By KARI KRAMER | East Texas Edition

After retiring and moving to a new town, Winona Carlton found great volunteer opportunities in Paris. One organization she particularly enjoys is Texas Master Gardeners. After being nominated by her chapter’s members, Carlton has earned a first place individual win in the state competition.  -- Staff photo by Kramer

June 1, 2006 - Three years ago when retired nurse Winona Carlton, 65, moved to Paris she found she had a little too much time on her hands. She knew very few people, places to visit, and was not sure what her role in her new community would be.

“I thought, ‘This has got to change,’” she recalled.

Carlton heard about a volunteer exposition being held in the city. She attended and picked up literature from several groups.

After sorting through her options, she chose three different volunteer groups: Lamar County Master Gardeners, Habitat for Humanity, and decided to become a volunteer with the Keep Paris Beautiful initiative.

“I’ve always admired the Master Gardeners program,” she said. But her previous busy lifestyle as nurse left little time for her to get involved.

Now in her third year as a Master Gardener, Carlton is making the most of her experience.

She often writes pieces for the Master Gardeners’ newsletter, and keeps up with projects at the county garden behind the Extension office. In addition, she visits with other groups to discuss garden-related topics, and helps Extension answer questions from the community.

“I want to give them the best answer I can,” she said of the questions she receives from those needing garden help. “I have a general knowledge of it all, but some questions we may have to research.”

Master Gardeners has also helped Carlton make the most of her experience in her other volunteer groups. 

“I like landscaping,” she said. So, in addition to painting and caulking Habitat for Humanity houses, Carlton said she usually does the landscaping for the properties.

She has also adopted a bridge (in conjunction with her Keep Paris Beautiful involvement). The bridge, just off Loop 286, is surrounded with flowers and plants. Carlton cares for the bridge and sometimes gets help from local community service workers from the probation department.

“It all intermingles,” she said of her garden work and volunteer groups.

She said many people may not realize that Master Gardeners is a volunteer group that provides plenty of opportunities to give back to the community.

“They think of it as a glorified garden club, a social group,” she explained. “But it’s not. It’s a volunteer arm of Extension.”

Still, Carlton said, there are plenty of benefits to being in a volunteer group.

“We do benefit personally because of the knowledge we gain through the program,” she said.

In addition, each year, the state Master Gardeners association provides a chance for people and chapters to be recognized for their work. Chapters can enter to receive awards in categories such as graphic design, newsletter, publications, educational programs, and overall individual efforts are also recognized. 

In each instance an entry portfolio is put together containing relevant material. The entries are then judged.

“We have an award committee at the state level,” Carlton explained. Once the committee has judged the entries, the winners are announced at the state convention.

This year, Carlton was not able to attend the convention because she was busy working on Habitat for Humanity projects. Still, she was able to enjoy one aspect of the meeting when she was informed that her fellow Master Gardeners had nominated her for the individual award, and she had won first place in the small counties division.

“I was overwhelmed that they had nominated me, because a number of them do a lot,” she recalled. “I was really touched that they did that.

“That’s the part that made me feel really good.”

Three years after moving to a place with few friends and much time to spare, Carlton said she is glad she had the time to explore her new experiences.

“You need the time to be able to devote to giving volunteer hours,” said Carlton, who now devotes about 20 hours a week to Master Gardeners.

And though she enjoys the work, volunteer hours are required to become and remain a certified Master Gardener.

Carlton said “each county has different requirements,” but usually 50 or 60 hours of classes are needed in addition to 50 hours of volunteer time before a person can become a certified Master Gardener. Carlton said it takes each person a different amount of time to meet the certification requirements.

“It’s according to how much time a person wants to devote to it,” she said.

After certification, gardeners must earn a specific number of Continuing Education Units, or CEUs, and complete a certain amount of volunteer hours. But, Carlton said meeting the follow-up requirements is not too difficult.

“We all get those pretty easily,” she said.

Soon, many counties will give others the chance to have an experience like Carlton’s when they hold sign ups for Master Gardener classes. Certification education for Master Gardeners is only held periodically with each group or class beginning at one time. (Check Country Calendar for sign-up deadlines in various counties. Often, several counties will be included in one class).

As for Carlton, she plans on continually doing more with Master Gardeners and continuing her work with Habitat for Humanity and Keep Paris Beautiful.

“Those are my three main areas and they keep me pretty busy,” she said.

More information about Master Gardeners is available at www.TexasMasterGardeners.com or can be obtained at county Extension offices.