MAUREEN EGAN 2023

Meigs Point gardens were started in the mid-1990s by the Madison Garden Club, beginning with the Butterfly and Pond gardens. In the early 2000s, Friends of Hammonasset (FOH) began maintaining the gardens, but with limited resources, the gardens became overgrown. That all changed in 2015 when volunteers working with the UConn Master Gardener Program initiated restoration and expansion under the direction of Maureen Egan. Today under Maureen’s tutelage there are ten themed gardens whose purpose is to:

1. Enhance the beauty of the Park, while also providing a nurturing environment for pollinators, birds and other wildlife.
2. Educate park patrons about the benefits of creating home gardens.
3. Highlight the importance of native plants.
4. Honor local Native American and Colonial farming history.
5. Provide a place for rest and reflection.

During peak gardening season, a core set of MG volunteers meet every Monday with a working agenda. There are 10-12 core members. All work under Maureen’s vision and direction. During the winter months, there are monthly meetings to plan the upcoming season. Maureen also sits on the Friends of Hammonasset BOD.  She has gone above and beyond to message and educate on the purpose and goals of the UConn Master Gardener Program.  

KAREN BERGER 2023

Karen Berger has enthusiastically dedicated more than 2,000 hours of community outreach to Master Gardening volunteer service in Connecticut. Her work as a Master Gardener program mentor has advanced the most important goals of the
program and of CMGA. She has encouraged successive cohorts of MG interns to learn more about plants and their role in ecosystems and to become involved with local and state efforts to manage invasive plants.

Specifically Karen has marshaled MG based knowledge about plant and insect life to establish working relationships with members of the Canton community and its neighbors to tackle the “knotweed forests” that exist along the Canton/Farmington River Trail. Her methodical approach to controlling this invasive was effective because she identified the best scientific practices and coordinated the volunteer work of a range of people; MG interns, interested gardeners, various civic groups along with representatives of public agencies work jointly to reduce the knotweed along the trail.

Karen continues to share what she has learned from leading this effort with residents of Canton, other towns and a wide variety of interested groups.

MICHELE SORENSON 2023

Michele has been a Master Gardener for over a decade.  Michele has been dedicated to preserving Sherwood Island State Park as the leader of The friends of Sherwood Island Garden, the team includes Master Gardeners, community members and youth groups. The work at the park entails planting new trees, maintaining the newly planted ones, working vegetable and pollinator gardens and planting new dune grass to protect the beach. As well as leading this group of volunteers, Michele readily shares her experience and knowledge with all the volunteers.

Michele gives talks to both the young and old regarding the importance of native plants, pollinator gardens and trees within a community.  She also arranges presentations by other speakers on various nature topics. 

 Michele exemplifies what the mission of CMGA truly is.

BETH MILLER 2023

Beth Miller is instrumental in mentoring the interns of the Lower Fairfield classes. She takes extra time in instructional sessions and also is responsible for the perennial gardens at the Bartlett Arboretum. In addition she volunteers with a children’s camp.

THERESA HENNESSEY 2023

Since graduating from the UConn Master Gardener in 2012, Theresa has been a member of CMGA volunteering many hours to her community, the Master Gardener program and CMGA.

In 2012, Theresa utilized her engineering and gardening skills and designed, constructed and planted an ergonomic vegetable garden for the Knox Parks Foundation in Hartford, CT. This garden consisted of self-watering containers raised up on platforms. The containers were created from plastic storage bins and hard-sided plastic wading pools. Various grow-bags were also included. After one season in Hartford, this garden was moved to the CHR supportive housing unit on Center Street in Manchester CT, where, under Theresa’s supervision and tutelage it served the residents of this building for 3 years. 

Soon after, she conducted a survey of the Knox Parks community gardeners in Hartford, CT, to determine the financial impact of vegetable gardens on the food budgets of these gardeners. She wrote and distributed the questionnaire, compiled and analyzed the results, and wrote the final report.

In 2014, Theresa started a community garden at Spencer Village in Manchester, a residence for the elderly and disabled, and it's been going strong ever since and currently in the process of building a new compost bin. She has also helped with Thanksgiving dinner preparations.

Every year since she graduated, Theresa organized and managed the Tolland Agricultural Center’s fundraising plant sale to support the Master Gardener Program. She was able to recruit volunteers, assign roles, and source plants for the sale, as well as organize teaching stations on site to engage visitors by dispensing pollinator information with a beekeeping demo from a local beekeeper.

Her volunteer hours with the Manes and Motions Therapeutic Riding Center in Middletown are just one more example of the various ways Theresa has contributed to our community.  In addition, she has been a reliable presence at various gardening information booths at many public events.

While a member of the CMGA Board of Directors for six years, she served as President for 2 1/2 years and chaired the Gardening Symposium for 4.

Katherine Kosiba 2022

Katherine is a former CMGA board member who  became a Master Gardener in 2007 and an Advanced Master Gardener in 2009. Katherine organized the Summer Safari for three years, worked to update the CMGA Vendor Discount Program, introduced and delivered the first Spearhead Spade fundraiser and participated as a volunteer at CMGA Symposium for many years. In her home community of Colchester, she has played a leadership role in the Colchester Garden Club, worked to expand the club’s membership from 12 to over 80 members over the years focused on education and involvement in community service projects. With the help of CMGA grants Katherine was involved with the renovations of the Cohen Woodlands Butterfly Garden, Red Twig Dogwood Gardens, and new Children’s Garden which were outreach opportunities for Master Gardener interns for these and many other garden club projects. Katherine trained through the National Wildlife Federation to become a Habitat Steward and partnered with another Master Gardener to lead a volunteer effort through the Colchester Garden Club with the Town of Colchester and other entities to earn the Community Wildlife Habitat certification through the National Wildlife Federation, the first community in Connecticut. 

Alicia Cornelio 2022

Editor of The Laurel, our quarterly  CMGA newsletter for the past eight years, Alicia became a Master Gardener in 2007 and also served on the CMGA Board. In her role as Editor, she solicits articles and conducts interviews for The Laurel as well as writing many of the articles herself. In doing so, she not only keeps CMGA members well informed, she also ensures CMGA meets its communications commitments to our membership, including the recognition of new and Advanced Master Gardeners, grant recipients and volunteers for their achievements.

Ken Zacharias 2022

Ken was recruited right out of his Master Gardener class in 2017 and has been a consistent contributor as a CMGA  Membership coordinator and volunteer. He has maintained and updated membership data, including processing, tracking and reporting on new and renewal membership data and trends.

Ken received his Advanced Master Gardener certification and has been active with the Windsor demonstration garden.