MG History- Anne Arundel County

About the year 2004, there were approximately 7 volunteers under the direction of Dave Hitchcock who is a Retired Extension Horticulture Agent in Anne Arundel County. Volunteers during that time helped to disseminate horticultural information to the public through the County Extension Office and various plant clinics.

The beginning of what is now a very active Anne Arundel Master Gardener Program started in about 1996 with a grass roots organization “The Journeyman Gardeners” with a goal of creating enough interest and funding to bring a Master Gardener Program to the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension Anne Arundel County.

The Anne Arundel Master Gardener Program became a reality with the hiring of Karen Davis as the first Master Gardener Coordinator. On October 1, 1998 the Anne Arundel Master Gardener Program held its first class with approximately 29 Interns. On November 19 after a final exam, the interns began their 40 hours of service on their journey to becoming certified Master Gardeners. During this time there were 8 programs and 4 administrative committees. Five of these programs are still very active in 2008. They include the After School Program (previously known as After School Care Program), Ask a Master Gardener (previously known as Plant Clinics), B & A Trail Bay-Wise Demonstration Gardens, Composting and Native Plant Gardens (previously known as the Quiet Waters Park Composters), and London Town Science in the Garden. Along the way several previously certified Master Gardeners joined the group. Currently 8 members of the class of 1998 are still active in the year 2008.

During the year 2000, Karen Long became the Master Gardener Coordinator for Anne Arundel County. With the program growing each year and Karen being part-time, she formed a committee of several Master Gardeners to structure the administrative end of the organization to help facilitate the program. They worked diligently researching other states and Master Gardener Programs to find out how they were organized. In 2002 a preliminary set of guidelines were issued. The committee members became the Executive Advisory Board (EAB) as an adjunct unit for the Master Gardener Coordinator. In 2003 the “Anne Arundel County Master Gardener Policies and Procedures Handbook” was written for the purpose of guiding the Master Gardeners day-to-day operation of the Master Gardener organization. The EAB consist of 6 Master Gardeners. Two each year are elected for two-year terms and one appointed by the Coordinator for a two-year term. The Coordinator is the 7th and deciding vote on any action recommended by the EAB. Thus the EAB has been working closely with Mike Ensor, current full time Master Gardener Coordinator since 2004. The handbook has helped both the Coordinator and the Master Gardener Program by giving guidelines to follow. It has been used since 2003 and it has served well, especially during interim period as the EAB continued the day-day operation of the program, while the CED was in the process of hiring a Coordinator.

Many of the Anne Arundel Master Gardeners volunteer at the state level supporting projects such as the Strategic Planning Group and its sub committees, attending meetings to streamline the intern training programs, revision of the current Master Gardener Training Manual, a newly revised Statewide Coordinator’s Manual, Grant Writing workshops, and many others. They also participate in the state advanced training workshops and Master Gardener Day held annually.

As of spring 2008, there are approximately 113 active Master Gardeners, 17 leave of absences, 9 terminated and 34 interns in the program totaling 164 volunteers. Recently service award pins were presented to Master Gardeners who completed 3, 5 and 10 years of service.

There are 19 Master Gardener projects which are active over the majority of the calendar year. In addition, there are many opportunities throughout the year for short term or outreach programs partnering with other organizations or other Master Gardener groups.

At this time I especially would like to thank Joe Ann Kuhn, Anne Arundel Master Gardener and Norrine Smith, Administrative Assistant MCE for much help in pulling together information for this report.

Respectfully submitted,

Mike Ensor
Master Gardener Coordinator
Anne Arundel County

For more information, contact Robin Hessey

Last updated: 04/21/2008