Smith County Master Gardeners to host statue dedication ceremony
Bronze sculpture is dedicated to the memory of Sue Adee
Writer: Robert Burns, 903-834-6191, [email protected]
TYLER — The Smith County Master Gardener Association will hold a dedication ceremony at 1 p.m. June 4 to unveil a bronze sculpture named “A Woman’s Touch,” dedicated to the memory of Master Gardener Sue Adee.
The ceremony will be held at the IDEA Garden, located in the southeast corner of the Tyler Rose Garden, 420 Rose Park Drive, Tyler.
Adee, who died earlier this year, was a long-time Master Gardener, according to Jean Smith, Smith County Master Gardener. The sculpture is a gift to the IDEA garden from John Adee, Sue Adee’s husband.
“Sue was a member of the original Master Gardening class in Smith County in 1994,” Smith said. “She was the first president of the Smith County Master Gardener Association and served in that position for two terms. Sue was instrumental in creating the ‘Squirmy Worm Recycles’ program and in establishing the IDEA Garden in the Tyler Rose Garden.”
The IDEA garden is a multi-functional demonstration garden that the Master Gardeners oversee and maintain, Smith said. It was awarded the Search for Excellence Award at the International Master Gardener Conference in 1999.
“Sue volunteered more than 4,000 hours to the Master Gardener program and mentored every class of incoming Master Gardeners as they worked in the IDEA garden,” Smith said. “She held the position of garden coordinator for 17 years until she was too ill to continue in that role.”
On June 6, the Smith County Master Gardener Association is hosting a one-day conference, Jewels in the Garden, Smith said.
“The conference is open to the public and is in honor of Sue Adee. She was a true jewel in the Smith County Master Gardener Association.”
Registration is $35 and includes lunch. To preregister, print out and mail the form at http://bit.ly/1OUEfxD to Pat Welch, 19461 Sandhill Lane, Flint, TX 75762. Make checks payable to “SCMG.” There is no registration for the June 4 IDEA garden dedication.
The Smith County Master Gardener program is administered by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.