On behalf of the El Paso County Master Gardener Association (EPCMGA) and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, it is my honor to recommend that Roger “Doc” Stalker be considered for the title of Master Gardener Emeritus. He has both a BS degree in Business Administration and a MS degree in Organizational Management, both of which he put to good use as a Master Gardener. Doc is a Vietnam veteran and after an illustrious 20-year career in the Army, he retired and went to work for 22 years in applied technology before relocating with his wife Marlene to El Paso in 2009. Beyond his college career, he is also certified through the Texas State Master Gardener Program in Rainwater Harvesting. Through March 2023 Doc has accumulated 4,410 volunteer hours and 163 continuing education units. This does not count the many hours he spent researching multiple gardening topics to share information with the Association and the El Paso Community.
Doc started his career as a Master Gardener in Florida, but he and Marlene chose to trade in hurricanes and sweltering humidity for El Paso’s mild climate. He has been a stellar contributor to the El Paso County Master Gardener Program since he certified as a Texas Master Gardener in 2010. From the beginning, Doc became involved and made great contributions to the Association. He served as Vice President in 2011 and 2012 working diligently to ensure that Master Gardeners had the opportunity to earn credit for approved Continuing Education Units to complete their annual recertification. His volunteer efforts have been of benefit to Master Gardeners and to the community of El Paso as well. Serving as chairperson of the Transmountain Cleanup Committee he spearheaded efforts in conjunction with the TXDoT’s Adopt-A-Highway program and Master Naturalists to keep a seven-mile stretch of highway over the Franklin Mountains free of trash and debris.
Doc is a member of the EPCMGA Speakers’ Bureau and has been a regular speaker at home and garden shows, colleges, civic groups, and local workshops. Also included in that list are the New Mexico Master Gardener Conference, the Cochise County Master Gardener Conference in Sierra Vista, AZ, the Texas State MG Conference in Midland and El Paso’s TecH2O Learning Center discussing residential graywater use, rainwater harvesting, rose care, lawn care and invasive non-native plants. His three-hour PowerPoint presentation, How to Make a Rainy Day Last for Weeks, was recognized with a First Place Award at the 2013 Texas Master Gardener Conference. Many El Paso Master Gardeners took advantage of his class on creating rain barrels, coming away with 50-gallon drums designed and adapted by Doc to capture our not so frequent rain in El Paso.
He began teaching the Home Gardening series conducted by the Association at the El Paso Community College in 2016. Enrique Perez, our EPCC Facilitator shared this about Doc. ”I have had the pleasure of working with Doc since 2016 when he joined the Master Gardener volunteers who have taught the Home Gardening in El Paso course at the El Paso Community College. He has always been dependable, flexible, and consistent in excellent delivery of instruction on lawns and lawn care in our challenging area. At the appropriate time of year, he adds rose care to his presentation. His inimitable style combines both expertise and humor, so that the students can enjoy an “Ah ha!” moment as well as a “ha, ha” moment. They consistently praise both in their comments. He makes things simple, easy to understand, and easy to remember. He is a Master Gardener and a master teacher!”
He served as co-chair of the Rose Garden Committee for several years and completed countless volunteer hours in the El Paso Municipal Rose Garden pruning, deadheading and maintaining every aspect of the garden. Mark Benitez, former Rose Garden co-chair states: “Doc and I served on the Rose Garden Committee for over five years. He was supportive of our endeavors and together we created a plan that helped the El Paso Municipal Rose Garden flourish. He was instrumental and committed to our goal of making the Rose Garden a unique beauty in the El Paso region.” For the last four years, Doc taught the rose class for the annual Master Gardener Class. He has been a mentor/teacher to the countless Master Gardeners and Interns who were required to complete Rose Garden hours to complete their certification.
Doc’s presentations are always informative and entertaining. He uses his technology skills to enhance his presentations with pictures and videos, always adapting his presentation to his audiences. A favorite presentation is one on Rainwater Harvesting that Doc presented to home schoolers at the Ascarate Demonstration and Teaching Garden showing his versatility in educating all age groups. He spent several years answering hundreds of horticultural questions sent to the Ask-Us feature on the EPCMGA website. Barbara Aguilar states: “I’ve had many opportunities to learn gardening topics from Doc over the past years such as rainwater harvesting, rain barrel construction, rose pruning and highway cleanup. Most recently I was privileged to have him as a mentor for the Ask-Us feature on our website. He provided me with technical help navigating the emails and web-based questions as well as which research-based websites to access.” He is the consummate educator of research-based horticultural practices.
A highlight of Doc’s Master Gardener career was being awarded first place at the 2014 State Master Gardener Conference for the Outstanding Individual in a medium-large association. His local recognition by County Extension Agents in Horticulture also includes the coveted “Mr. Green Jeans” Award which is given annually by the local Agent to an outstanding Master Gardener. He is highly respected by the EPCMGA community as well as the staff at the El Paso County Extension office. Denise Rodriguez, El Paso AgriLife Extension Director sums it up perfectly. “Doc Stalker is an exemplary Extension volunteer. He believes in our mission and delivers high quality educational programs with style! He’s a great educator and a natural leader.”
Doc continued to work hard for the Association to share his vast gardening expertise and his joyful spirit as a Master Gardener until he encountered recent health issues. Being named an Emeritus has been a dream of his since he began his career as a Master Gardener, and I am confident that you will agree he is most deserving of this honor.