LAKE COUNTY EXTENSION COUNCIL
University of Illinois, Lake County Extension
100 S. Hwy 45, Grayslake, Illinois 60030
Minutes of March 18, 2008
1. CALL TO ORDER:
The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Laurel Dahl at 6:00 pm.
Attending: Usha Agarwal, Cynthia Alexander, Marie Caviness, Nancy Clifton,
Laurel Dahl, Gayle Florian, Martha Padilla-Ramos, Kruti Patel, Todd Price,
Annette Schafer, Mary Spiewak, Jeanne Trampe, Nicole Wimberly.
Staff Attending: Vickie Brown, Kay Doll, Nancy Johannsen, Dale Kehr, Larry
Wilson, Sharon Yiesla.
Absent: Kevin Buesco, Stephen Carlson, Molli Larson, Merleanne Rampale, Jim
Ross, John Snow.
Guests of Extension: Adrienne Fosberg, Debbie Pointer, Mary Martin, Steve
Martin, Avni Patel, Larry Leafblad, Newton Finn, Nada Finn, Carol Sipes, Sarah
Surroz. Lake Co. Fair Board of Directors: Frank Beelow, Mitch Brya (Vice-
President), David DeYoung (President), Jerry Pretzman, Mike Richards, Peter
Tekampe (Treasurer).
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 22,
2007: A motion to approve the minutes as written was made by Cynthia
Alexander and seconded by Jeanne Trampe. The motion passed.
3. FAIR ASSOCIATION GUESTS: The Lake Co. board members were introduced by Laurel Dahl. David DeYoung provided an update. David thanked Extension and said the Fair Association enjoys working with an organization that is committed to agriculture and educating youth and adults. He said they closed on the fair property in Sept. 2007. They were underway on the new property in the fall of ’07 and worked through winter. They have the building pad in for the Expo building (the main building on the new grounds) and the steel is starting to go up now. The 2008 county fair will be held on the old property. They will vacate the old property by Aug. 31 st and will begin moving to the new site. Jerry Pretzman stated Phase 1 is the Expo building and Phase 2 is the remaining buildings and the midway. Mike Richards showed the current blue prints and described the entire layout of the new grounds. The new 4-H building will not be occupied
100% by just 4-H, and there may be others in the same building. The building will be located adjacent/west of the Expo building. The livestock buildings will be south and east of the 4-H building. All buildings will meet ADA codes and the building codes of Grayslake. Vickie Brown asked if 4-H will have accessibility year round. Mike Richards responded saying they will fit 4-H in, although it may not always be in the same space. They will be trying to rent out the buildings as much as possible throughout the year. David said the rodeo & horse arena
(open) will be a different arena from the motor sports. David indicated that there

will be opportunity for pop sales, but the worn “huts” from the old fair grounds will not be acceptable for use at the new grounds. Mike reviewed the black-top aisle ways and discussed handicapped parking, drop off areas at the front gate, and toilet facilities. David added that the Fair Association spent a lot of time with a
Kentucky design firm to take all requirements into consideration into the design of the grounds and buildings. The layout is not completely final, but they did take all issues into consideration. David reiterated that the board is committed to working with Extension and they will continue to accommodate Extension programs. Laurel Dahl thanked the board members for attending our meeting.
At this time, the fair association guests exited the meeting.
Laurel Dahl thanked Margaret and her helpers for a wonderful meal.
4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: Laurel Dahl introduced the following guests as potential council members: Adrian Fosberg, recommended by Marie Caviness.
Larry Leafblad, stated his history goes back decades and is honored to be considered for council. Marian and Steve Martin, nominated by Jeanne Trampe,
Avni Patel, daughter of Kruti Patel. Newton and Nada Finn nominated by Kay
Doll. They described their involvement with the TOWN taskforce of Waukegan.
Newton stated the project could not have happened without the help of
Extension. Sarah Surroz, introduced by Kay Doll. Sarah is currently with the
Liberty Prairie Conservancy in an educational capacity.
Kay Doll introduced Larry Wilson. Larry will be the interim Director of Extension
Lake Co. as of May 1, 2008 at the time of Kay’s retirement. Larry described his involvement with U of I starting back in 1979.
5. COUNCIL MEMBERS SHARING: Nicole Wimberly described a number of honors she has received including the ITA Outstanding Community Service
Award Area III 2008, National Assoc. of Univ. Women Top Honors, Miss Top
Teen Award Area III 2008 and others. Nancy Clifton and Sharon Yiesla stated the education booth at the Flower & Garden Show at the Donald E. Stephens
Convention Center was very well attended this year. Nancy Clifton said she will be leading an Everlasting Wreath workshop on May 1 from 1-3pm at Extension.
Jeanne Trampe and Nancy Johannsen discussed some of the collaborative efforts ongoing with the Scholl Foot and Ankle school, and a program for diabetics with Highland Park. Todd Price stated his daughter is in her 1 st year with 4-H and participated in the rocketry workshop. He said it was great to see her come alive and show an interest in science because of this program. Marie
Caviness asked for volunteers to watch and critique her presentation of a new program she is putting together titled “Where Do You Want to Live When You
Grow Up?”. It is a course that provides information to people considering retirement, people with aging parents etc. The program is to educate on financial considerations, housing options, levels of retirement etc. Nancy Johannsen will send an email to council members once a date has been set for Marie’s practice session. There were several discussions with council members looking for summer job opportunities for their college age children.

