top of page
2026 KEMG Conference EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT THROUGH 7/24
September 28 - 29, 2026
Pre-Conference Tours and Book Signing with Ethan Tapper (Keynote Speaker),
Sunday, September 27, 2026
Hopkins County Extension Office
25 Mahr Park Dr, Madisonville, KY 42431
Registration includes:
-
World class keynote presentation
-
Six educational sessions
-
Access to the Master Gardener Seed Swap
-
Two continental breakfasts
-
One lunch and dinner
-
Farmer's Market on Tuesday
-
Extensive opportunities to socialize and network with your fellow Master Gardeners from throughout the Commonwealth!
Registration Payment Details
We accept online payments via credit/debit card as well as 'offline' payments via check or money order. Please make checks or money orders payable to PMGA and mail to:
David Call, PMGA Treasurer
c/o Hopkins County Ext. Office
25 Mahr Park Dr
Madisonville, KY 42431
CEUs
KEMGs are able to earn Continuing Educational Units (CEUs) by attending the Conference. CEUs are awarded at the discretion of the local Master Gardener Coordinator, but suggested CEUs* are as follows:
-
Keynotes: 1 – 1.5 hours each
-
Sessions: 1 hour each
-
Pre-Conference Tours: 1-2 hours each
* Pending local coordinator approval.
Schedule of Events
Sunday, September 27
Pre-Conference Activities (optional)
The following pre-conference activities are free of charge with the exception of the 6 pm Private Dinner. Start times listed are in Central Standard Time. Advance REGISTRATION is required.
1 pm Activities
1. The Arboretum & Pollinator Garden at First Christian Church
In 1978 the First Christian Church built its current facility on a 14-acre park-like tract of land that included many large mature trees. Because the membership felt strongly about environmental stewardship and enhancing the beauty of the land, an intentional effort to plant additional tree specimens began.
In 2023, First Christian Church became a Level 1 accredited arboretum. Over 70 different trees and shrubs have been documented. The most significant collection on the land is Quercus, with 22 oak species documented.
The Pollinator Garden is currently in an expansion phase after receiving a Plant America Grant in 2025. The expansion will provide public access to native and keystone pollinator plants. Recovered church artifacts from the 1910 burned downtown church, four Ionic Capitals from the Greek columns and two 9.5’ limestone slabs, will be placed along a pebbled garden pathway and arbor. The garden will demonstrate how to attract, observe, and identify pollinators and beneficial insects using Native Plants to Kentucky.
1030 College Dr, Madisonville, KY 42431
2. Organilock
Ten years ago, Scott and Brenda Laskowski didn't have a single garden bed - just a curiosity about healthy soil. Fast forward a decade, and their test plots have blossomed into a lively laboratory of color, flavor and good conversation. Powered by its own creation, Soil Food, OrganiLock turned the land into a lush showcase of what happens when biology meets backyard.
-
Get the Dirt on Soil Food- discover how this soil amendment makes gardening easier and more productive.
-
Explore the Test Gardens
-
Tour the thriving Community Garden
-
Learn from experience - pick up proven tips and tricks.
4100 Nebo Rd, Madisonville, KY 42431
3. Mahr Park Arboretum
Mahr Park Arboretum is a 265-acre park and arboretum located in Madisonville, Kentucky, showcasing a rich natural environment teeming with wildlife, native trees, and plants. The park offers a variety of recreational and educational opportunities.
Mahr Park Arboretum achieved Level II Arboretum status in 2023 and is featured on the Kentucky Garden Trail.
Attendees can tour the Mahr home, enjoy a golf cart tour of the grounds, check out the many different gardens, kayak on Lake Peewee, and enjoy the scenic beauty of the rolling landscape along the walking and hiking trails.
465 Mahr Park Dr, Madisonville, KY 42431
(Meet at the Welcome Center)
2 pm Activities
1. Teaguewood Daylilies & Barn Quilts - Laura Teague
Walk through a decorative red gate and enter a peaceful world of plants. At the center of the garden is a gazebo surrounded by daylily plants. The garden also contains numerous trees, such as crepe myrtles, redbuds, apple trees, a large river birch, and two very strange flying dragon ornamental orange trees. Native plants such as black-eyed Susans, beebalm, cup plant, Joe Pye weed, and milkweed attract birds and insects.
The main attraction of this tour is the two dozen barn quilts Laura has created. The barn quilts are displayed on the 6-foot-tall fence surrounding the garden. In addition to over 500 registered daylily cultivars, the garden contains hundreds of daylilies Laura has hybridized.
Conference attendees visiting the garden on Sunday will have the opportunity to choose some free plants to take home on Tuesday.
