AMHERST, CAMPBELL and LYNCHBURG Al Thompson	The Hill City Unit established a new record for volunteer hours within a calendar year.  15, 809 hours were volunteered for 2004.  This represents approximately 150 hours per reporting Master Gardener, which equates to $316,338 worth of free volunteer hours to the State.  Additionally, we have started our 2005 Master Gardener intern training class with 20 promising candidates.  The class started in February and will complete in April. As an informational note, the American Boxwood Society 2005 annual meeting will be held May 5-7, 2005 in Lynchburg, VA.  Anyone interested in attending can call Adrienne Phillips @ (434) 277-5455.
CHARLOTTE Anne Anderson	Charlotte County Master Gardeners and the Southside Virginia Herb Society are sponsoring “Flora Fest”, Saturday, April 23^rd, 9:00a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Charlotte County Extension Office. Presentations include “Back Yard Habitat” with Bob Jones, “Bay Scape” with Howard Shephard, and “Birds in your Garden” with Peter Menold, and “The Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail” with P.K. Pettus. There will also be a Plant Sale. Call 434-542-5884 for more information and directions to the Extension Office.
CHARLOTTESVILLE – ALBEMARLE (Piedmont Master Gardeners) Jacki Vawter	Piedmont MG is holding its annual fund-raising event, a Spring Garden Lecture Series for the gardening public, on six consecutive Wednesday evenings beginning February 23 in Charlottesville.  The Lecture Series was announced in the last issue of this newsletter.  A special feature this year is to admit any MG in the state wearing their MG badge for half price.  Speakers include VA Tech's Robert McDuffie, landscape designer Ian Robertson, arborist Mike Neal and three of our own MGs.  In other news, PMG's membership is 120, our Help Desk reopens in April, a second annual plant sale is planned for May and programs for the 2005 monthly membership meetings are in place.