The Denton County Master Gardener Association officially certified 25 new volunteers into the organization during a recent graduation ceremony and dinner sponsored by the Texas AgriLIFE Extension Service. This brings the total number of active Denton County Master Gardeners to 145.
The newly certified Master Gardeners spent 2009 as interns. Each was required to complete 70 hours of intense horticultural training, plus a minimum of 70 hours of community service on behalf of the Denton County horticultural program through Texas AgriLIFE Extension last year. Members of the class exceeded that minimum requirement, donating a total of 2,543 service hours to a wide range of projects, including the Master Gardener Help Desk; the Denton County Fruit, Vegetable, Herb and Flower Show; the Children’s Community Garden; a spring garden tour and plant sale; Fall InfoFest and several gardening programs that complemented the curricula of classes in both Denton and Lewisville ISD. Last year, the entire Master Gardener Association, including the interns, gave 10,287 of volunteer hours to the community.
The newly inducted volunteers are Natasha Pierson, Martin Richards, Shirley Singer, Marty Wall, Marty Wingo, Janie Cindric, Tom Cindric, Donald Weir and Imogene Weir, all of Denton; Lori Fagerquist, Andrea Milton, Kris Robinson, all of Flower Mound; Mary Morris, Diane Allmand and Diana McMillin of Highland Village; Ana Thompson, Dolores Payne and Kere Post all of Argyle; Ellen Robinson of The Colony; Mary Karish of Coppell; Laurel Wallace of Crossroads; Katy Bell of Aubrey; Susan Loos of Lewisville; Jenny Frei of Double Oak, and Pat Pape of Copper Canyon.
During the ceremony, several association members were recognized for exceptional service on behalf of Denton County gardens and service to citizens. These were Jenny Estes and Mary Morrow, Project Manager Awards; Martin Richards and Susan Loos, Intern Project Manager Awards; Monique Goodhart, Special Merit Award; Diana McMillin, Intern Special Merit Award; Joan Stanley, Long-Term Service Award; Donna Wolfe and Myrna Engle, Lifetime Member Awards, and Carolyn Tinner, Executive Board Award. Dennis Smith, owner of Dennis Feed Store in Denton, was honored as a community partner of DCMGA for his support of the goals and efforts of the organization.
The Denton County Master Gardener program is an education and volunteer initiative affiliated with the Texas Master Gardener Association and Texas AgriLIFE Extension within Texas A&M University. The program is designed to increase the availability of horticultural information and extend horticultural projects in Denton County through training and volunteer efforts.
For more information about the Denton County Master Gardener program, visit www.dcmga.com.
