MMSA General Membership Meeting
Fall Tour -Sept. 26, 1998

The 1998 Fall Tour General Membership meeting was called to order by President John Anton at 12:55 PM, September 26, 1999. The Secretary's Report was accepted as printed in the Fall Newsletter. The Treasurer's Report was presented by Larry Haigh and accepted.

Committee Reports:

Legislative: Mary Douglass reviewed the "maple cream" issue and reported that MDA is content to allow us to continue to market maple cream as we have in the past. However, Mary did caution that this did not guarantee that this would always be the case as MDA refrained from issuing a final ruling on the matter.

Fall Tour: Larry Haigh reported that the 1999 Fall Tour will be in the Ogemaw County area, and would be hosted by Ron Thomas of Ron's Pure Maple Syrup. The 2000 Fall Tour would be held in the Lapeer County area, and would be hosted by Craig and Sandra Arnold of Arnold's Sugar Bush.

Syrup Contest: Terry DeLoughary reviewed the rules and procedure for the contest and asked for two volunteers to help with the contest at the annual meeting.

Annual Meeting: John Anton reported that the annual meeting would be again held at the Doherty Hotel in Clare on the 23rd of January, 1999.

Promotion Committee: Brian Vissers presented the new banner that was developed with matching MDA funds for the State Fair. The banner is available for use by members. He also reported that the video project was slowed by the unusual weather of the 1998 season and will not be completed until after the 1999 season. The committee has entered into a project With a Lansing Community.