Celebrating 40 years Illinois Master Gardener

Program

1975 to 2015

Where were you in 1975?

• Vietnam war ended as Communist forces took Saigon• Saturday Night Live debuted on NBC• Jaws, Benji, Funny Lady and Godfather Part II were hit films• Gas was 44 cents a gallon; average salary was $14,100; the average new house cost $39,300; and a Ford mustang cost $4000• Dutch elm disease destroyed 3 million elms in UK

• David Gibby and Bill Scheer, Area Extension Agents, were overwhelmed with requests for gardening information at Washington State Extension

• Administrators suggested they use mass media: this made the problem worse

• The MG Volunteer concept was taken to specialists in Western Washington Research and Extension Center in Puyallup.

• The specialists initially REJECTED the idea of training volunteers and the university refused to fund it..

US Master Gardener Program Started in 1972

Wanted: Expert Gardeners to Become Master Gardeners

•600 responses: 300 were accepted; ~200 trained

•Training sessions were held 8 hr/day,1 day/week for 5 weeks

•Original MG were required to pass a subject exam AND an exam for pesticide licensing administered by the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

Origin of the MG Name:

Gibby and Scheer had studied in Germany and knew the Germans bestow titles for hard-earned proficiency levels in various crafts. The top level of proficiency inhorticulture is “Gartenmeister” which they anglicized as “Master Gardener”.

Sharon CollmanWashington State Extension

Today…. in all 50 states, 4 Canadian provinces, and S. Korea• Canada -operated by Ministry of Ag and Food from 1982 to 1984, later due to $$ it was moved to Van Dusen Botanical Gardens• S. Korea came on board in 2011-2012• 1987- first international MG conference in Washington DC• In 2006 total volunteer donation for US was estimated at $60 million and 17 million people reached by MGs annually

Illinois Master Gardener program --- 1975• Began in DuPage and Will counties• Accounts differ but it appears that Jim Fizzell or Floyd Giles attended a Garden Writers conference in Seattle and toured the King County MG office- the first in the US• A pilot was started and the first training was in Wheaton, DuPage Co.• The Des Plaines Post Office was set up as the first MG office in IL• Jim Fizzell, Greg Stack, Floyd Giles, Jim Schuster and Phil Nixon did all the teaching & wrote 1st manual

Other Counties joined in-• 1975-76 DuPage and Will• 1982 DeKalb• Early 1980s McHenry• 1985 Marshall Putnam• 1993 Kendall• 1995 Perry• 1998 McLean

2002 MG Conference in Winnebago County

Conference Bus Trip- 2007

Today in Illinois

• Over 3000 active volunteers• 2014 value of volunteer hours was $4.77 million• Since 2001- MGs have given 2,309,348 volunteer hours at value of over $57 million dollars to state of IL.• 2003-2015 7,500 new MGs trained

Lets Celebrate 40 years!

Cumberland County

Clark County

Woodford County

Cook South Suburban

Ford-Iroquois Counties

Kane County

Tazewell County

Fayette County

DuPage County

DuPage County

Tazewell County

Tazewell County

Celebrating 40 years Illinois Master Gardener

Program