@VirginiaChristmas Trees.org www.VirginiaChristmasTrees. org
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It's Christmas! Keep It Real! - Virginia Grown!