Elections for 2023 & 2024
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Positions on the Ballot at the end of an even year ... Officers assume their positions on the 1st of January.
AGS Officers and Board Members hold offices for 2 years and one-half of the offices are elected/re-elected every year. The biennial elections being held Fall 2022 are for the 2023 & 2024 years and the offices include President, 1st Vice President, Secretary & 2 Directors-At-Large. The candidates presented below are being presented in alphabetical order by last name. The vote can be done online or by mailing in the ballot on this page (or the copy in the Winter issue of The Gourd Magazine).
President: Vote for Reagan Bitler or Write-In an Alternate President Candidate. Reagan Bitler, Pennsylvania (Incumbent)Reagan Bitler resides in Hanover, Pennsylvania and has worked as a public school teacher for the past 30 years. He has served as President of the American Gourd Society for the past three and a half years. Prior to being elected to this position, he served as President of the Pennsylvania Gourd Society for five years. Reagan has been creating works of art and craft with gourds for more than a decade. He currently operates a studio space and gallery in York, Pennsylvania and is a co-founder of the Collective Rogue Arts, a South Central PA artists collective. Prior to founding the Collective Rogue Arts, he served in the position of President with the Yorktown Craft Guild located in York, PA. 1st VP President: Vote for Judi Fleming or Write-In an Alternate 1st VP Candidate. Judi Fleming, North Carolina (Incumbent) Judi Fleming has been doing gourd folk art and fine art for nearly 30 years and loves to share her knowledge of this versatile vegetable. She is currently the President of the North Carolina Gourd Society and 1st Vice President of the American Gourd Society and is both an AGS certified Judge and Judge Trainer. She teaches gourd classes to a wide variety of audiences all along the east coast including gourd festivals, garden club, church group, Boy and Girl Scouts, fairs, and historic sites. Judi has won many best of shows at gourd festivals, fairs and fine art shows and loves creating with gourds. Secretary: Vote for Terry Noxel or Write-In an Alternate Secretary Candidate. Terry Noxel, New York (Incumbent) Terry Noxel is the incumbent AGS Secretary, a position she has held since 2019. She is also the AGS webmaster, magazine coordinator and author of AGS monthly newsletter. In the past Terry has been AGS Treasurer and Ads Manager. She is a past-president of PA and NYS gourd societies and actively participates in the PA gourd society and the NY Pepo Patch. Terry’s life philosophy can be described as “when you see something that needs to be done, be part of the team that does something about it.” This can be seen in action as she serves on numerous AGS committees, including Judging, Jim Story Award and Chapter Relations. Terry also completes a monthly review and audit in coordination with the Treasurer and the Membership Secretary. She is also one of the AGS Facebook moderators, manages several web-based applications for AGS and is the “Girl Friday” for other AGS officers and programs. Director 3: Vote for Madonna Watermon, or Write-In an Alternate Director Candidate. Madonna Watermon, Missouri (Incumbent) Madonna is the current president of the Missouri - Show Me Gourd Society. She became entranced with gourd art a dozen years ago after seeing gourd art at Branson, Missouri. She began her own journey into gourd art forthwith. Madonna is an accomplished gourd artist and her artwork has graced the cover of The Gourd magazine. She idolizes Bill Decker and is greatly inspired by his pyrography and carving. The challenge of carving has made her become a better artist. Madonna has been a valued member of the AGS board these past two years adding valuable insights in meetings. Her dedication to the AGS is shown in her faithful attendance at all the meetings, work on committees, and in her steady promotion of AGS at gourd shows including the Show Me Gourd Festival. Madonna’s background includes work as an RN in a surgical unit where she further developed her native empathy. She brings this great gift to bear in meetings and casual interactions. She is a great asset to the AGS board. Director 4: Vote for Marla Garber or Write-In an Alternate Director Candidate. Marla Garber, Texas (New) Marla has been a gourd artist for 25+ years and currently is the President of the very active Dallas Gourd Patch in Dallas, Texas. She started out making gourd birdhouses that look like little cottages using information from all the books she could find. The rest is history. After about 15 years she started experimenting with the art form. Her sister-in-law gave her 2 snake gourds, she accepted the challenge, and won the People’s Choice Award at the 2016 Lone Star Gourd Festival in New Braunfels, TX with the Cobra she made. Marla has won many ribbons since 2016. She then started teaching classes at different gourd festivals, on Zoom and in person classes locally. Participating in demos at the Dallas Arboretum in the Fall as part of the Dallas Gourd Patch. Marla's favorite part of gourding is traveling to the festivals, teaching and sharing tips. She loves that this venture through the gourd world includes her family. This helps to keep our gourd-addiction strong. Her husband, Doug, is a supply vendor. Their sons help with proofreading her tutorials, and help run the booth. They help carry her supplies to her classes and check and to make sure if students need anything. Plus, they will build stands for her when needed. She hopes to continue contributing to the gourd world for many years to come. |
How to Vote:
or To vote by mail
Nominating Committee
Lollie Yancey, AZ Celia Shaneyfelt, TN Debbie Wilson, SC Teller Committee AGS Officers Dallas Lunsford, IN Positions that are on the Ballot
President 1st Vice President Secretary Director 3 Director 4 |