30 Carroll Gentry Rd, Madisonville, KY 42431
2. Organilock
Ten years ago, Scott and Brenda Laskowski didn't have a single garden bed - just a curiosity about healthy soil. Fast forward a decade, and their test plots have blossomed into a lively laboratory of color, flavor and good conversation. Powered by its own creation, Soil Food, OrganiLock turned the land into a lush showcase of what happens when biology meets backyard.
-
Get the Dirt on Soil Food- discover how this soil amendment makes gardening easier and more productive.
-
Explore the Test Gardens
-
Tour the thriving Community Garden
-
Learn from experience - pick up proven tips and tricks.
4100 Nebo Rd, Madisonville, KY 42431
3. Mahr Park Arboretum
Mahr Park Arboretum is a 265-acre park and arboretum located in Madisonville, Kentucky, showcasing a rich natural environment teeming with wildlife, native trees, and plants. The park offers a variety of recreational and educational opportunities.
Mahr Park Arboretum achieved Level II Arboretum status in 2023 and is featured on the Kentucky Garden Trail.
Attendees can tour the Mahr home, enjoy a golf cart tour of the grounds, check out the many different gardens, kayak on Lake Peewee, and enjoy the scenic beauty of the rolling landscape along the walking and hiking trails.
465 Mahr Park Dr, Madisonville, KY 42431
(Meet at the Welcome Center)
4 pm Book Signing with Ethan Tapper
Vermont forester Ethan Tapper, the author of "How to Love a Forest: the bittersweet work of tending a changing world" and our 2026 KEMG state conference Keynote Speaker, will join us for a book signing and share a few thoughts about the book.
Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event. This event is open to the public.
Mahr Park Arboretum, Event Barn B
465 Mahr Park Dr, Madisonville, KY 42431
6 pm Private Dinner at Mahr Park Arboretum, Event Barn A
Master Gardeners arriving on Sunday are invited to a private dinner at Mahr Park Arboretum's Event Barn A. This will be a casual affair, with lots of time for socializing. The menu will feature a variety of grilled meats plus tasty side dishes and dessert.
Cost of the dinner is $25.
Monday, September 28
Conference Schedule
8:00 am Registration, Networking, Light Breakfast
8:45 am Welcome and Introductions
9:00 am KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Ethan Tapper, Vermont Forester and author
"How to Love a Forest"
11:00 am Misty Gish & Dr. Micah Perkins, Owensboro Technical College
"A Culture of Conservation at a Kentucky College"
12:00 pm Networking Lunch
1:00 pm Robert Hoffman, Roundstone Native Seed
"Roundstone Native Seed: A Leader in Seed Mix Design and Native Plants"
2:30 pm Jeff Nelson, Kentucky Native Plant Society
"The KNPS: 40 Years Promoting Education, Research, and Conservation of Kentucky's
Native Plants and Plant Communities"
3:45 pm Lightning Round ("How is your group helping to plant the seeds of tomorrow?")
6:00 pm KEMG Awards Dinner (Baptist Health Deaconess, 200 Clinic Drive, Madisonville)
Tuesday, September 29
Conference Schedule
8:00 am Networking, Light Breakfast
9:00 am Laura Johnson & Kathryn Keefe, Thrive Forest School at Creasey Mahan Nature Preserve
"Learning from Nature: Stories from the Thrive Forest School"
10:30 am Ashley Osborne, University of Kentucky 4-H Extension
"Growing the Next Generation: An Introduction to the Junior Master Gardener Program"
11:30 am Closing Remarks
12:00 pm Farmer's Market, food trucks
Conference Speakers
ETHAN TAPPER is a forester, digital storyteller, and the bestselling author of How to Love a Forest: The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World. For more than a decade, Ethan has been recognized as a thought-leader in the world of ecosystem stewardship, winning numerous regional and national awards for his work. Since its publication in 2024, How to Love a Forest has been named the winner of the 2025 New England Book Award for nonfiction and received international acclaim.
In this talk, Ethan will draw from his work as a forester and his book to discuss what it means to care for forests and other ecosystems at this moment in time. How do we respond to the harmful legacies of the past? How do we use our species' incredible power to heal rather than to harm? How do we reach to a better future?
MISTY GISH is a Professor of Biology at Owensboro Community and Technical College (OCTC). She lives outside Owensboro with her husband and two dogs. She is a novice gardener who enjoys being out in nature whenever possible: going hiking, taking photographs, and working in her pollinator gardens at home and on the main campus.
OCTC strives to enhance the quality of life and economic vitality in the Commonwealth. Following with this mission, OCTC has implemented various conservation and environmental stewardship activities. This presentation will involve these many different ongoing initiatives occurring on the main campus of OCTC, including the planting and maintaining of pollinator gardens, wetland restoration, Motus Wildlife Tracking System, monitoring monarch butterflies and student conservation projects.
