2025 Waves of Fun

UC Master Gardeners sweep awards

at the 2025 Ventura County Fair

Thank you to our VC Fair Chairperson - Arianne Swaffer for her vision, inspiration, and joyful expression of gardening! We appreciate you very much.

Marla Yaeh and Robin Galland are our Master Constructors! They designed and build the arbors and planter boxes for this winning display. They also painted the beautiful sunflower mural. Their talent and good humor has no limits.

Janet Avetisian and Angie Small Booth keep the committee's engine running by managing the meetings, tickets, administrative tasks, and helping to nurture plants. It's a dynamic, caring duo!

Jeanette Villegas does it all! She's an artist, designs the plant map, tends to the plants, feeds the group, and is head cheerleader! How lucky we are!

Gary Bednorz brought his many talents to the inside display and made it interactive, fun, and educational. He's set a new bar for our displays! So proud.

Sincere thanks to the other incredible Master Gardeners who helped with plants, supplies, and ideas including: Beryl Feller, Rebecca Martin, Jenny Kinney (and the Water Brigade), Karen Benson, and Casondra Cunningham.

Lastly, thank you to all the UC Master Gardeners who have volunteered for a shift at the VC Fair. This is our biggest event of the year and we need your support. There are a few open spots remaining. Click here

First Place Open Landscape with Construction or Water

The theme this year focused on sunflowers. The VC Fair Committee began planning in January and started growing plants from seed in February. They outdid themselves this year even with some setbacks!

Prize: $550

First Place

Educational Display

We have multiple hands-on educational activities for adults and children.There's a fire-wise display, seed challenge, compost/mulch activity, photo stand, and new coloring sheets.

Prize: $400

Best Plant Material

So many flowers! Some of the plants displayed are sunflowers, geraniums, zinnias, lavender, cosmos, and gorgeous passion fruit vines on the arbors. The photos cannot do it justice.

No cash prize

Education Through Art

Thank you to the artistic ETA committee for creating wonderful educational coloring sheets of plants, insects, and pollinators! The artwork is amazing and another exciting way we are educating the public.

Thank you to Maria Clark, MaryBeth East (chairperson), Dawn Gray, Sharon Mittelholtz, Sara Ostrander, Jeanette Villegas, LeAnn Walters, & Gary Bednorz and Angie Booth.

Last and certainly not least, thank you to Emma Volk, MG program advisor, for all your support and enthusiasm. We're so glad you chose us!

Gratitude to, Adam Novicki, and his team, Jose and Santos, for all the support they give the Master Gardeners at HAREC. We couldn't do it without you!

And finally, our deepest thanks to Annemiek Schilder, director of HAREC, for always making the Master Gardeners feel welcome, valued, and purposeful.