Golden Trowel Awards presented to Master Gardeners

By Sequim Gazette staff • September 18, 2025 1:30 am

Master Gardeners Brenda Lasorsa, Cece Fitton, Keith Dekker, and Susan Kalmar were recently honored with the Golden Trowel Award during a gathering at Woodcock Demonstration Garden in Sequim.

The ceremony marked 20 years that the foundation has presented its Golden Trowel awards, which are presented annually to master gardeners who have been active in the organization for more than seven years and have donated more than 750 hours of volunteer time.

Each of them took Master Gardener training in 2017. Between them, they have contributed thousands of volunteer hours to the Master Gardener Program and Foundation.

Following a sandwich lunch, Master Gardener Program Coordinator Laurel Moulton read the biography of each honoree. Quizzes, made up by Muriel Nesbitt, were available for Master Gardeners to guess which honoree was the subject of the question. Program Assistant Harmony Rutter provided the musical accompaniment to the tune of “These are a Few of My Favorite Things,” with lyrics that were written by Marilynn Elliott to reflect the accomplishments of the honorees.

To honor their service, each will have a stone paver installed in the Walk of Fame pathway at the Woodcock Demonstration Garden. A Golden Trowel rock and floral bouquet were also given to each honoree.

Lasorsa, a former employee of Battelle, has spent countless hours helping with the Youth Enrichment program, conducting plant clinics, working in the potting shed in anticipation of the spring plant sale, and serving on the Foundation board, a press release stated. She wrote the grant that funded a greenhouse at Woodcock.

Fitton, too, served on the Foundation board, as treasurer. She has spent hours prepping for the spring plant sale, being a mentor to new trainees, and working at featured gardens on the June Petals and Pathways Garden Tour, according to the awards announcement. She has a special interest in pollinators of all kinds.

Dekker, a transplant to Sequim from the south side of Chicago via Colorado Springs and Seattle, honed his pruning skills following classes in horticulture and being a member of Plant Amnesty. He is a past president of the Foundation and co-leader of the Garden Operating Committee. With his extensive pruning knowledge, the orchard at Woodcock has never looked better, the press release stated.

Kalmar, another past Foundation board member, has training in Ornamental Horticulture with a focus on landscape design. The succulent garden, culinary herbs, cottage garden greenhouse, berry patch, potting shed and Digging Deeper educational seminars have benefited from Kalmar’s expertise, noted the awards announcement. She is currently a writer and editor for the “Get It Growing” weekly articles that appear in the Sequim Gazette.