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Our meeting for February should be a good one, so make every effort to be there!
Announcement
Chilton County Master Gardeners
Meet Our 2020 MG Class
Our 2020 MG Class got started yesterday with 20 enrollees! We are so excited about the vitality and interest of this group. I’m sure we will learn as much from them as they do from us. Stay tuned!
All About Gourds
For the first meeting of 2020, Chilton County Master Gardeners were treated to a program about gourds presented by Mack Gothard, President of the Alabama Gourd Society. Fellow ALGS member, James Stone, assisted Mack with the presentation. Tips on growing, harvesting and drying gourds were discussed. Gourds can be decorated in any way one can imagine using paint, woodburning, carving and more. Mack says the gourd “tells” you what it is and his usually become chickens! Many gourd varieties were on display as well as decorated gourds and musical instruments made from gourds.
March Gourd Madness will be held March 20 and 21 at the Chilton Performing Arts Center. http://www.marchgourdmadness.com
The Alabama Gourd Show will be held in Cullman in October. http://www.alabamagourdsociety.org
Mack Gothard Gourds come in all sizes! Assistant James Stone Beautiful, unusual examples Chicken gourds Strawberry gourds Eagle and watermelon gourds! Such talent! V. Pres. Charla Doucett presents speaker’s gift
2019 Christmas Home Tour
The Chilton County Master Gardeners 2019 Christmas Home Tour is now history. But what a Tour it was!! Records were broken in the number of tickets sold.
Speaking of history, the Tour this year was held in the historic town of Verbena, Alabama. The tour included the homes of Pat Barefield, Vivian & Dalvin Johnson, Elaine & Arnold McDaniel, Janine & Chris Speaks and Verbena United Methodist Church. Each of these locations has its own piece of Verbena history. Many guests had grown up in the area or had relatives in Verbena. Other guests were most interested in seeing the homeowners’ various decorating styles. Each house and the Church had its own style of decoration, each unique and beautiful. Guests surely gained great ideas for their own seasonal decorating.
CCMGA is grateful to the people of Verbena for the excitement and exceptional cooperation displayed. With every Christmas Home Tour, one of the best parts is the new friendships we establish. This year was no different! Thanks to all the Master Gardeners, the homeowners, and Verbena United Methodist Church for making this event such a great success!
Article by Alice Broome
Photos by Audrey Giles
Congratulations Sondra Henley!
Sondra Henley has become our association’s first master gardener to obtain her Advanced Master Gardener Certification. Her advanced certification subject is Composting. In order to become certified, Sondra developed and completed a plan of specific requirements which included continuing education, volunteer time and presentations. This effort takes lots of self-motivation and commitment. Congratulations Sondra Henley!
Dr. Mitchell and Camellias
Our Chilton County Master Gardeners enjoyed an educational talk on “The Camellia, Celebrate the State Flower” presented by Dr. Charles Mitchell. Dr Mitchell is known to most Master Gardeners in this state as the Soils teacher for the MG Program. Recently retired from Auburn University, he still teaches Master Gardener Soils classes and is very involved in the Auburn-Opelika Men’s Camellia Club. We learned about the origin of camellias and tips on caring and propagting them. The lovely blooms brought from his garden varied from white to pink to red and were a treat to see. The Auburn-Opelika Men’s Club has searched for camellias with names connected to Auburn and have also named a few in honor of Auburn University. “Sweet Auburn” was named by the club and was given as a door prize to one lucky MG.
Our elections were held and congratulations go to our new 2020 Officers:
President: Susan Cleckler
Vice-President: Charla Doucet
Treasurer: Audrey Giles
Secretary: Elizabeth York
Fair Judging
Six Chilton County Master Gardeners along with three St. Clair County Master Gardeners spent November 4 judging Shelby County Fair entries. What fun it is to see and judge the entries: photographs, paintings, ceramics, sewing, quilts, crochet, knitting, canned vegetables, jellies, produce, plants and more. Items were entered by adults, senior adults and children in three age categories. Best of all was taste testing the baked goods including cakes, pies, and cookies. The most difficult part is selecting the Best of Show! Photos by Susan Cleckler
Elmore County MG Interns visit Demo Garden
On October 17, the Elmore County Master Gardener Intern class visited the Chilton County Demonstration Garden. On hand to share information and answer questions were Master Gardeners Harriett Jackson, Sondra Henley, and Betsy Smith. Also present was one of the first to sign up for our 2020 Master Gardener Class, Gail Brooks. Photos by Betsy Smith
Working hard pays off!
Chilton County Master Gardeners are pretty proud of their accomplishment of hosting the 2019 AMGA Conference this past May at Clanton Performing Arts Center. They worked hard, learned a lot, and had a “little” left over at the end! Photo by Audrey GIles.
Christmas Home Tour is Back!
Our Christmas Home Tour is BACK! We are excited to present these homes for the tour this year. Verbena is just down the road (Highway 31, South) and all the homes are in the same area. Also a new item this year is a tour of the historic Verbena United Methodist Church.
Tickets may be purchased from Chilton County Extension Office, 205-280-6268 and at the homes the day of, but not at the church. Advance tickets are $15.00, the day of- $20.00.
All homes are in Verbena. The directions are printed on the tickets and there will also be directional signs to guide you through the tour.
So buy your tickets today from a Master Gardener or go by the Chilton County Extension Office and pick them up. You can help us out by also picking up a few to sell to all your friends and relatives. This is a big fund raiser for us and always lots of fun to boot!
