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Master Gardeners celebrate 30 years of service By JANET B. CARSON Special to the Democrat-Gazette Posted: October 20, 2018 at 1:50 a.m.  Thomas Metthe Credit: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Henrietta Norman of Hot Springs stops to sniff the roses — which at P. Allen Smith’s Moss Mountain Farm actually smell like roses — during the 30th birthday celebration for the Arkansas Master Gardeners on Oct. 13. More than 1,100 Arkansas Master Gardeners from across the state celebrated 30 years of their thriving horticultural volunteer program by gathering Oct. 13 at Moss Mountain Farm in Roland. It is hard to believe that this big program of the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture's Cooperative Extension Service began Oct. 13, 1988, as a mere seed: 40 eager trainees from four counties. Today, Master Gardeners has more than 3,400 members in 67 counties. To celebrate the 30th anniversary, registered Master Gardeners began entering the gates of Moss Mountain Farm in Roland at 8:30 a.m. They spent the day touring the gardens, visiting and questioning horticulturists, having their pictures taken with the farm's owner and multimedia star P. Allen Smith and, of course, eating -- a barbecue lunch from Whole Hog Cafe NLR and a cake from Blue Cake Co. For this event, county agents and other extension system staff members and their friends were the volunteers who catered to the Master Gardeners. They did everything from checking folks in and passing out portfolios and calendars to shuttling their guests around the farm in golf carts. An area 4-H club was on hand, selling pumpkins to raise money for a national 4-H trip for its members. The weather was cool and rain threatened, but the rain held off until right after lunchtime. Then it rained. Some hardy gardeners continued touring, while others had already seen the gardens and headed home. (a) (b) (c) (a) Photo by Thomas Metthe Rita Clark of Charlotte tours the gardens of Moss Mountain Farm with other Master Gardeners who were celebrating their program’s 30th birthday. (b) Photo by Thomas Metthe Arkansas Master Gardener Heidi Haskins snaps a photo of the celebratory cake during the delicious portion of the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service program’s birthday gathering Oct. 13. (c) Photo by Thomas Metthe Master Gardeners saw the wisdom in this brick folly at Moss Mountain Farm set in a garden of antique roses Read the entire article at http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2018/oct/20/still-growing-20181020/
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