The History of Greater Grand Lake Beekeepers Association
In 2014 Tim Arheit the President of Ohio State Beekeepers Association contacted Mike Doseck to become involved with the Ohio State Beekeepers Association as a Regional Representative for the Top of Ohio District. At that time beekeepers in our area needed to drive to Troy, Ohio to the South (Miami Valley Beekeepers Association) or Pandora, Ohio to the North (Northwest Ohio Beekeepers Association). There were many beekeepers in the Grand Lake area with no local club to attend. The responsibility of establishing a club in this area was given to Mike.
Terry Lieberman-Smith Vice President of OSBA assisted in acquiring names and addresses of beekeepers in and around the Grand Lake area and adjacent counties. OSBA then provided funds for mailings to the local beekeepers with an invitation to attend a beekeepers meeting at the St. Marys Community Library. It was at that first meeting on May 20, 2014 that 23 people attended. Tim Arheit was our first guest speaker. Discussion was made on interest in having a regular beekeeping meeting and was determined to continue with meetings
The meetings were not held under an established club but were held with Mike Doseck serving as a leader and Carol Forsthoefel serving in a Secretary/Treasurer capacity. It was not until March 10, 2015 that the beekeeping group decided to form the club with the name of Greater Grand Lake Beekeepers Association. It was at this same meeting that Mike Doseck was elected as President, Ray Moeller was elected as Vice-President, and Carol Forsthoefel elected as Treasurer. There was no nomination or election of a Secretary and it was decided to elect a Secretary at the next meeting. Carol served as acting Secretary. At the next meeting on April 14, 2015, the Secretary position was filled by nominating and electing Damaris Murphy.
GGLBA held its 1st annual Beginning Beekeeping Class on March 28, 2015 at the Mercer County Civic Foundation in the Richardson-Bretz Memorial Building located in Celina, Ohio. The speaker was Dwight Wells who was the Top of Ohio District Director for OSBA. There were 18 attendees and the cost of the class was $55.00.
June 27, 2015 was scheduled to be the first Field Day and was to be held at Ray and Lynn Moeller’s on Tama Road located in Mendon, Ohio. Due to rain and bad weather the Field Day was moved to June 28.
An official constitution began with a discussion of the importance of a constitution and using a couple of examples provided by OSBA, a constitution was drafted and presented to the GGLBA Club members for a vote. The GGLBA proposed constitution was accepted by the membership on June 9, 2015. The Founding Members of the Constitution by a unanimous decision were: Matt Henschen, Brett Soucie, Bill Carpenter, Tom Hoffmaster, Dale Nester, Bob Hinschlager, Janet Haisley, Ron Stucke, Erwin Schulze, Mike Doseck, Carol Forsthoefel, and Ray Moeller.