Master Gardener 1997-2011

Lamont had a vision for a demonstration and teaching garden in downtown Greenville Texas In August of 2001 Lamont was named Individual Master Gardener of the Year for Small and enlisted the Hunt County MG membership to help make the dream come true.  Design and building of what is now known as The Heritage Garden of Hunt County began in 2002 and was formally dedicated in April of 2004.  It is a center piece of downtown Greenville Texas and was featured in the September/October 2008  issue of “Texas Gardener” magazine  and is listed by author Jessie Gunn Stevens in her book, “Touring Texas Gardens”.

Lamont served on the Governing Board of the Heritage Garden from 2003-2005 and helped create the guidelines for the garden including the mission statement, official name for the garden and day to day management, upkeep and operations. In 2003 Lamont was awarded “Friend of Extension” for his service to the Hunt County Extension program.  He always credited Extension for saving his family farm when he was growing up.  Lamont created a PowerPoint presentation on the History of Extension which is used statewide as a teaching tool for training Master Gardeners.

In 2004 Lamont added EarthKind specialist to his list of credentials and became one of the outstanding members of the Master Gardener Speakers Bureau. Lamont had over 1500 hours serving his community and the Master Gardener organization as a speaker to groups and clubs, landscape design advisor, home visit diagnostician and a mentor to new members. Throughout his Master Gardener career, Lamont was always one of those who when he saw a need he did it, and when a problem arose he became part of the solution.  He engaged and made a difference as an ambassador for the Master Gardener and Texas AgriLife Extension programs.