AMHERST, CAMPBELL and LYNCHBURG Karen Sacasky	President/Coordinator Ken Smith recently traveled to Washington D.C. to accept a national award from Keep America Beautiful on behalf of Hill City Master Gardeners and Citizens for a Clean Lynchburg, Inc. As part of the education, an MTD Yard Man Vac was demonstrated to the public and Master Gardeners talked about how to turn yard waste into mulch or compost. This project won nationally as Best Sponsor Support for KAB’s Great American Cleanup. During the fall, we have been involved in a new project redesigning the entrance gardens at Amherst County High School. Technical students, administration and faculty worked under the direction of Master Gardeners to remove all old, overgrown plants and replace them with a more pleasing combination of plant material. Our Extension Agent invited a few Master Gardeners to participate in a meeting with Dr. Pat Sobrero when she visited our Extension Office in the fall. We certainly enjoyed meeting our new VCE Director.
CHESAPEAKE Pinky Derieux	The Eighth Heritage Arts Festival took place on November 6 and 7. CMGVs displayed a farm theme consisting of a barn façade decorated with hay bales, pumpkins, gourds, mums and pansies. As a prelude to the Festival, Virginia Dare Soil and Water Conservation District held Farm Days At the Heritage site on November 5. 400 first-grade students, teachers and parents toured eight hands-on educational stations where they learned about the many facets of agriculture and natural resource conservation. CMGVs provided a craft station and an interactive skit called “Who Polluted the Chesapeake Bay New intern training classes will begin on January 25 with a class of 31 interns. Agent interviews were conducted on December 3 and an offer has been extended. We anxiously look forward to the services of a new agent.
FAIRFAX George Graine	Outreach. We are in process of developing a series of articles to help citizens in Fairfax County with their gardening efforts. This ambitious idea is designed to offer homeowner/civic associations horticultural articles for inclusion in their in-house publications such as newsletters. Diagnostic Laboratory (Jan-Oct 2004). The laboratory facility is supervised by