By: Phyllis Griffard, President
2017 was a big year! We propagated, sold, and/or installed over 350 native plants! We established our Demonstration Garden at Acadian Village. Designed by Board Member Bill Fontenot and installed under the leadership of Janice Eaton-Akers, Dona Weifenbach, and Sam Fontenot, this garden will serve as a homebase for ANPP education and outreach. ANPP was gifted a professional greenhouse and collection of books by the family of June Walker, an ANPP founding member we lost in 2017. The June Walker Memorial Greenhouse is now in place at the Teche Farm in Arnaudville, in partnership with Nunu Collective. The Barnraiser Campaign, spearheaded by Janice Eaton-Akers, was a huge success and made the greenhouse installation possible. Thank you to all who donated, lent expertise, or sweat to the process. June’s library can be enjoyed at the Ira Nelson Horticultural Center. ANPP consulted, maintained, or helped install local plantings that incorporate native plants, including the Rain Garden at Vermilionville. We spoke at local civic groups and met with city leaders and planners. We educated the public at monthly meetings and information tables at public events.
In December, we recognized the efforts and vision of our founding president, Janice Eaton-Akers, with our first Golden Trowel Award. Janice and spouse Jimmy Akers will be leaving us for a grand adventure, and we are grateful for all they have done to get us on firm ground. Thanks to Janice’s leadership, we received our second grant from the Louisiana Native Plant Society, and we were a finalist for eTown’s eChievement Award. See the highlights in this slideshow in this shared Google Drive file.
