Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
2 from Lincoln get Master Gardener awards
LINCOLN — A Lincoln resident and a retired Lincoln coach and teacher received two of the awards handed out this year by the Washington County Master Gardeners.
Judy Cohea of Lincoln was named the 2021 Rookie of the Year and Jim Sposato, retired from Lincoln Consolidated School District, was named 2021 Mentor of the Year.
The awards were announced at the organization’s February meeting, held via Zoom because of covid-19 concerns.
Cohea did not expect an award and said she was “honored and humbled” that Sposato, her mentor, nominated her for the Rookie of the Year award.
“I was very surprised because there are just so many wonderful new gardeners out there,” Cohea said.
Cohea learned about the Master Gardeners program through Sposato while helping with the Lincoln Community Garden. Sposato recommended she enroll in the program and she said she took him up on it.
Cohea, who is retired from the city of Fayetteville and the Fayetteville Police Department after more than 39 years, said she took the master gardeners course online during fall 2020. The course work involved online classes and a test on each section. An overall test was given at the end of the course.
In addition to the class instruction, trainees in the program are required to volunteer 40 hours on a master gardeners project in Washington County to be certified as a master gardener.
Many of Cohea’s volunteer hours were spent at the Lincoln Community Garden and with landscaping for the Elkins Community Center.
Cohea said she likes the master gardener program because it is so diversified.
“You get a little bit of everything about plants, trees and shrubs. It’s not just gardening. It’s also flowers and design,” she said.
The program also has education classes on pruning techniques, disease, different types of grasses and trees and herbs.
“You learn how to spot problems and what to do about them,” Cohea said. “You learn how to plant and fertilize. It’s a well-rounded program.”
Sposato, who coordinates the Lincoln Community Garden, has been a mentor for many years. He said it’s easy being a mentor with good students. He said he likes to find out what his trainees are interested in and then help them develop that.
Colin Massey, Washington County extension agent for horticulture, said the Rookie of the Year award is given to a first-year master gardener. The program presently has 250 master gardeners and 19 sanctioned projects.
Anyone interested in being a master gardener first must submit an application to become a member. A membership committee will conduct interviews of the eligible candidates. Massey said the committee wants to make sure those going through the program understand there’s a time commitment.
The county extension staff and others provide 40 hours of horticulture education for the initial training and the students agree to volunteer 40 hours during the next year on a sanctioned project. To continue in the program, master gardeners volunteer 20 hours per year on a sanctioned project and have 20 hours of continuing education per year.
The Rookie of the Year honoree is someone who has gone above and beyond the basic requirements, Massey said.
Anyone in the program can nominate other master gardeners for the annual awards. The Awards Committee reviews the nominations and selects winners based on the admissions, Massey said.
All those who received the 2021 awards will be eligible for state awards given by Arkansas Master Gardeners.
“Judy was a great help at the Lincoln garden, especially with watering during the summer,” Massey said. “She also helped with harvesting vegetables and donated some of her own money to help.”
He added that the form nominating Cohea for the award said she was “essential to the success of the Lincoln Community Garden.”
Mentors are important to the program, Massey said, because they act as a “buddy” for their trainees.
“This is a friend they can have and someone to reach out to if they don’t understand something.”
The mentor acts as a sounding board, helps trainees learn about all the sanctioned projects and explains the program, Massey said.
Massey said Sposato has been a mentor for someone almost every year.