She's not 'pollen' your leg, she's retiring

WORLAND – Jane O'Connor, Washakie County Fair flower show superintendent, has decided to retire from her position and hand the vines over to someone else. Her successor hasn't been decided yet but O'Connor will be around to help make the transition smooth.

"I don't know who's going to, they [Garden Club] have to decide that, I will still help, of course, but someone else is going to take the leadership. I think it's time someone else should learn because I am in my 80s," O'Connor said. "I've enjoyed it, there has always been a really talented group of flower growers here in Worland, very knowledgeable people who have taken classes and just love gardening.".

O'Connor said that after moving back to Worland in 1997 and joining the Garden Club she began working with Glades Nielsen and Janis Hubbard. "The three of us sat down and tried to determine, OK, is it hard to get five of this kind, if it is then maybe three would be a better number. Choosing the number of specimens for each category, whether it was an annual, perennial, of course, we have shrubs and trees and grasses and all kinds of stuff that people can enter and then Hubbard passed away in 2009 and Glades was in Bee Hive. There wasn't anybody else that really knew what was going on so in 2009 I actually became the superintendent, other than that I was just a helper. It really takes three people; there is really quite a lot to it actually. I guess I inherited it," she said. "I took a number of Glades' design courses and Janis did too, the Hubbards had a greenhouse out on South Flat road, so both of those ladies were very educated in horticulture, so I learned a lot from those two ladies," she added.

Being superintendent was a serious job for O'Connor and she would make sure that she was at the fairgrounds the night before the judging to take in early entries and would be at the fairgrounds all day on entry day. But she wasn't there alone because there was too much for one person to do. "I'm there all day, entry day. From 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. they are allowed to bring, and that's when the bulk of the people bring their flowers, because judging starts at 1 p.m. It actually takes, well even when they start coming at 8 a.m., three ladies because we provide the containers, all the clear glasses for them and then we take them and put them in the right place, whether they are an annual, perennial or whatever. For judging we need a clerk, a person that attaches the ribbons, then we need at least two people bringing the exhibits from the shelves to the judge and then take them back. We've only had one judge that walked around, all the others they sat at the table," O'Connor explained.

Coming up with design ideas is also the responsibility of the superintendent and O'Connor found herself out of ideas this year so she went to the members of the Garden Club for assistance. "Glades was really into formal settings where you had the plate and the little plate and the whole nine yards but I didn't get anyone to enter that category so we would just have casual where you just needed the plate, a cup, a glass and the it fits on a 24" X 27" board then you could put another cloth or a placemat. Then it's up to the superintendent to come up with ideas for the design, so this year I asked the ladies [Garden Club members]. I said, 'I have about run out of ideas.' They said, 'how about a basket, garden tool, a kids tea set and a fairy garden.' They [entries] were so popular, they were so cut and so original. I heard a couple ladies say, 'we are going to do this again next year,'" O'Connor said.

During judging, O'Connor stated that she requires that the judge write something on the card that comes with the entry. "I insist that the judge write something on the card, if there were leaves in the water or if it was too old or just a comment, every card requires a comment. I think it's only fair if someone takes the time to bring an item to the fair, they deserve a comment on their card. That's how you learn. It's hard to keep your leaves out of the water, like poppies, the leaves are clear at the bottom of the stem, so you have about that much water in the bottom [half an inch] just enough," O'Connor said. "They are trying to talk me into being the judge out there next year but I'm not sure I want to do that. I know the criteria that you are looking for but I will have to think about that," she added.

After judging, her job wasn't over as she took care of the flowers for the rest of the week making sure that all the entries were well watered and that all petals and leaves that may have fallen off are cleaned up so that the exhibits were nice and tidy.

O'Connor will still have her hands full after retirement. She currently takes care of the flower bed at the nursing home [Worland Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center] and has plans on beautifying city hall. "In 1974 the Garden Club did landscaping around city hall. In fact I look at city hall, I used to do that one too, but I can only do so much, it should have the prettiest flower beds in town, I mean it is our city hall. I may take it on next spring, because it's our city hall, to me it should have some beauty around it. Yeah, I may go back and take over the flowers in front of the city hall; it's just down the street. But I would take out the old junipers too, they have done their thing it would just be easier to put new dirt in there and plant petunias, Worland's flower. I think I will do that, just take all that stuff out of there and put some flowers in the main one, that sounds like a good project," she said.

"Flowers are part of my heart and soul, a beautiful flower; I don't think there's anything more gorgeous than a new baby [flower]. It just lifts my spirits when I walk by and see a well-maintained flower bed because I know someone in that house loves the same thing I do, they love beauty. My mom was [a flower lover], hers were iris and peonies, I like them all but it just does things for my spirit. I love tulips, tulips are my favorite. I don't think anything makes a property look good better than flowers. You can have a gorgeous lawn, yeah it's a gorgeous lawn but with flowers... My mom was a gardener and I'm an outdoor person, I just love being out and working in the dirt. My mom even had a peach tree in this yard and she actually had peaches. She loved animals and gardening, farming so I guess I got it from my mother. We have lived in Lander, Rawlins, Laramie, Montrose, Oregon, Montana, New Mexico, Cheyenne and Virginia and in every place I have put in huge flower beds," O'Connor said.