Recent Community Projects
Homestead Apple Fest
August 25-26 2021
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We offered a childrens craft opportunity at this annual event. The craft was a rendition of a dragon fly and our booth included information on this insect including its helpful characteristics. The children created over 500 of these clip-on crafts. The project was headed by Vicki May and funded by Erin Fletcher. Several MGs helped in setting up and manning the booth.
Saturday, October 9th 2021
Childrens Pumpkin Painting
Class lead by Vicki May
What a beautiful day for painting pumpkins in the outdoor classroom.
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We had 14 children who brought their favorite adults out for an afternoon of fun. Master Gardeners, as usual, made this a perfect community outreach event.
Thank you to Rhoda Hiller for creating this event and providing the materials. Since she had to quarantine she couldn't participate (we know she was there in spirit cheering us on).
A big thank you to the following Master Gardeners for helping make this a great success:
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Vicki May, Agnes Bosze, Linda Ferris, Connie Taylor, Elaine Peters, and Sue Partch.
Thank you to Ernie Wood for getting the pumpkins from the field and cleaning them, and helping with setting up tables and chairs. And, thank you to P.R.E.C. (Walt and crew, Shalena, and Jennifer) for providing the pumpkins, taking class registrations, and all the support they give Master Gardeners.
October 28, 2021
Bird Seed Wreaths & Logs
Fundraiser for the UT Gardens-Crossville
Several CMG members volunteered to make bird seed wreaths and Birdy Butter logs for a fundraiser for the UT Gardens - Crossville / Plateau Discovery Garden. This awsome group created 30 wreaths in this session. We will need many more, but this is a great start. Looks like fun, too.
March 15, 2022
Bluebird Houses
Master Gardeners Rhoda Hiller, Linda Glenn, Maureen Gries, Connie Taylor, Connie Farley, Sue Maruska, Julia Wood, Linda Ferris, Agnes Bosze, and Susan Partch painted these bluebird houses for the UT Gardens - Crossville. These refurbished bluebird boxes, mailbox, and garden sign are sure to add some charm to the Gardens!
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August 27, 2022
"Gardens in a Bag" with Convoy of Hope
Master Gardeners Ron Drechnik, Jan Rice and Alan Baker joined several community volunteers for the Convoy of Hope event in Crossville. The booth was "Gardens in a Bag" and the mission was to encourage low-income families to try small scale vegetable gardening. We made up 750 bags with 8 heirloom seed packets and a two page guide for small scale gardening and local assistance opportunities. The overall event attracted some 1,700 people and we talked with over 600 families in the process of distributing some 720 bags.
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October - November, 2022
Bird Seed Wreath Creation
Fundraiser for the UT Garden-Crosssville
Several MG's volunteered to create bird-seed wreaths and logs for sale as a fundraiser for the UT Garden - Crossville. This was organized and managed by Vicki May
Veterans Parade 11/5/22
Organized by Connie Farley, a few MG's braved the cold and windy weather to help honor our local veterans and active duty military. We were one of about 55 groups in the parade.
Pinecone Birdfeeder Class
February 20, 2023
We had a small but eager group of youngsters come to this Saturday event.
They learned a little about our backyard birds and their needs. They learned about the pinecones, their seeds and the trees that produced them. We had super-sized pinecones from Long-leafed pine that grow in coastal NC (thanks to Sid Morgan), and smaller pinecones from Eastern White pine gathered at PDG.
Everyone, including the enthusiastic adults, joined in to coat the NC pinecones in a peanutbutter/lard/masa mixture and a birdseed as their prize take home "birdfeeder". Then everyone made another "birdfeeder" with the pinecones of the Eastern White pine and hung them in the redbud trees in the Garden. Fun was had by all, including hosts and helpers Master Gardeners/Interns Sue Partch, Rosie Drechnik, Patti Smith, Andrea Capannola, and Tony Capannola.
