For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Brenda Dahlfors
Program Coordinator
815-338-3737
McHenry County U of I Extension Master Gardeners Give Honors
(10 year volunteers, left to right: Mary L. Uccello, Barb Kosterzewski, Walt and Marge Sterrett, Dale Nelmes, Jan Jetel and Linda Popp.)
More than 100 attendees of the McHenry County University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners’ annual recognition banquet in Huntley recently honored the volunteers’ achievements. In 2019, 131 Extension Master Gardener volunteers logged more than 8,700 hours serving more than 2,000 clients providing research-based, unbiased information about home gardening and other botanical topics. The monetary value of these collective volunteer hours would amount to more than $222,000 in salary costs.
(2019 Graduates left to right: MaryBeth Yuk, Pam Marelic, Sue Sydlo, Mary Hubert, Donna Griffith, Chris English, Suzie Morrissey, Edyta Greczyzek, Deb Churan, Joan Jensema, Judy Gallagher, Iza Celewicz, Doug Moore, Marcie Beck, Cathy Klink, Sheelagh Cooke, Pat O’Brien and Karen Liston.)
Twenty volunteer “interns,” members who joined the group this year and took the intensive multi-week training module, were honored for “graduating” and becoming trained and certified Extension Master Gardeners. They also were required to give 60 hours of volunteer service.
Thirty additional EMGs were recognized for volunteering more than 100 hours each during the course of the year.
(Century Club left to right: Mary Hubert, Jackie Fichter, Sue Sydlo, Linda Popp, MaryBeth Yuk, Jan Jetel, Betty Snyders, Suzie Morrissey, Joan Jensema, Caro Lyn Whaples, Doug Moore, Karen Liston, Dale Nelmes, Chris English, Judy Gallagher, Peggy Lackman, Karen Hattan, Jerry Gudauskas, Ann Huetter, Agnes Burkus, Mary L. Uccello and Ray Thornton.)
In addition, one Extension Master Gardener, Ed Schuckert, was noted for being a McHenry County EMG for 25 years. Eleven other people earned their 10-year volunteer pins.
As the EMG volunteers gathered in the ballroom at Jamesons Charhouse in Huntley on Dec. 8, they reminisced about the accomplishments of 2019 and recalled the various projects, major events, horticulture classes, community programs, and thousands of client interactions within the community.
(Jan Jetel and Lou Emmons)
This winter, the McHenry County Extension Master Gardeners will be available for walk-in clients in their office at 1102 McConnell Road in Woodstock on Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to noon. You can also ask garden-related questions by calling 815-338-3737 or emailing uiemg-mchenry@illinois.edu.
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The University of Illinois Extension McHenry County Master Gardeners consist of about 150 volunteers. The mission of an Extension Master Gardener is to share unbiased, reliable, research-based information with home landscapers and gardeners, as well as to encourage people to enjoy gardening and vegetable growing. Contact the McHenry County Extension Master Gardeners at 1102 McConnell Road, P.O. Box 1430, Woodstock, IL 60098, phone 815-338-3737 or visit web.extension.illinois.edu/lm. University of Illinois Extension provides equal opportunities in programs and employment. If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in this program, please contact the McHenry County Extension office at 815-338-3737.
University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences — United States Department of Agriculture — Local Extension Councils Cooperating