2024 GFL Celebration Exhibitors
On March 30th, 2024 folks from across the region will gather together for the 2nd annual Gardening For Life Celebration. The day includes an amazing conservation speaker, a native plant sale, community resources AND educational exhibits. For the latest overview of the day visit our event page.
What do we hope to have happen as a result of bringing quality educational exhibits to this event?
Here are our top three goals:
To Learn: The members of the GFLP Leadership Team are each on a quest to learn and grow. We choose Exhibitors, in part, because we personally want to learn all about the work they are doing to promote healthy habitat. We know you will enjoy this learning too!
To Connect: Did you know that there are amazing community organizations and resources available regarding environmental stewardship? We want to help you discover them by putting them in the spotlight!
To Inspire: When we experience the astounding good work folks are doing we may all feel inspired and empowered to do more!
It is our pleasure to introduce you to the GFL Celebration Educational Exhibitors for 2024:
Conserving Carolina - Conserving Carolina serves part of Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina and, to date, has protected 48,000 acres in the region. Their work spans many disciplines and includes community environmental education and outreach, creation of numerous preserves and parks, hiking and rail trail creation and management for the well-being of all, partnering with landowners to create conservation easements and promote invasive species removal and much more.
Congregational Church (UCC) Tryon - Creating community and inspiring action are cornerstones of the Congregational Church in Tryon. Their belief in the GFLP from the very beginning helped transform a small idea into something with real wings. Their support of our work has helped this project to take flight and soar. With a commitment to social and environmental justice, this faith community shows up in the Foothills in ways that inspire. From their campaign to remove invasive species from their campus to supporting free movie nights on Earth-wise topics to much more, they model ways a faith community can contribute to the greater good not only of the community, but of the planet.
DarkSky International - DarkSky International restores the nighttime environment and protects communities from the harmful effects of light pollution through outreach, advocacy and conservation. Light pollution disrupts wildlife, impacts human health, wastes money and energy, contributes to climate change, and blocks our view of the universe. Learn what DarkSky is doing and what you can do too!
MountainTrue - Our region is fortunate to have MountainTrue as champions of resilient forests, clean waters, and healthy communities in the Southern Blue Ridge. MountainTrue envisions thriving communities in our mountain region that are connected to and help sustain both each other and our natural environment. To achieve this, MountainTrue fosters and empowers residents throughout the region to engage in community planning, policy and project advocacy, and on-the-ground projects.
Wildbirds Unlimited Hendersonville - Helping folks in the region to create backyard habitats that support our feathered friends and more. In addition to being an amazing go-to place for all things birding, Wildbirds Unlimited Hendersonville provides in store and online education as well as community advocacy through partnering with and supporting many environmental organizations in the area.
NC Native Plant Society - Land of the Sky Chapter - The Land of the Sky Chapter of the NC Native Plant Society was created in 2023 and includes the greater Asheville area. Monthly meetings focus on the importance of native plants and include hands-on activities and educational hikes. Recent topics include WNC Pollinators, Turning Your Lawn into a Native Meadow and How to Collect and Clean Native Seeds.
Champions for Wildlife - “Our mission is simple. Inspire kids to fall in love with wildlife using art and education. We believe the more you learn, the more you love, the more you protect.” Outreach of this amazing organization touches students in all Polk County schools, both through in-class instruction and after-school inspiration. Projects have also included Henderson and Buncombe counties, as well as several other regions in the Southeast. It is through their help that the Seeds in Schools project happens!
Kudzu Warriors - The Kudzu Warriors, a special team project of Conserving Carolina, are a group of dedicated volunteers who meet on Mondays from 9:00-11:00AM to eradicate kudzu and other invasive plants at Norman Wilder Forest in Polk County, off 176 between Tryon and Saluda. They’ve made a tremendous impact on this Conserving Carolina-owned nature preserve. Areas that were once a mat of kudzu vines are now lush with native vegetation. But the fight is not over, and they need your help!
