Paulding County Master Gardener Extension Volunteers and Community Partners Recognized for Accomplishments

Paulding County UGA Extension Master Gardener Volunteers recently recognized Christen Thomas as Paulding County Master Gardener of the Year as well as the Robert Cabrera of Keep Paulding Beautiful and Tom Liles of Paulding County High School FFA as the Friends of Master Gardeners at their Annual New Beginnings Celebration Dinner.
Chosen by her fellow Paulding County Master Gardener Extension Volunteers, Christen Thomas was awarded the coveted title of Master Gardener of the Year for 2019. Christen has volunteered in many Extension activities in 2019 and has many attributes that make the Master Gardener Group stronger at what they do. Christen is creative, fun, and can make learning, digging plants, or selling plants seem like a party! She has helped establish our online presence and made Paulding County Master Gardener Marketing a priority, helping us to create a beautiful County Association Logo, and always looking for ways to increase our outreach and make our mark. This year Christen led us to our most successful plant sale in our organizational history. The award was presented by previous MG of the Year Award Winners, Robert Banks and Marcia Riley.
Robert Cabrera and Tom Liles each received the Friend of Master Gardener award at the Master Gardener Awards Program, as well. The Friend of Master Gardener recognition is awarded to Community Partners who collaborate with Master Gardeners to conduct successful programming.
Robert Cabrera has been instrumental in our collaborations, helping us to coordinate spring and fall beautification projects and connecting us to other collaborators. Robert is a champion of working as a team to get things done. His positivity and enthusiasm are a gift to our community and our organization.
Tom Liles has worked with us the past few years to provide plants grown locally by his Paulding County High School FFA students for our plant sale. He has helped us with details of many projects and is a great advocate for agriculture in our community.
We are proud to call Robert and Tom Friends of Paulding County Master Gardener Extension Volunteers.
Paulding County Master Gardener Extension Volunteers and Paulding County UGA Extension are grateful for these vibrant volunteers and community partners and their continued service in the community!
As representatives of the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, Master Gardener Extension Volunteers are trained experts, who provide education about home horticulture, sustainable landscaping, and environmentally-friendly gardening practices using unbiased, research-based information from the University of Georgia.
You can apply to become a Master Gardener Extension Volunteer! Classes for the 2020 Master Gardener Extension Volunteer Training will be held in Paulding, Cherokee and Bartow Counties. Classes will take place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:00am until 3:00pm from June 1 through June 26, 2020. Applications are now available at our office and on our webpage, www.ugaextension.org/paulding and will be accepted until 5:00pm on March 27, 2020. Class details, volunteer commitment specifications and fees are included in the application materials. For more information on gardening in Paulding, contact a Master Gardener or the County Extension Agent at the Paulding County Cooperative Extension Office at 770-443-7616 or check us out online at www.ugaextension.org/paulding.

Bob Banks and Marcia Riley present Christen Thomas with the Master Gardener of the Year Award. Mary Carol Sheffield, CEC, recognized Robert Cabrera, Keep Paulding Beautiful as a Friend of Master Gardeners with help from Christen Thomas, MGEV. Mary Carol Sheffield, CEC, recognized Tom Liles, Paulding County High School FFA as a Friend of Master Gardeners with help from Christen Thomas, MGEV.