LaPorte County Master Gardeners held their annual recognition meeting on Thursday, April 3, at Red Mill County Park. After a delicious meal at which members were invited to share their favorite dish, Dolly Foster, a fourteen year Master Gardener from Lake County, shared her passion for butterfly gardening. During her presentation, she gave an overview of the Monarch butterfly life cycle, the specie’s dependence on milkweed plants on which to lay eggs and raise young and her concerns over the reduced numbers of butterflies that annually migrate to Mexico to overwinter. Dolly explained that a diverse local garden planted in drifts or bunches of native and colorful cultivated flowers can attract up to 20 different species of butterflies during the bloom times of the flowers. Local Master Gardeners Jan Koss and Barb Merten are leading an educational project that incorporates a Monarch butterfly way station into their backyard landscaping.
Some of the projects for which Master Gardeners volunteered last year were: establishing a vegetable garden with residents at Sharing Meadows, Luhr Park Conservation Field Days for 5th graders, and growing spaces at several local schools that taught school children about gardening. Other projects included: 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 2013 the LaPorte County Master Gardeners volunteered over 3,500 hours “helping others grow” in LaPorte County, a benefit worth over $65,000 to the community.
During the meeting, Master Gardeners were recognized for their volunteer work and participation in education activities. A special award, the Golden Trowel, was presented to the Master Gardener who volunteered the most hours in 2013. That award went to Jan Manik of Chesterton, who worked on various projects through the year and volunteered a total of 271 hours as an intern. Jan credited her mentor, Donna Pouzar, a “seasoned” Master Gardener, who encouraged her to volunteer for “several projects to see what peaked her interests,” so she did!
Six interns from the 2013 Master Gardener class were recognized. Included were Tina DeWitt of Kingsbury; Debbie Moore, Donna Panozzo and Johanna Zangrilli, all of La Porte; Mary Davis of Michigan City; and Jeffrey Michaels of Union Mills.
Ten Master Gardeners were certified after completing at least 35 hours of volunteer service. Included were: Jan Manik of Chesterton; Lloyd Anderson, Pamela Coker and Susan Kieffer, all of La Porte; Rima Binder of Long Beach; Carl Drzewiecki, Mary Rooney, Stephen Zolvinski, all of Michigan City; Leslinda Leon of Mishawaka; and Jennifer Kuzdas of Rolling Prairie.
Three 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: Jan Manik of Chesterton; Ann Fletcher of La Porte and Stacy McGinnis of Grovertown.
Five individuals achieved the Bronze Master Gardener level, having donated at least 200 volunteer hours and attended a minimum of 60 hours of gardening classes. They included Corie Elliott of Beverly Shores; Jan Manik of Chesterton; Connie Shei of La Porte; Tina Sonderby of Long Beach; and Dennis Amm of Michigan City.
One hard-working gardener, Laurelle Miskowicz of La Porte, achieved the Silver Master Gardener level this year, having donated at least 500 volunteer hours and attended a minimum of 75 hours of gardening classes.
One individual, Marcy Dailey of Rolling Prairie, 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. Marcy was in the 1996 Master Gardener Class, the first held in La Porte County.
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/.