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Carol Mendel, beautification projects in 12 cities honored with AFGS awards

Fast Facts

  • Carol Mendel honored with 2014 Volunteer of the Year
  • 12 projects earn Greening of Arkansas grants

LITTLE ROCK – Opening day at the 2014 Arkansas Flower and Garden show featured a bevy of honors include Greening of Arkansas grants, show garden awards and a special award to Carol Mendel of Little Rock as the Volunteer of the Year.

“She’s always ready to help when needed and we truly appreciate all that she does for the show,” said Krista Quinn, executive director of the Arkansas Flower and Garden Show. “The board felt strongly that she deserved this recognition thanks to her service on the board of directors and her active role in several show committees.”

Greening of Arkansas grants

Mendel, who is a member of the Greening of Arkansas committee, presented this year’s grants, which went to 12 projects. The Greening of Arkansas grants go to fund civic beautification projects statewide. They are:

1.    The City of Bryant for the Ken Palmquist Memorial Garden at the Bishop Park Community Center in Bryant.

2.    The Monticello Tree Board for the Monticello Sports Complex tree planting.

3.    The Park Hill Neighborhood Association for Increasing the Beauty of Fearneyhough Park in North Little Rock.

4.    The Portland Beautification Committee for Landscaping the courtyard area in downtown Portland.

5.    The White County Master Gardeners for Rose Bud City Hall landscaping.

6.    The Earle Chamber of Commerce for adding landscaping around the “Welcome to Earle” sign and at the Earle Community Center.

7.    The City of Cherokee Village for planting native plants at entrance to Cherokee Village Tohi Nature Trail.

8.    The Dumas Tree City Board for beautifying Memorial Park in Dumas.

9.    Beautify Fort Smith for the Kids for the canopy tree planting at public schools in Fort Smith.

10.  The Carroll County Master Gardeners for creating a Community Education Garden in area shared by the Berryville Library, Senior Center, and county offices.

11.  The Master Gardeners of Columbia County for the Renovation of the Cecil Traylor Wilson Garden in Magnolia.

12.  Maumelle Department of Parks & Recreation for Gazebo Enhancement at Lake Willastein Park in Maumelle.

“This is a great group of projects and we are happy to help these organizations beautify their communities,” said Mendel.   

Display garden awards

Also honored were the display gardens that are a tradition at the Arkansas Flower and Garden Show.  The gardens were judged Friday morning by an independent and anonymous group of judges.

This year we have large gardens created by Arkansas Bamboo Connection, Grand Designs, The Horticare Company, Ozark Folk Center State Park, and Roseberry Landscape Services.

“All of these companies have done a tremendous job designing and constructing these gardens to interpret our show theme, Gardening- That’s Entertainment!, and we greatly appreciate their hard work and creativity,” said Quinn. “It’s safe to say the judges had a hard time choosing.  

The award for

  • Best Use of Plants goes to Roseberry Landscape.
  • Best Hardscape goes to Antique Brick/Better Lawns & Gardens.
  • Best Water Feature goes to Horticare.
  • Best Interpretation of the Theme goes to Antique Brick/Better Lawns & Gardens.
  • Best Presentation of Color goes to Horticare.
  • And Best in Show goes to Horticare.

Presentation of the American Horticultural Society Environmental Award went to Horticare.

Also recognized at the show were Bemis Tree Farm for having a display at 20 consecutive shows. Grand Designs and Ozark Folk Center were recognized for being at the show for 15 consecutive years and to Joe Kelley, from Joe’s Woodshop, for being part of the show for 17 years.

Please note that any bookmarked pages or publications at www.uaex.uada.edu will be changing in the next few months.

Pursuant to 7 CFR § 15.3, the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services (including employment) without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, sexual preference, pregnancy or any other legally protected status, and is an equal opportunity institution.

By The Cooperative Extension Service
U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture

Media Contact: Mary Hightower
Extension Communications Specialist
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
(501) 671-2126
mhightower@uada.edu

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