Scholarship fund blossoms thanks to donation

CROWN POINT | Bob Malik, chairman of the Garden & Pond Expo Committee of the Illiana Garden Pond Society, recently visited the Lake County Purdue Cooperative Extension Service to present a $5,000 check to Peter Kesheimer, chairman of the Lake County Master Gardeners Scholarship Committee.

The Illiana Garden Pond Society hosts its annual Garden and Pond Expo at the Lake County Fairgrounds in the spring. The next expo is scheduled for the weekend of April 30 and May 1.

The expo features garden and pond displays and vendor booths as well as informative seminars.

"All proceeds from the Garden and Pond Expo are used to fund community projects, such as the donation to the Master Gardeners Scholarship Fund, ponds and gardens at several elementary schools, and a rebuilt pond at a retirement community," said Malik.

For more information on the society's monthly meetings or the expo, visit www.illianagardenpond.org or call (219) 663-2365.

The Master Gardener College & University Scholarship Fund provides scholarships to college students from Lake County who are majoring in horticulture, landscape architecture, forestry, botany, plant pathology or entomology. Other majors that benefit consumer gardening may be considered if the applicant provides a one-paragraph description of how they will use their major to promote the objectives of the Master Gardeners.

For this academic year, the Master Gardeners awarded four, $2,000 scholarships to college students.

The deadline for applying for the 2011-12 academic year is Feb. 15. Applications may be obtained at www.ag.purdue.edu/counties/lake/Pages/MasterGardeners.aspx

Scholarships for the 2011-12 academic year will come from donations from the Illiana Garden Pond Society, Lake County Garden Club, Brantwood Garden Club and Hobart Garden Club, as well as private donors.