Gardeners honored at convention

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At the University of Illinois Extension Master Gardener State Conference held Sept. 10-13 in Effingham, DeKalb County Master Gardeners Hugh McDermott and Ron Johnson were recognized for their volunteer project work in DeKalb County.

McDermott recieved an Outstanding Master Gardener Award and Johnson was a Sustained Excellence Award winner.

McDermott volunteers at the award-winning DeKalb Hallgren Park Community Garden, the award-winning Shabbona State Park prairie education project, the DeKalb County Nursing Home & Rehab Center, the Alzheimer’s Garden at the DeKalb County nursing home, the garden at the DeKalb Area Women’s Center, the garden walk and plant sale, and the Hort Help Desk.

Since 2006, Johnson has served as Master Gardener coordinator for University of Illinois DeKalb County Extension, coordinating more than 20 Master Gardener projects.

This year’s conference featured keynote speaker Holly Schimizu, who is the executive director of the United States Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C., 30 classroom gardening presentations and a variety of tours for the 350 Master Gardeners in attendance.