DUQUOIN, Ill. – Two DuQuoin residents were recently honored with state awards at the 2023 Illinois Master Gardener State Conference. Pam Swallers received the State Outstanding Master Gardener Award and  Mary Jo Novak received the State Master Gardener Sustained Excellence Award.

Master Gardeners are more than just gardening enthusiasts. They are trained horticultural experts who serve their communities through service projects and the delivery of educational programs. As local volunteers, Swallers and Novak are actively involved with the Perry County 4-H program. They have helped with many youth development activities related to horticulture and the environment.

The State Outstanding Master Gardener Award was established to honor the best of Illinois Master Gardeners whose breadth and depth of involvement in the program is exemplary. Only the top two percent of active Master Gardeners in the state are recognized with this award annually.  The State Master Gardener Sustained Excellence Award recognizes previous State Outstanding Master Gardener Award winners who have continued to develop their Master Gardener careers with new responsibilities and initiatives.

Swallers organized Master Gardener volunteers to enhance the Blue Star Memorial at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds. She encourages teamwork in our projects, such as the Tree Identification tagging project in Keyes Park in Du Quoin and the Legacy Tree Planting, a project initiated by the Governor to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds. She helped develop a local seed library, a project that received the Master Gardener Team Award. Swallers is especially active in program development for educational gardening activities for children, such as Kids in the Park, Club Digs, and the Atoms Family Science Club.

Novak is a previous recipient of the State Outstanding Master Gardener Award and has been a Master Gardener volunteer for over two decades. She has logged over 800 volunteer hours, including work on a rain garden, pollinator bed, fairy garden, herbarium project, and "lasagna garden," which won a Master Gardener Team Award. She regularly leads informative pop-up programs at the DuQuoin State Fair and Conservation Fair and helped implement the "Ask A Master Gardener" information table at the newly revived Du Quoin Farmers Market.

At the Du Quoin Public Library, she is working on a project to develop an outdoor area for young readers. The area will be used for reading, gardening demonstrations, and nature explorations. Novak has held several leadership roles, including service on the State Master Gardener Advisory Board, President of Perry County Master Gardeners, an officer in the Southern Illinois African Violet Group, and the Du Quoin Garden Club.

Horticulture Educator Kim Rohling noted that the awards are given to a very small percentage of volunteers annually.

"We appreciate Mary Jo and Pam's work as Master Gardener volunteers," said Rohling. "Their longevity in the program and service to their community is unmatched."

The mission of the University of Illinois Extension Master Gardener program is "helping others learn to grow." From farms and small towns to suburbs and the inner city, more than 2,600 volunteers statewide put their mission of helping others learn to grow into practice by providing gardening education and outreach in their communities.

Swallers and Novak received their awards at the Master Gardener Annual Conference during the first week of September in Peoria. To learn how to be a Master Gardener volunteer in your community, visit: extension.illinois.edu/mg.