Emma Eshbaugh spends much of her time at the Florida Botanical Gardens as a volunteer.
Anyone who has visited the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo may have run into Emma Eshbaugh. Over the past few years Emma has become a fixture around the gardens.
She is not only a member of the volunteer Florida Botanical Gardens Foundation, but spends much of her time planting, propagating, weeding, mulching and tending to the gardens to make sure everything looks just right for those who visit.
She is co-chair of the Holiday Lights at the Gardens this year, which is a spectacular holiday lights and decorations display that is open to the public 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. every evening through Jan. 1.
As if that wasn’t enough, twice a month she works at the diagnostic desk at the Extension offices helping solve problems people have with their plants.
Born and raised in Tallahassee, Emma moved to St. Petersburg as a teenager and for 40 years worked at an international electronics company located in the area. It wasn’t until she retired and moved to Largo with her husband three years ago that she became aware of the gardens through a neighbor. It was what you might call love at first sight.
Emma said she’s always had an interest in gardening. Her mother loved gardening and her husband does as well, “so it was a natural” that she soon found herself taking a master gardening class to become a Master Gardener.
That led to volunteering at the gardens, which in turn led to her joining the foundation. Before long she was asked to become a board member.
“There’s nothing out here (at the gardens) that I haven’t enjoyed yet,” said Eshbaugh, “between the holiday lights and working in the dirt.”
Emma admits that at times she may volunteer too much, but said “when something comes up, I’ll say, ‘Yes I’ll do that,’ because I find it a lot of fun and enjoy it.”
Her latest project is helping with smart phone QR (quick response) codes for the various signs that identify the plants. Visitors will be able to scan the code and have it bring up a fact sheet from the University of Florida that explains about that particular plant. She said a special committee has just begun working on the project and members “are taking baby steps, just learning about it” themselves. They hope to implement the codes sometime next year.
With budget restraints, Eshbaugh said, “It is the volunteers that make a big difference. We have such a great time with each other.”
She noted the volunteers come from all walks of life and she works alongside doctors, teachers and others, many of whom are retired. A number of younger unemployed people volunteer as well, just to keep busy while they look for work.
Eshbaugh recalled last year when a young man who was homeless and had no schooling volunteered.
“He was a great asset to us and we enjoyed having him out here,” she said.
She noted several Master Gardeners took him under their wings and helped him through a tough period in his life until he finally found a job and was able to move on with his life.
Eshbaugh believes a person doesn’t have to have a college degree or any special skills to volunteer at the Botanical Gardens.
“If you enjoy plants and just being with a lot of nice friendly people, then come on out. We’d love to have you,” she said with a genuine warm smile.
Florida Botanical Gardens Foundation president and volunteer coordinator Chuck Scaffidi said Esbaugh is ”very talented and multi-functional and very valuable to the foundation and the gardens,” adding she is” dedicated and meticulous in what she does.”
Scaffidi believes, with the tough economic times the county is depending on people like Eshbaugh and the more than 200 other volunteers the foundation relies on become more and more critical to their success. While the Florida Botanical Gardens takes up much of her time, Eshbaugh still finds time for other activities, including traveling and golfing with her husband, who also does volunteer work at the gardens. She said she was supposed to sky dive recently with her grandson on his 18th birthday but circumstances prevented that from happening. She still hopes to do that though and it is on her “bucket list.”
Eshbaugh is proof that life doesn’t stop after one retires. She is able to stay active, help out in her community and do things she truly enjoys. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Pinellas County volunteers can expect to make a difference in the life of their community, while exploring interests, sharing knowledge, assisting others and making friends. For more information, visit www.pinellascounty.org/volunteer, email volunteers@pinellascounty.org or call 727-464-VIPS (8477).
Editor’s note: This article was submitted by Pinellas County Communications.
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