By CAROLYN CARY

Contributing Writer

Washington State University decided in 1972 to create a unique new program in which individuals could learn about grasses, vegetables, shrubs, plants and flowers, diseases and insects.

The idea spread and Georgia adopted the idea in 1976. The course is sponsored by the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service. The course is at no charge but students will pay about $70 for materials and textbooks.

The Fayette County group is about 12 years old.

In exchange for the free classes, each graduate must give 50 hours of volunteer service to the community the first year. From then on, they must give 25 hours of volunteer service yearly.

The classes begin in January, and are eight hours a week for 11 weeks.

Applications are turned in during the Fall months and the Fayette County office of the Extension Service will cull through them to select finalists for the next class.

The Fayette County Master Gardeners meet monthly and keep updated on new ideas, techniques, etc. Local Extension Agent, Sheldon Hammond, apprises them of the volunteer opportunities available.

The very latest volunteer project involved the landscaping around the newly refurbished Fayetteville Train Depot.

Master Gardener, Judy Kubitz, spearheaded the effort, along with 14 other volunteers.

Among the other local projects brought about by the county's special gardeners is the perennial garden at the Frederick Brown, Jr. Amphitheater in Peachtree City; assisting schools in its educational habitats with landscaping; the Youth Protection Home has a vegetable garden, thanks to a Master Gardener here; and the YMCA Play Park was another of the projects that came to fruition, thanks to the local Master Gardener program.