Past Presidents
President Emeritus: Elizabeth Danko
An avid perennial gardener for over 35 years, Elizabeth followed her passion and began the EMG class in January of 2019. She is currently certified as an Advanced Master Gardener, certified in Smart Gardening, and has completed the educational classes needed to volunteer as a Docent at Matthaei Botanical Gardens.
Greg Nowak's passion for gardening started in childhood on his grandmother's farm. He finished the Master Gardener class in 2017, became an Advanced Master Gardener three months later, and joined the MGWWC Board soon after. He is also a Certified Smart Gardener.
Gary Oswell
President Emeritus December 2016 - December 2018
My experience as a gardener goes back to working in my backyard with my grandfather. Suffice it say that was a few years ago. My favorite gardening experiences have always been working with children. I wanted to pass on what I learned to future generations. Since my career choice was teaching, I was very fortunate to have several opportunities to garden with kids. This is my favorite thing to do. I joined the Master program to learn more about the world’s best hobby. I was not disappointed. There is always something new and exciting to learn from my fellow master gardeners. My strongest gardening talent is composting. I know that composting is the only way to maintain fertile soil for gardens while at the same time eliminating the use of fertilizer. Fertilizer kills microorganisms in the ground water and causes pollution in the soil. And it is expensive too. COMPOST IS FREE!!!!
Bob Bransky
Past President: January 2016 - December 2016
MG Class 2012, Advanced Master Gardener, Master Composter, Volunteer Coordinator for The City of Monroe Community Gardens. Loves teaching gardening classes. Enjoys Photography and Woodworking. Favorite flower is the Zinnia.
Deirdre Hope
Deirdre took the Master Gardener class in 2011 and became an Advanced Master Gardener in 2013. Among many other things, she has been involved with Suburban Shoots, coordinates the Master Gardener Information Booth at Canton Farmers Market, growing food for First Step, helped install a Butterfly Garden near the Canton Civic Center and updated an historic garden at the Canton's Preservation Park.
Char Tavarozzi
Char is an Advanced Master Gardener, a Master Composter and Master Rain Gardener. A retired Web page designer and graphic artist, she enjoys gardening, cooking, photography, genealogy and spending time with her two dogs Riley & Jackie and traveling with her husband, Mike. Her latest endeavor is serving as Registrar for the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR.)
Paul Rodman
Paul has been gardening for over 45 years. He is an Advanced Master Gardener, and American Rose Society Consulting Rosarian. He is past president of the Western Wayne County Master Gardener Association. He is co-chair of the greenhouse. Rodman has amassed over 5500 volunteer hours in the Master Gardener program. Rodman is the garden columnist for The News Herald newspaper, in Southgate, Michigan. He has also written for the Organic Gardening.com web site as well as Daves Garden and All Things Plants .com. He is a certified Master Canner and has taught classes on Home Food Preservation for over 7 years. He has lectured on various gardening topics throughout southeastern Michigan. His favorite pastime is teaching children about gardening. For the past several years he has conducted classes for second grade students teaching them about subjects ranging from vermi-composting to propagation.
Here is a quote from his obituary: “Few accomplishments made him as proud as his Master Gardener certification, which he put to good use not only in his own backyard but in lectures, presentations, plant exchanges, community gardens, and online and newspaper columns. He collected his own rainwater, was a steward for butterflies, and gladly sacrificed mere grass wherever more space was needed for bee balm or green peppers.”
January 30, 1945 - September 15, 2019
Bruce Forrest
Bruce completed the Master Gardener Course in 1999, and completed requirements for the Advanced Master Gardener Certification in 2000. He served as Volunteer Coordinator of the Taylor Goodwill Garden from 2002 until 2012. During those years he spent five in the Wayne County Extension Diagnostics Program, coordinated the Master Gardener Greenhouse for 3 years, and is a Past President Emeritus of the Master Gardeners of Western Wayne County During 2013 he will serve as co-chair of the Master Gardener Greenhouse with special emphasis on germinating selected heirloom vegetables for seed saving.
Sharon Lodico
Sharon is an Advanced Master Gardener who was raised on a farm and has been gardening all of her life. Sharon became a Master Gardener in 2003 and an Advanced Master Gardener in 2004. She started with MGWWC as the hospitality chair, then historian and then President from 2010 - 2012. She also served as co-chair of the Venoy Task Force.