LaPorte County Master Gardeners held their annual recognition meeting on Thursday, April 14, at Red Mill County Park. After a delicious meal at which members were invited to share their favorite dish, Jean Starr, a local writer, blogger and member of the Midwest Peony Society, shared her passion for peonies, Indiana’s state flower, to celebrate Indiana’s Bicentennial. Jean shared the history of the peony flower, how it came to be Indiana’s state flower and pictures of some of the 40 different peonies she has grown in her Northwest Indiana Garden.
Some of the projects for which Master Gardeners volunteered last year were: giving gardening presentations at Row Crop Ag Days, Luhr Park Conservation Field Days for 5th graders, and growing spaces at several local schools that taught school children about gardening. Other projects included: giving gardening presentations during their Brown Bag Luncheon Series, speaking to service clubs and other groups, demonstrating heirloom plantings at the Pioneer Heritage Garden at the LaPorte County Fairgrounds and assisting Habitat for Humanity partner families with landscaping their new homes. Altogether, in 2015 the LaPorte County Master Gardeners volunteered over 3,300 hours “helping others grow” in LaPorte County, a benefit worth over $75,000 to the community.
During the meeting, Master Gardeners were recognized for their volunteer work and participation in education activities. Eleven interns from the 2015 Master Gardener class were recognized. Included were Gary Miller and Carol Sloane of La Porte; Laura Henderson, Roxann Lucas, Estelle Pawloski and Wendy Shafer of Michigan City; Julie A. Goetz of Westville; Gayle Gross de Nùñez of Knox; Paula J. Nevers of Portage; Julia Ryan-Perkins of Valparaiso; and Juanita Hill of New Buffalo, MI.
Four Master Gardeners were certified after completing at least 35 hours of volunteer service. Included were: Ronald Faloon and Mary Freyer of Michigan City; Donna Vilser of Long Beach; and Jeffrey Michaels of Union Mills.
Six individuals were designated Advanced Master Gardeners after completing a total of at least 60 hours of volunteer service and attending a minimum 45 hours of gardening education activities. Those recognized as Advanced Master Gardeners were: Tina DeWitt of Kingsbury; Dan Blakley and Linda Weigel of La Porte; Mary Davis and Carl Drzewiecki of Michigan City; and Rubia Jasinevicius of New Buffalo, MI.
Five hard-working gardeners achieved the Bronze Master Gardener level this year, having donated at least 200 volunteer hours and attended a minimum of 60 hours of gardening classes. They included Pamela Coker, Russ Klosinski, Ralph Lerner and Linda Strain all of La Porte and Jen Kuzdas of Rolling Prairie.
One individual, Jan Manik of Chesterton, achieved the Silver Master Gardener level, having donated at least 500 volunteer hours and attended a minimum of 75 hours of gardening classes.
One individual, Loretta Pressel of Walkerton, has put in a tremendous amount of time to achieve Gold Master Gardener status having donated at least 1000 hours of volunteer time and attended a minimum of 100 hours of gardening education. Loretta was a member of the first Master Gardener Class back in 1996 and has worked on many projects over the past 20 years during her tenure as a Master Gardener.
The LaPorte County Master Gardener Association is one of the Purdue Cooperative Extension Service programs and helps fulfill the state motto of “Helping Others Grow” by training volunteers to promote good gardening and horticultural practices. The Association accomplishes this through its volunteers conducting educational activities and projects in the community throughout the year. For more information about the Master Gardener Program or about becoming a Master Gardener, please contact the LaPorte County Extension office at 219-324-9407 or visit www.ag.purdue.edu/counties/laporte and link to “Master Gardeners” or www.hort.purdue.edu/mg/.