How the Story Grows

• SJC Gardens, Founder

• SJCG Director

As a child, Danielle discovered her passion for gardening from her Grandfather. His garden was a modest-sized plot where she learned how to grow organically. Danielle developed SJC Gardens to honor her Grandfather by serving the midtown communities in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Danielle enjoys spending her time in the garden and traveling, camping, and visiting with family. Danielle is committed to her community and serves on the Human Rights Committee.

• 4-H Youth Development Specialist at MU Extension

• SJC Gardens Mentor

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Cindy Wells has been an educator for over 25 years and currently works with 4-H for the University of Missouri Extension. Imparting knowledge to others has always been a passion, and Cindy has been fortunate to teach others ages preschool to senior citizens throughout her career. As a "farmgirl," Cindy has always enjoyed growing a garden and preserving and canning the bounty. Being able to impart this knowledge to the youth is a blessing in her life. Cindy resides in rural Nodaway County with her husband, two horses, two dogs, and one cat. They have three sons and seven wonderful grandchildren.

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• General Contractor

• SJC Gardens Mentor

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Kevin is a lifelong resident of St. Joseph, was raised in the Midtown area and attended Central High School. He's worked as full-time, independent, general contractor for the past 10 years. Kevin earned his Associate's Degree in HVAC, and electrical wiring from Vatterott College-Kansas City Campus in 2005. Kevin has over 30 years of hands on experience with all types of construction  from electrical, concrete, carpentry, plumbing, and brick laying. Kevin also has experience reading schematics and blueprints, and trouble shooting with a strong sense of detail.  Kevin has overseen all construction for SJCG since our beginning in 2017!

Kevin's been active in the community helping with the Juneteenth Festival for several years, and Kevin has volunteered his free time with MoKan over the years.

In his free time, Kevin enjoys fishing, working on cars, traveling, and spending time with his family.

• Local Business Owner

• SJC Gardens Mentor

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Ecy Bullock is the current owner/director of Bullock Family Funeral and Ashland Cemetery, in St. Joseph, Missouri. He also serves are VP Research 1, a Clinical Site Management Organization. Previously he served as service as CEO of Trinity Management and Community Development Corporation and the Director or Budgets and Contract for the University of Kansas Medical Center Research Institute, overseeing a $100,000,000 research budget for the institution.

Currently he serves as the assistant minister at the St. Francis Baptist Temple where he has served since March 2000. Prior to that he served as youth pastor for 10 years at the First Baptist Church, Elwood Kansas, he also served as the youth director for the Northeastern District Association, Auxiliary to the Kansas State Baptist Convention and the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc, as well as special assistant to the Vice-Moderator.

Licensed in 1991 as a Minister and Ordained in 1995, and attend Central Theological Seminary and has an earned Master’s Degree in International Business. He previously serviced as President of the Ministerial Alliance and the local chapter of the NAACP and has work as a volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America where he obtained the rank of Eagle Scout.

He is the proud father of two children Ecy Jr. and Daelyn, and a granddaughter Greisyn Bullock.

• Owner of Artistudio.co

• SJC Gardens Mentor

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Lisa Carol Sprague is a graphic designer/digital illustrator and owner of Artistudio.co in Northwest Missouri. Lisa's work is dedicated to providing digital assets and visual branding power to her clients locally and nationally. Projects range from illustrating children's books to current corporate branding and conference campaign assets for clients. With her graphic design knowledge, Lisa's skills include marketing analysis, digital animation, food photography, and writing for her food blog midwestandgrassfed.com. Born and raised in Michigan, Lisa moved to Kansas City in the early 80s. She currently resides in St. Joseph with her husband and two daughters. When not working behind a computer, Lisa can be found in her garden or volunteering.

• St. Joseph Museums, Executive Director

• SJCG Mentor

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Sara Wilson has served as Executive Director of the St. Joseph Museums, Inc. since 2014. She is Past President of the Missouri Association of Museums and Archives, Past Secretary of the Coalition of State Museum Associations, and Past President of the St. Joseph Downtown Rotary Club. Wilson holds an undergraduate degree in Sociology and an M.A. in Anthropology and Museum Studies. She served as adjunct faculty teaching Introduction to Museum Studies at Arizona State University. Wilson owned and operated her own business for nine years before returning to the museum field as the Interpretive Planner for the Glore Psychiatric Museum in 2013. She has experience in exhibit design, educational programming, collections management, nonprofit leadership, and development. Wilson has successfully overseen several exhibit design projects, special events, fundraisers, and capital improvement projects during her directorship. She is a 200hr Registered Yoga Instructor and enjoys raising consciousness in museum spaces. When she is not working at the St. Joseph Museums and serving her community, she enjoys kayaking with her daughter.

