by Keith C. Hansen, Extension Horticulturist
Master Gardeners Certify, Receive Awards
Smith County Master Gardeners, a volunteer program of Texas Cooperative Extension, celebrated 13 years of volunteer service to the people of Smith County during an awards and recognition program last week.
Over the last 13 years, Smith County Master Gardeners have volunteered 90,000 hours in many different educational and environmental projects, by helping gardeners, yardeners, and school children; working one on one answering questions at the Extension office; and helping groups through workshops, conferences, speaker’s bureau, demonstration gardens; school gardens; through publications and news articles; plus, many other activities.
In 2006 Smith County Master Gardeners volunteered 9594 hours and were involved in more than 20 different educational projects and programs. Based on values assigned by Independent Sector, (http://www.independentsector.org/programs/research/volunteer_time.html) a national coalition of leading nonprofits, foundations and corporations, and adjusted for Texas, the estimated dollar value of volunteer time in Texas is $13.56 per hour, making the Smith County Master Gardener program worth $130,000 to Smith County in 2006, through their involvement in so many educational programs and projects.
Master Gardeners throughout the State extend the capacity of local county Extension offices to deliver quality, research-based horticultural educational programs to citizens of the counties they serve. The Texas Master Gardener program continues to be the largest in the United States and leads the way with innovative projects to support this volunteer development program. The Smith County Master Gardener program is regularly held up as an exemplary model due to the quality and success of its programs.
At the luncheon last week, 14 volunteers earned the designation of Certified Texas Master Gardeners, after having completed an intensive training, and volunteering a minimum of 72 hours during a one-year period. Most put in well over the minimum required hours to become Master Gardeners, serving in various community educational projects and programs, and assisting horticulture programs conducted by the Smith County office of Texas Cooperative Extension.
Master Gardeners receiving certification included: from Tyler – Texie Cole, Harvey Collen, Connie Farrar, Debrah Golden, Luanne Harms, Cindy Harrington, Dorothy Hersey, Jan Moch, Julia Randolph, and Laura Taft; from Whitehouse – Donna Montgomery; from Lindale – Kathy Nelte; from Fint – Shirley Watson; and from HideAway – Jana Bowman.
Cindy Harrrington was awarded Master Gardener Intern of the Year for her commitment and dedication to the Smith County Master Gardener program during her first year of service. She also was also recognized as the Intern with Most Hours with 255 volunteer hours.
Don Davis of Henderson was awarded Master Gardener of the Year for his dedication, involvement and leadership in several Master Gardener projects and activities, including assisting with the annual Master Gardener training, Speakers Bureau presentations, Overton bedding plant research, past president of the Texas Master Gardener Association, and several other projects.
John Brasher was awarded Most Hours for 377 hours of service in 2006. Master Gardeners who volunteered over 200 hours in 2006 included Sue Adde, Patsy Besch, Anne Brown, Martin Davis, Susan Holloway, Bob Leffingwell, and Andie Rathbone. There were also 15 Master Gardeners who gave between 100 and 200 hours of their time to educational projects in 2006.
Other awards presented at the April 5th luncheon held at the Tyler Rose Garden Center included:
Project Award – given to Sherri Watts for her work with the Education Committee.
Youth Award – Jeanne Crotty and Mary Hamlin were recognized for their dedication and leadership in gardening with children through the Junior Master Gardener program.
New Initiative Award – Craig Reiland and Jean Watson were recognized for their roles in developing and coordinating a Tyler Rose Garden Tour Guide program.
Lifetime Award – Anne Brown was recognized for her many years of commitment, leadership and involvement in the Master Gardener program, including 2 terms as president, involvement in subject-matter specialist trainings, leadership in hosting the 2003 State Texas Master Gardener Conference, coordinating the Heritage Rose Garden project, plus involvement in many more projects and activities.
President’s Award – Sue Clark received this award given by Andie Rathbone, Smith County Master Gardener President, for her involvement, support and dedication to many of the ongoing Master Gardener projects and programs.
Rathbone also presented the Helping Hand Award to Linda Sargent for her commitment, dedication and involvement in the Smith County Master Gardener program, and a Special Award of Excellence to Martin Davis for his years of dedicated service to the Master Gardener program.
Mark Chamblee of Chamblee’s Rose Nursery was also recognized as Honorary Smith County Master Gardener for his strong support of the Master Gardener program and Texas Cooperative Extension.
Ninety-six (96) Smith County Master Gardeners recertified as Texas Master Gardeners by fulfilling the minimum requirements of providing volunteer hours and receiving continuing education credits in 2006.
Twenty-one (21) Master Gardener trainees finished the 2007 training last month, passed a written exam, and are now interns. They will have one year to donate a minimum of 72 hours to Texas Cooperative Extension horticulture programs to become certified Texas Master Gardeners.
Upcoming programs involving Smith County Master Gardeners include the IDEA Garden 1st Tuesday workshops on May 1 and June 5.
Applications for the next Master Gardener training, which will take place January through March 2008, will be available later this fall.
Keith Hansen is Smith County Horticulturist with Texas Cooperative Extension. His web page is http://EastTexasGardening.tamu.edu Texas Cooperative Extension educational programs are open to all individuals without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age or national origin.