6. COMMITTEE REPORTS: a. Extension Foundation. Kruti Patel reported. The foundation committee has finalized their mission, vision and guiding principle documents and is beginning to identify the program articulation. Kruti described how these formalized documents provide a strategy and basis for use in assisting us when we go out and try to procure funds. The committee will be working nights and some weekends to finalize these documents. b. Volunteer Committee. Nancy Johannsen reported. As evidenced by the number of potential new council members attending tonight, Nancy said the team has been working hard and thanked them for their work.
c. Marketing and Public Relations. Nancy Clifted reported slow progress on the video and power point presentations that will be used to promote
Extension. d. 4-H Expansion and Review. Vickie Brown reported. They have had several meetings but low attendance has slowed progress. As a requirement of the review, they do need youth participants.
7. OLD BUSINESS: a. Martha Padilla-Ramos asked if there had been any activity on her offer for using her “Welcome Center” facility for use to offer training to teachers for
CPU credits. Kay stated they have nothing at this time.
8. NEW BUSINESS:
a. Kay Doll received a letter of resignation from council member Kevin Bueso effective 3-18-08. Kevin thanked council for the experiences he received. b. Horticulture. Sharon Yiesla had a stack of postcards announcing the
Master Gardener Plant Sale on May 16, 2008 and asked members to distribute to groups they are associated with outside of council. She also had flyers available for the Hort Answers website. Sharon discussed the changes she has made to the Master Gardener library clinic program.
This year, the Master Gardeners will host 10 one-day Plant Clinics at libraries across Lake County. Master Gardeners will be available for 4 hours each day to answer garden questions, and diagnose homeowners gardening problems. Sharon also discussed a new program she is working on with Gardening Together and the Habitat for Humanity communities in Waukegan. Sharon talked about the program she is working on with Northpoint Resources in Zion, as another effort to serve different audiences within the county c. Youth. Vickie Brown reported on a number of activities. Passport to The
World judging was completed last week. There were eight clubs and 35 participants. The public presentation event was held with 7 clubs and 26 participants. The embryology course for Lake Co. teachers was completed last week with 126 participants. Eggs will be ready for pick-up on April 8 th . She expects to reach greater than 4000 students with this program. The youth involved in the after school program will be learning to sew. Vickie was pleased that her own previous Home Economics teacher (and Cynthia Alexander’s) came out of retirement to teach this program. d. Personnel Updates. Kay Doll indicated the interview process for replacing the part time FNP headcount is progressing well. Three interviewees are

currently shadowing a FNP employee to experience a typical day to give the applicants a clear idea of what the job entails. There are two additional candidates to be interviewed.
Larry Wilson stated University of Illinois is accepting applications for the
Director of Extension Lake Co until March 26, 2008.
Laurel Dahl presented an invitation to Kay Doll’s retirement celebration party on April 30, 2008 from 2-6pm at the extension office. e. Fair Opportunity. Nancy Johannsen passed around two lists asking for volunteers to signup to help with 4-H during fair week.
9. TRUST BUDGET UPDATE: Kay Doll presented details on the current state of the budget. Currently, it is 67% of the way through the year and 58% of the budget has been spent. The funding has not been released yet, so the match has not yet dropped into the budget. Contact Kay for budget details. Kay discussed impending fiscal challenges. All programs are being charged with implementing cost recovery measures, which translates to program fees.
Traditionally, programs have been offered free of charge.
10. UPCOMING PROGRAMS – MARK YOUR CALENDAR a. Master Gardener Plant Sale May 16, 2008 b. Lake County Fair, July 22-27, 2008
11. EXECUTIVE SESSION
No executive session.
12. ADJOURNMENT.
Laurel Dahl thanked Kay Doll for all she has done for the Extension. There was no further business. At 8:00 pm, a motion to adjourn was made by Annette
Schafer and seconded by Kruti Patel.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Spiewak
Extension Council Member
Secretary