Spring 2021
We Grow Romance
Love was in the air this March at our Briggs Avenue Community Garden. One year to the date from when Holly Jordan and Dolores Chandler broke ground on their plot at the garden, Holly decided to pop the question to Dolores.
“It felt important to me to propose in a place that had meaning to us,” shared Holly.
As ‘plot owners’ at Briggs Garden, the couple have spent many days during the COVID-19 quarantine watching over the growth of their fruits and vegetables- and growing closer.
The two moved in together just months before the start of the COVID lockdown. Time together at the garden became a way to connect with one another and with nature.
Dolores shared, “Over the course of the whole year of quarantine it was such a great outlet to have a place where we could go that was really all about being sweet and gentle and tending to things and taking care of things.”
This demonstration of care and gentleness translated into a certainty that the two wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. Holly planned the proposal at the garden. An English teacher, she decorated their plot to reflect the theme of growth.
“One of the reasons that I know that Dolores is a person I want to be with is the way they are committed to their own growth and the way that they're committed to the growth of our relationship. And I think the thing that has made our relationship both possible and has made it flourish is our commitment to growth, both together and apart.”
When Dolores saw the vintage fabric pennant, the decorated notes, bouquet, and plants, it took them a moment to understand what was happening. “I turned around, and she drops down on one knee and pulls out a ring box. Complete shock!”
Dolores recovered from the shock and accepted Holly’s proposal. The beginning of a new season in the lives of these two gardening love birds.
We Grow Community Support
If you drive by the Durham County Cooperative Extension Office on a Friday morning you’ll likely see a row of cars lined up for our weekly Welcome Baby diaper and clothing distribution. If you are like Kelly Smedley you might wonder, ‘Where do all of those clothes and diapers come from? Can I help these families get more of the supplies they need?’
Kelly Smedley is one of those unique- and wonderful- people who turn thought to action. At the start of Lent this year, she, her husband Jimmy, and her four children, Jake (15), Ben (13), Leah (10), and Anna (6) decided that they wanted to do a service project. Kelly works in the field of maternal mental health so a project focused on the Welcome Baby program was a nice fit. The family suddenly lost their fourth child, Josh, in June 2013 when he was just three months old, so the family thought that a project focused on babies would be a way to honor his memory. “This was kind of a combination service project and a way for them to honor their brother who would have celebrated his eighth birthday on March 2nd,” shared Kelly.
Once the family had a plan, Kelly says that collecting the diapers was not difficult. “Anybody with a little bit of effort can make a huge difference,” she said. With a couple of Facebook posts and a collection bin at her gym, Burn Boot Camp of South Durham, she and her children were able to collect 6,388 diapers!
Donations like these make an incredible difference for Durham County families. “As a program Welcome Baby would not be able to serve our families as well, if it was not for the generosity of people like Kelly Smedley and her family. The community has always responded so well to the program needs," said Patience Mukelabai, Welcome Baby Program Coordinator.
Kelly and her family are very pleased that they were able to help families who are struggling right now- and want to encourage others to do the same. She urges the community to consider similar projects, “With just a little bit of effort, a big impact can be made.”
We Grow Tomatoes
Growing tomatoes can be challenging, especially because of soil-borne diseases. One great way to grow your favorite heirloom tomatoes, but with healthier roots, is by grafting. While grafting can be intimidating, the Extension Master Gardener Volunteers of Durham County have worked over the past year to perfect a straightforward technique for home gardeners. They've put together their best tips and tricks for grafting tomatoes at home into a series of videos and additional resources, all on the Tomato Grafting page of their blog. Check back for new videos in the months ahead!
Volunteer Spotlight
Faye Lanier
Durham Extension and Community Association Club
You will find no greater supporter of the North Carolina Extension and Community Association (ECA) clubs than Mrs. Faye Lanier. ECA, which was started by farmers' wives 100 years ago, has made significant contributions to life in North Carolina. Faye has been at the vanguard of these contributions for over 29 years. She has served as the State ECA Treasurer for over 15 years and has also been President of the State Board.
In normal times, Faye and her fellow ECA members meet in-person both locally and with their colleagues at the district and state levels to plan ways to meet the organization’s mission of volunteer work and leadership development. They were responsible for procuring the funding for Durham County Cooperative Extension’s teaching kitchen through grants and support from the Durham Board of County Commissioners. They make aprons for Duke Hospital patients who have sensory disorders or dementia. They volunteer their time with the North Carolina Alzheimer’s Association and with the Girls and Boys Homes of North Carolina.
The pandemic has stopped their in-person meetings, but it hasn’t stopped their productivity. Since the start of the pandemic ECA volunteers have made over 40,000 masks statewide. They spent $6,000.00 to purchase materials to make the masks and have worked with the North Carolina State University College of Agriculture and Life Science to distribute the masks to farmers’ markets, individual farmers, and to schools.
Durham County and North Carolina are lucky to have someone with the dedication and skill of Mrs. Faye Lanier at the helm of such an important organization as ECA. We at Durham County Cooperative Extension are very grateful for all that she and her fellow ‘ECA ladies’ do to support us every day.
Employee Spotlight
Paula Norris
Regional Nutrition Extension Associate
Durham County Cooperative Extension welcomes Paula Norris to our team! After six years working for Wake County Cooperative Extension, Paula was recently promoted to a regional coordinator role- and was lucky enough to be assigned Durham County as her new hub.
Born and raised in Brazil, Paula has lived and worked in Guatemala and El Salvador, in addition to the United States. She speaks four languages fluently: Spanish from her work in Guatemala and El Salvador; English from her 23 years in the United States; Portuguese from her home country; and Italian because she is of Italian heritage.
Paula's new role has her travelling far and wide again- but this time across North Carolina. She will be coordinating programming in 11 counties: Rockingham, Caswell, Person, Granville, Vance, Alamance, Orange, Durham, Chatham, Wake and Warren. In four of these counties, Paula works with Expanded Food and Nutrition Program (EFNEP) educators. EFNEP is a federally funded nutrition education program for low-income populations designed to reduce nutrition insecurity. Paula has the goal of expanding EFNEP to all of the 11 counties she serves.
Paula also provides leadership, training, and technical assistance to agents who are able and desire to implement the Steps to Health program in these same 11 counties. Steps to Health is NC State University’s SNAP-Ed program that provides communities with evidence-based nutrition programs to promote healthy eating behaviors and food resource management strategies.
Paula is passionate about these programs and about the mission of Cooperative Extension. She shares, "I've found that working at Cooperative Extension allows me to live my passion, which is helping people make better lives for themselves and pursue happiness, which I completely believe is the right of every human being."
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North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Durham County Center 721 Foster Street, Durham, NC 27701* (919) 560-0525