CRESTVIEW — From identifying snakes — and whether they’re poisonous — to help with a dying lawn, a group of volunteers annually provides residents free garden and yard advice.

“We are not just people who grow flowers,” past president Marge Stewart said. “If you call, you’ll probably talk to a Master Gardener about your lawn problems, your dying palm tree or what kind of bug crawled in your house.”

“We hear from a lot of frustrated gardeners,” University of Florida County Extension Director Larry Williams said. “Many of them have moved here from up north and have been trying techniques that worked back home, but don’t work down here. By the time they call us, they’ve been listening to their neighbors and they’re frustrated.”

Among Master Gardeners' most rewarding service is advising local 4-H programs. The country's largest youth program helps participants enhance their citizenship and leadership skills.

More than half the county’s almost 100 Master Gardeners took time out Feb. 24 for the organization's annual recognition luncheon, which recognized 2014-15 honorees.

Among them were:

6,000 Hours: Marie Harrison

4,000 Hours: Bob Bayer, Margaret Stewart

3,000 Hours: Linda Morris

2,000 Hours: Karen Kirk-Williams

1,000 Hours: Carol Baker, Lee Vanderpool

500 Hours: Ann Foley, Karen Harper, Lee Vanderpool

Call on Me Award: Carol Baker, Vincent Grund, Marilyn Koser, Laurie Mackey, Bob Bayer, Bill Buckellew, Andy Donatelli, Fred Frederick, Dorothy Green, Joe Michetti, Charlie Reuter, David Stever, Margaret Stewart, Carol Strom, Faye Todd and Bob Thomas

Service to 4-H/Youth Award: Carol Baker, Stacey Daigle, Marlin Drake, Joe Jones, Karen Kirk-Williams, Jane McCreary, Stacey Taylor, Faye Todd, Tricia Whitmoyer, Scott Berry, Alene Ogle, Gail Speir, Sandy Licht, Les Chambers, Ed & Lynn Fabian, Linda Kulaw, Lynda Penry, Margaret Stewart, Bob Bayer, Fred Frederick, Pam Garrett, Dick Hickenbotham, Ann Phillips and Lee Vanderpool

2015 Award of Excellence: Ann Foley, Karen Harper, Joe Jones, Lockey Buhrow, Les Chambers, Mary Grace Evors, Alene Ogle, Lee Vanderpool, Stacey Taylor, Sandie Olsen, Margaret Stewart, Shari Farrell, Pam Garrett, Karen Harper, Linda Morris, Amy Jo Rosati, Ed Smith, Ann Phillips, Bob Bayer, Ed & Lynn Fabian, David Stever, Bill Buckellew and Andy Donatellie

2014 Award of Excellence: John Bauer, Jenny Gillis, Lee Vanderpool, Andy Donatelli and Joyce Waters-Smith

Outstanding Service to Youth Award: 2015, Margaret Stewart; 2014, Linda Penry

Outstanding Telephone Communicator: 2015, Faye Todd; 2014, Bob Thomas

Outstanding Educator of the Year: 2015, Bob Bayer; 2014, Margaret Stewart

Master Gardener of the Year: Andy Donatelli; 2014, Lee Vanderpool

Master Gardeners undergo a roughly seven-month training and internship program to earn the title.

Volunteer work at the Gerald Edmundson County Extension Building on Airport Road in Crestview and at the Master Gardeners’ Fort Walton Beach nursery is required.

“Master Gardeners are out in the community, meeting people and spreading the message of Florida-friendly landscaping,” Florida Master Gardeners statewide coordinator Wendy Wilber said.  

Public services include:

●Identifying insects, reptiles and other wildlife

●Assisting residents with home horticultural concerns

●Promoting Florida-friendly gardening and landscaping using native species

●Analyzing soil

●Identifying fungi and invasive pests 

●Staffing the County Extension telephones and laboratory

●Advising 4-H programs

Contact the University of Florida Okaloosa County Extension, 689-5850, http://okaloosa.ifas.ufl.edu, or visit the Gerald Edmondson Extension Building, 3098 Airport Roard, Crestview, for membership information.

BY THE NUMBERS:

5,000: Number of Florida Master Gardeners who performed 420,000 hours of volunteer community work worth $9.1 million in value last year

$120,000: Estimated value of advice and horticultural services Okaloosa County Master Gardeners freely provided in 2015

123,600: Number of hours Okaloosa County volunteers gave the program over its 20 years — that's worth almost $3 million

Sources: University of Florida Okaloosa County Extension Director Larry Williams, Florida Master Gardeners statewide coordinator Wendy Wilber

Master Gardeners' most frequently answered questions:

●What’s this weed?

●How can I design a Florida-friendly landscape that doesn’t take much water or fertilizer? 

●Can you identify this snake?

●Why is my lawn getting big brown patches?

WHAT ARE MASTER GARDENERS?

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Okaloosa Master Gardeners celebrate 20 years (VIDEO)

CRESTVIEW — There will be celebrations in Twin Hills Park next week, and not just to observe Northwest Florida State College’s more than 20-year presence in Crestview.

The Sikes Education Center provides more than convenient academics for more than 1,200 North Okaloosa County students a year, administrators say. It also offers programs and services that residents can use without venturing to the school’s main Niceville campus.

Coursework isn’t entirely for full-time students, either. “We’re very proud to offer GED classes and also ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes,” center Director Patrice Williams-Shuford said.

“In-house, we offer general education courses for those students attending NWFSC. They can do a great deal of their class work without leaving Crestview.”

Students can also find administrative services for the entire NWFSC system at the Sikes Center, Williams-Shuford said.

“They don’t have to go down to Niceville for basic registrar or admission services,” she said. “We can do those things here by scanning documents or couriering them down.”

The former Okaloosa-Walton Community College started offering local courses in 1982 at what was built in 1976 as Crestview’s public library. In 1994, the college bought the building from the city, which built the present library on Commerce Drive. In November 1995, the Sikes Center was dedicated as a branch of the college.

“We like to think of it as a mini-college,” Williams-Shuford said. “We’re very proud that we have this facility that can service our outlying communities like Laurel Hill, Holt and Baker.”

WANT TO GO?

What: Northwest Florida State College Crestview Campus 20^th Anniversary Celebration including presentations, student performances, tours and refreshments

When: Oct. 20; 2 p.m. open house; 3 p.m. reception, program and tours

Where: Northwest Florida State College Sikes Center, Twin Hills Park, Crestview

Cost: Free

WANT TO GO?

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: NWF State College celebrates 20 years in Crestview

NICEVILLE — The names participants will encounter during Northwest Florida State College’s “Walking in the Footsteps of Great Composers and Artists” tour glide off the tongue in a cavalcade of cultural bliss.

The May 7-18, 2016 trip is the latest in humanities professor David Simmons and art history professor Ann Waters’ escorted tours to the seats of celebrated Western culture. “Over the last years, I’ve had students say, ‘If you have another tour, we want to go,” Simmons said. “Now the time’s right to do another one.”

He said the trip's small group of students and adults, limited to 22 participants,  forms a tightly knit family, with each generation learning from the other.

“It’s like our trips to Noirmoutier,” Simmons said of NWFSC’s biennial performance trips to Crestview’s French sister city. “This sort of experience really does change lives, especially if you’ve never been out of the country before.”

Here is a glimpse of some of the planned stops:

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 6 key stops on Northwest Florida State College's 'Footsteps…' tour