Raven Invasive Plant Management - A local, woman veteran-owned business serving WNC and beyond that is focused on invasive species removal in an ecologically friendly way.
Spriggly’s Beescaping - Led by husband-and-wife team Brannen Basham and Jill Jacobs, Spriggly’s Beescaping is a small business from Western North Carolina offering nature education and habitat restoration services. From exhibits, books, and courses to landscape design and implementation, they have dedicated their business to supporting pollinators and the ecosystem at large.
Wild Ones WNC Chapter - Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes promotes environmentally sound landscaping practices to preserve biodiversity through the preservation, restoration and establishment of native plant communities. The WNC Chapter covers a large geographic area, with members in Asheville, Franklin, Sylva and the Blue Ridge Mountain area, generally.
Nature for My Soul - Sharon Mammoser is a writer, photographer, teacher, and more than all of that, we like to think of her as a blue-ghost firefly whisperer. She shares her passion of the wonder and magic of the natural world via her educational blog, her captivating photographs and through her wildly infectious enthusiasm.
Backyard Butterflies - Backyard Butterflies serves the greater Piedmont region of North Carolina by providing butterfly education, community outreach, and assistance with creating supportive habitats for butterflies. They have also been conducting since 2022 a state-wide citizen science project called the North Carolina Under-reported County Mothing Project (NCUCMP at NC Moth Project) and have been engaged in promoting citizen science mothing with annual Moth Nights during National Moth Week since 2019. In 2023 in partnership with the North Carolina Entomological Society they founded the Hillsborough Moth Crawl, a multi location one-night mothing event.
Polk County Students/Champions for Wildlife and Seeds in Schools
Steve Pettis - NC State County Agent and host of the Gardening in the Mountains Radio Show and Podcast - “Environmentally Friendly Landscaping" - Did you know that running a lawn mower for an hour releases as much CO2 as driving your car eleven miles, leaf blowers increase particulate in the air exacerbating allergies and lawn fertilizers and pesticides wash into streams and rivers? These are just a few of our 'traditional' landscape practices that harm the environment. There is a better way to manage landscapes. Steve Pettis, NC State County Agent and host of the Gardening in the Mountains Radio Show and Podcast, will host a booth promoting landscape practices that promote biodiversity and are less harmful to the environment. Steve encourages home gardeners to plant native plants, manage lawns less intensively and promotes planting and protecting trees.
North Carolina Wildlife Federation - Since 1945, North Carolina Wildlife Federation has worked for all wildlife and habitat, bringing together conservationists, wildlife enthusiasts, hunters and anglers, government and industry to protect North Carolina’s natural resources. From the Great Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks, NCWF is a diverse community of people who value wildlife and wild places and the many ways to enjoy them. The Butterfly Highway is a statewide conservation restoration initiative that aims to restore native pollinator habitats to areas impacted by urbanization, land use change and agriculture across North Carolina. From backyard Pollinator Pitstops to large-scale roadside habitat restoration, the project is creating a network of native flowering plants to support butterflies, bees, birds and other pollen and nectar dependent wildlife."
The Botanical Gardens at Asheville - The Botanical Gardens at Asheville, located in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, one of the most diverse temperate ecosystems in the world! Their native plant collection includes more than 500 species native to the Southern Appalachians. These include many species of trees, shrubs, wildflowers, vines, grasses and sedges. Habitats vary from sunny and dry to shaded and wet, allowing for many suitable niche species.
Polk County Soil and Water - committed to the protection, preservation, and enhancement of Polk County's natural resources by providing educational guidance and technical assistance to the citizens of Polk County.
Hemlock Restoration Initiative - The objective of the Hemlock Restoration Initiative (HRI) is to restore eastern and Carolina hemlocks to their native habitats throughout North Carolina and to mitigate damage to hemlocks caused by infestation of the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA).
Mini Spotlight Exhibits will include: Prairie Moon Nursery, The Caterpillar Lab, Homegrown National Park and more.
