When Jerry Fortenberry, President of the Lowndes County Master Gardeners, heard that he won Second Place Northeast District Top Producer at the 2026 Master Gardeners State Conference, he was shocked.

But, as he accepted the award, he rationalized the win by thinking about all the service hours he logged from group projects like tending to the Herb Garden at Mississippi University for Women, volunteering at the Hitching Lot Farmer’s Market in Columbus and many, many other events.

In total, the Lowndes County Master Gardeners took home three awards from the 2026 Master Gardener State Conference, which was held April 27-29, including Outstanding Organization of the Year and Outstanding Project for their Butterfly Bonanza event. He said LCMG has 41 members, and the three awards they won were in the category for Master Gardener groups with 21 or more members.

“We do projects all year long, and we are involved in a lot of things, but you don’t really…expect to be recognized for that,” Fortenberry told The Dispatch. “It’s just what you do.”

The award-winning annual Butterfly Bonanza event is held in the fall, and the event will be held for its sixth year on Sept. 12 from 9-11 a.m. Linda Lawson, cochair of the Butterfly Garden, said LCMG installed the butterfly garden in 2012, before she was a member. The idea for the event blossomed almost a decade after.

“We had this great place that we could (use to) offer more education,” Lawson said. “We just started it in 2021, and we really haven’t looked back.”

Lawson said she and her cochair, Lucy Harpole, submitted the application for the Best Project award together. She said they previously applied for the same award in 2024, but didn’t win, which made this year’s success even more special.

“It meant everything,” Lawson told The Dispatch. “It gave us the desire to keep going with the Butterfly Bonanza. It’s educational and a fun time.”

The event is a hands-on way to teach local children about the different stages of the butterfly lifecycle, and Lawson said members of LCMG will be there to answer attendees’ questions, including how to start a pollinator garden of their own.

While education is the main goal of the event, Lawson said, having fun is a priority – especially since it’s geared towards younger kids. This year, there’ll be sidewalk chalk, face paint and temporary tattoos.

“You should be able to see a complete life cycle,” Lawson said. “The butterfly eggs and the caterpillars, and maybe even a chrysalis. Hopefully, there’s going to be lots of flittering butterflies.”

The Butterfly Bonanza was just one bullet point on a long list of community involvement that Inez Suam, a member of LCMG, said she included on the application she submitted for the Outstanding Organization award.

“I just felt like we were probably a good candidate for it, with all the things we do in Lowndes County,” Suam said. “We work on sales, we work on community projects (and) we work with the youth.”

And, the group is preparing for their largest event yet. Fortenberry said Lowndes County will be hosting the 2027 Master Gardener State Conference which will take place April 21-23 at the Trotter Convention Center.

“It will usually be about 250 or 300 people. There’ll be speakers, vendors…a silent auction, raffles,” Fortenberry said. “It’s a big deal.”

LCMG started working on hosting the conference at the beginning of 2026, Fortenberry said. They have formed 14 different committees to help spread out the responsibility of planning for such a large event. The search for sponsors and community partnerships will begin soon, he said.

How to become a Master Gardener

The Master Gardener Program is a national educational and volunteer initiative where local garden experts are trained in horticulture by university experts. In Mississippi, the program is in partnership with the Mississippi State University Extension. To join the club, volunteers register for a $125 online course and take 40 hours of educational training. The training is self-paced and held from October through December.

Fortenberry said anyone who wants to join should check the MSU Extension website or the LCMG website to apply for the three-month-long course. The course typically opens for registration in August.

During their first year, Master Gardeners must complete 40 hours of volunteer service in exchange for the 40 hours of education. Every following year, they are asked to complete 20 service hours and 12 educational hours, which Fortenberry said can be earned easily by attending state convention, district meetings or by doing virtual “Hort Hour” classes that are taught by MSU horticulture professors.

Through serving the community, pioneering educational events like the Butterfly Bonanza and hosting next year’s state conference, Fortenberry said being a Master Gardener is a way to make sure you’re always learning something new.

“If you see us out there working, we’re doing that to help the community,” Fortenberry said.