Lenoir County Master Gardener Association held annual Awards and Achievement Banquet
Submitted by Barbara Sykes
Lenoir County Master Gardener Association (LCMGA) held their annual Awards and Achievement Banquet on December 13, 2022. Eight Master Gardeners (MGs) received a watering can pin for their first year of service, this included Nick Augostini, Sally Durst, Dirk Griffith, Rebecca Hill, Wanda Hill, Debbie Jones, Barbara Sykes, and Sandra Warren. Two MGs were celebrated and presented pins for their years of service, this included Barbara Baker (10 years) and Peggy Afarian (5 years.) Service award pins were also presented for total hours to MGs Marsha Lovick (1000 hours) and Barbara Sykes (250 hours). The LCMGA completed 1789.5 service hours and 399.75 continuing education hours for a total of 2189.25 hours. At $29.95 dollars per hour, the monetary value for our 20 active members totals $53,595.53.
Our Association awards up to three $300 mini-grants each fall. All teachers, media coordinators, and guidance counselors must complete an application and meet all guidelines to be considered. The grants are awarded during our achievement banquet in December. The purpose of the grants is to encourage creativity while effectively teaching horticulture. Johnna Modlin from Hope Preparatory School wrote her grant entitled “Soar: Saving Our Bees and Butterflies.” The project is aimed to reach students kindergarten through 5th grade. One main goal of this project is to guide students to investigate and research ways they can help endangered species of pollinators in Eastern NC by growing plants to attract these species.
The second recipient to receive our mini-grant this year, Rachel Hill, a 5th grade teacher at Northwest Elementary. The title of her project was “Refurbishing our Outdoor Classroom.” This is a continuation of the grant she received last year from us. The main goal is to replace some planters and purchase new flowers and vegetable seeds for the outdoor classroom already in place. Students will be integrating science, math, and writing skills during the duration of this project.
Finally, Brenda Griffin of Pink Hill Elementary’s mini-grant titled, “Munching and Crunching for Compost” will reach students in kindergarten though 5th grade. The goal of her project is to demonstrate material (some from the cafeteria) that can be recycled and composted to enrich the soils that will grow healthier plants. In addition, students will learn plant life cycles and the part they play in our environment. We look forward to following the progress of these projects and the impact it has on our students.
Planning for the year’s events has begun! Several community events are on our calendar, development of our Children’s Garden, as well as our Junior Master Gardener program (that takes place in the summer.) We are currently gearing up for our plant sale in April, as planning meetings and seed sharing has and continues to take place.
Lenoir County Master Gardeners (MGs) that attended our annual Awards and Achievement Banquet were presented with a certificate of their hour completions, pins earned, and coffee cup with our county LCMGVA logo and the watering can. MGs pictured include (back row, left to right) Lisa Dail, Margaret Butler, Rebecca Hill, Karen Mulcahy, April Houston, Dirk Griffith, (front row, left to right) Marsha Lovick, Pat Bizzell, Peggy Afarian, Jo Carroll, Barbara Sykes, and Debbie Jones. (Photograph courtesy of Paige Petticrew, Lenoir County Consumer Horticulture Agent)
Pat Bizzell (left) stands with grant recipient winner Ms. Rachel Hill and her husband at the beginning of the banquet. Ms. Hill was presented with her mini-grant winnings during the banquet. (Photograph courtesy of Paige Petticrew, Lenoir County Consumer Horticulture Agent)