DR. MICAH W. PERKINS is a Professor of Biology at Owensboro Community and Technical College. He has worked at the college since August 2005. Over the years, he has taught a variety of coursework in biology including introductory classes, Human Ecology, Introduction to Conservation Biology, Zoology, Botany and Insect Biology. Micah has a B.S. in Wildlife Biology from Murray State University, a M.S in Natural Resource Sciences with an emphasis in Avian Conservation from the University of Nebraska, and a Ph.D. in Biology from University of Louisville. Some of his previous work has included being the naturalist for John James Audubon State Park and a research coordinator at The Jones Center at Ichauway in Newton, Georgia.
Micah will be co-presenting with Misty Gish on Monday.
ROBERT HOFFMAN is the Restoration Ecologist and consultant for Roundstone Native Seed. Robert has a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resource Management – Wildlife Biology from the University of Tennessee at Martin and a Master of Science in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation from the University of Florida.
In this presentation you're going to learn about the history of native plants in KY and how native plants differ from nonnative plants, and their benefits. You will also learn about native plant alternatives for landscaping and the details that go into seed mix design.
JEFF NELSON has a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Jeff worked as the IT Director of the Paducah Independent School District for 15 years, retiring in 2008. A native of California, Jeff moved his family to McCracken Co., Kentucky, in 1987, and has spent the last 35+ years restoring the property from farmland to a native woodland. Jeff has been a member of the Kentucky Native Plant Society since the early 1990s, on the KNPS Board since 2017, and president from 2022 to 2025.
This presentation will take a look at the work the Kentucky Native Plant Society has done over the last 40 years educating the public about the importance and value of native plants and plant communities. We will see how the Society's efforts have contributed to the interest in native plant gardening while also working to preserve and protect wild, native plants in the Commonwealth.
LAURA JOHNSON has served as the Director of Thrive Forest School—the Louisville area’s first nature-based preschool—since 2022. In this role, she leads multiple programs that emphasize outdoor learning, social emotional development, and child-led exploration in nature. She holds a Master of Social Work from Indiana University and, prior to joining Thrive, spent many years in classrooms supporting teachers and young children with social-emotional needs. Laura is passionate about helping children build confidence, resilience, and a lifelong connection to the natural world.
This session explores how forest school philosophy embraces an emergent curriculum guided by the natural world. Hear from Thrive Forest School educators about how they facilitate meaningful connections between students and their environment - creating space for children to grow through hands-on experiences and nurturing a sense of stewardship for young learners.
KATHRYN KEEFE joined Thrive Forest School as an educator in 2018. In 2021, she created Acorns, Thrive’s toddler program, engaging children and their parents in outdoor learning. She holds a Bachelor's degree in English from Northern Kentucky University. Kathryn has always loved working closely with the environment and truly enjoys teaching in the forest.
Kathryn will be co-presenting with Laura Johnson on Tuesday.
ASHLEY OSBORNE is an Extension Specialist for 4‑H Youth Development with the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service. She has worked with Kentucky 4‑H since 2016 and provides statewide leadership in natural resources education, plant and soil sciences, and the Kentucky 4‑H Achievement Program.
This session provides an overview of the Junior Master Gardener (JMG) Program, including program structure, participation levels, and how youth can work toward Junior Master Gardener certification. Participants will explore JMG curriculum guides designed to support hands‑on learning, with a closer look at specialty resources such as the Wildlife Gardener curriculum. This presentation is ideal for Master Gardeners looking to engage with 4‑H youth and support horticulture and environmental education in their communities.
LODGING
Hampton Inn & Suites Madisonville, located at 201 Ruby Drive, has provided us with a block of rooms at the discounted rate of $149 per night per room plus taxes. Book your hotel room(s) before September 13 to take advantage of this special rate. Call the hotel reservation office at 270-825-2226 and reference our group name: "2026 Kemg Confrence" to reserve your rooms; you may also book online using this custom link.
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Madisonville, 234 Midtown Blvd. is another good option, however there is no discounted rate.
You may also select from a vast variety of lodging options in and around the Madisonville area including local Airbnb's, Campgrounds, Hotels and VRBOs.
DINING
These Madisonville businesses are less than 3 miles from the Hopkins County Extension Office.
COFFEE
Campfire Roasters, 1060 Margaret Ct.
7 Brew, 552 Island Ford Rd
Dunkin Donuts, 221 S Main St
Starbucks, 495 Hudson Park Dr
BREAKFAST
Golden Glaze Donuts, 67 N. Franklin St. Fresh donuts and more.
LUNCH
Calhoun's Custom Meats, 1005 Pride Ave. Lunch specials, deli deals.
DINNER
NU9VE Grill & Cantina, 1002 N. Main St. Mexican restaurant and steakhouse.
Silver Star Burgers, 1800 N. Main St. Juicy burgers made with fresh local beef.
bottom of page