Despite the threat of hurricane Rita, Plants, Birds & Elephants proceeded on Saturday, September 24th without a hitch.  Vendors and volunteers began eagerly arriving at LISDOLA at 7:30 a.m. and the location was abuzz with activity.  By 9:00 a.m. we were ready for the arrival of our first customers.  For the most part, the skies remained overcast and there was a constant breeze with an occasional gust, making the temperatures comfortable.  Thanks to Linda Krimm and her trusty bunch of plant sale helpers, we watched wheelbarrows of sold plants leave the parking lot in a steady stream.  Janet Gershenfeld started off our day by presenting a lecture on Companion Planting with Roses.  While her group was small, Janet said the group was very attentive to her lecture and had lots of questions.  Myrna Engle was loaded down with books and binoculars as she lead a group on a birding/wildflower hike.  Fay Saxinger and Selena Schindler presented the second lecture of the day on Fire Wise Gardening.  By 11:30, there was quite a crowd at LISDOLA and Susan Randolph presented a hands-on demonstration and lecture on Container Gardening.  At 12:15, Myrna was back on the trails again guiding another group.  Janet, with the assistance of Joan Stanley, was back in the classroom at 12:30 for her second presentation of the day on Fall Colors in the Landscape.  Joeann Stahel drove all of the way in from her lake house in Bonham to lecture on Landscaping with Natives.  Selena Schindler and her group hawked MG merchandise all day while Carolyn Tinner and her assistants manned the White Elephant table.  Liz Gould and Shelli Stone presented our youngest visitors with a hands-on JMG activity.  Rica Potenz and Diane Wetherbee gave guided tours of the LISDOLA gardens and answered questions about the history of LISDOLA and its gardens.  Carol Fitch and her volunteers handed our landscaping/gardening publications from the extension office and offered information on how to become a Master Gardener.  Mary Morrow set up posters displaying some of our many ongoing community activities/projects, helped with the plant sale and then proudly displayed her handsome new grandson.  While we do not know exactly how many attended PB&E, we had at least 76 members of the general public who completed a brief questionnaire.  These folks came from not only Flower Mound and Lewisville but also from Denton, Corinth, Oak Point, The Colony, Carrollton, Little Elm, Copper Canyon, Double Oak, Highland Village, and Argyle.  They heard about PB&E from seeing our flyers, seeing it in newspapers, on websites, in LISD's newsletter, and by word of mouth.  There were quite a few interested in learning more about the Master Gardener program and we even had one visit complete an application to join our association.  Our visitors were the very young who enjoyed face painting and completing a JMG project to quite a few senior citizens.  We attracted the Lewisville Leader who sent a photographer and all of the vendors who participated were happy with their sales results.  I think it is safe to say that those of us who volunteered to work the Info-Fair had a good time and enjoyed ourselves.  While this event was not a money-maker, it was still a huge success in that we accomplished what we set out to do.  The primary purpose of PB&E was to have an Info-Fair.  We fulfilled the requirements of our 501c3 non-profit status with this event by carrying out the objectives of the Texas Master Gardener Program.  In keeping with the definitions and objectives of the Texas Master Gardener Program, through PB&E,  DCMGA increased the availability of horticultural information and improved the quality of life through a horticultural project.

 

Karen Archambault, Project Manager-Plants, Birds & Elephants