A newspaper clipping celebrating Arbor Day at Camp Grant Walker. Image: The Jena Times.
MG'er Merlyn Giltner with Barney Fife impersonator, Rik Roberts. Photo: Keith Hawkins, LSU AgCenter.
Linda & Matt Deshotel volunteering at the Alexandria Zoo.
New MG grads: Back row (left to right) Donna Rico, Vickie Miller, Donna Beaubouef, Judy Palin, Katherine Negrotto, DD Lamartiniere, Jan LeMoine, Sam Scalfano; kneeling, Gerald LaVergne, MG coordinators, Keith Hawkins, Dr. Mike Polozola. Photo: Bob Hines, Cenla MG’er
The Master Gardeners in the Central Region have been active and have grown in the Central Region. For example, three of the MG associations in the Central Region have created their own Facebook pages to help gardeners and homeowners with questions about horticulture.
These FB pages share horticultural articles from the LSU AgCenter in their respective communities, and visitors to these sites can share their questions and learn about their plants and landscapes.
The Grant LaSalle MG’ers celebrated Louisiana Arbor Day at Grant Walker 4-H Educational Center with a tree planting at the entrance of the Camp on January 28th. The MG’ers procured two donated trees, had a short ceremony and plant two Chinese pistache trees.
In Beauregard Parish, the MG’ers participated in the local National Night Out, August 2nd, an outreach event by the Beauregard Sheriff’s Office, and the theme for this event was “Mayberry comes to DeRidder”. The MG’ers were able to meet with people and answer their gardening questions. The MG’ers also signed up possible students for its next MG class in January 2023. The Beauregard MG’ers also had two plant sales and a booth at the Beauregard Parish Fair.
The Cenla MG’ers were extremely active with landscape designs & improvements at Forts Randolph and Buhlow State Historic Sites, Alexandria Zoological Park, Kent Plantation House, and demonstration gardens at the Rapides Extension Office.
The Master Gardeners of the Central Region were successful in recruiting new people to several MG classes. For the first time in about a decade, the Avoyelles Extension office in Mansura hosted a class with fourteen members. MG classes receive horticultural training in weeds, insects, plant diseases, turf, vegetables, ornamental plants, and other related topics.
At this writing, the Grant LaSalle MG’ers had an awesome recruitment season and now have sixteen people enrolled in the current class at Grant Walker 4-H Education Center. This class will finish in November 2022.
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