• InterServ, Director of Programming

• SJCG Mentor

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I started my career working with children and youth during college days at Northwest Missouri State University. After graduation with a BS in Family and Environmental Resources and minor in business, I worked in various childcare settings (private, university based, hospital based, church based, and owner/director of my own) before finally landing at InterServ 24 years ago. I began here as the Childcare Director over 2 licensed sites, and now I am the Director of Programming for the agency. During my time here, I also completed a graduate certificate from Walden University in Administration of Childcare Programs s well as a Master's Degree from Western Governors University-Missouri in Admin, Management, and Leadership.

My late husband Ronnie and I have 5 children, ages 19 to 34, and 9 grandchildren, ages 6 weeks to 14 years. I spent 19 years traveling and singing in a family music ministry, Full Life Trio.

Amanda Mays-Watson is a proud native of St. Joseph, Missouri, where she was born and raised until junior high then moved to Portland, Oregon and then to Storm Lake, Iowa. Amanda is a high school graduate of Alta, Iowa High School, Iowa Central Comm College and Missouri Western State University.  With a passion for law and Real Estate, she pursued a career as Paralegal, and worked as a Paralegal for The Montee Law Firm for 15 years and as a Realtor for 14 years.

Beyond her professional endeavors, Amanda Mays-Watson finds joy and fulfillment in her personal life. She is happily married to her loving partner and is the proud parent of one child. Amanda enjoys exercising, walking, movies and spending time with family and friends and looks forward to serving as one of the newest members of the St. Joseph Community Gardens.

​I am a life long resident of St Joseph graduating from Lafayette High School. I received my BS degree in Accounting and Business Management from Missouri Western State University and my MBA from Northwest Missouri State University. I have worked with Mosaic Life Care for the past 12 years as well as maintaining a successful tax preparation business for over 30 years. I enjoy sharing my life with my wife of 27 years and watching my two children grow and navigate high school together. Our family is very active with sports, walking and dance activities. We can be found at the lake or by the pool when not working or dancing/sports.

George Kegode is an accomplished agronomist, having earned his doctorate in agronomy specializing in crop protection from Iowa State University. His academic journey led him to serve as a faculty member at various institutions, including North Dakota State University, Northwest Missouri State University, and Highland Community College, where he shared his expertise with students.

Since 2019, George has called St. Joseph home, actively engaging in the community as a trustee and leader of the Men's Ministry at St. Francis Baptist Temple. Concurrently, he serves as a Science Writer at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, bridging the gap between scientific research and public understanding.

Additionally, George extends his impact globally by providing agricultural and integrated pest management consulting services to international development organizations operating in Africa. He also serves as the President of Mwandani International, a nonprofit dedicated to improving rural livelihoods in western Kenya.

In his leisure time, George finds joy in serving as a soccer referee.

Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to make things grow. As a young child growing up in East Tennessee, I remember planting Blue Lake green beans on my family's farm.  My grandma taught me how to can pears and apples from our trees.  When I went off to Emory & Henry College in Virginia, I remember forcing bulbs in my dorm room window.  After graduating with a BA in Studio Art and a BS in Business Management, I worked with children, youth, and college students in college and church settings.  Deciding to go to seminary a few years later, I met my husband and eventually graduated with a MDiv. from Saint Paul School of Theology.  During this time, I took up gardening again and joined the Kansas City Community Gardens. I harvested vegetables on my patio and eventually had garden plots in the St. John Community Garden.  While in seminary, I began working with children in a school setting. Eventually, I became a certified special education teacher and earned an Ed.S. in Educational Leadership.  After moving to the Ozarks for my husband's work, I became director/principal of the Cooperative Alternative School and the Special Learning Center for students from 14 districts in the Ozarks.  In the Ozarks, I had a garden in every place we lived. My husband and I adopted two daughters while there. We moved to St. Joseph in 2019, and I began teaching in the St. Joseph School District. We looked for a place in the city that had room for a garden and my oldest daughter's outdoor animals, while have included ducks, chickens, and a Kune Kune pig.  This spring, I am beginning to teach my one-year-old grandson how to dig in the dirt and plant things just as I was taught many years ago in Tennessee.

I was born in Washington DC, and grew up in College Park, MD, within 1 mile of the University of MD. Our school system was academically geared towards everyone going to college. The school board made sure that each year we would have field trips to the Smithsonian, the Washington Monument, National Gallery of Art, and the National Arboretum. I fell in love with the gardens, the colors, the lush vegetation, the trees. It's an amazing place to visit. 

 

Once moving to Missouri, no matter where I lived at, I kept a vegetable garden, plus lots and lots of flower gardens. In 2012 I visited Robidoux Row Museum since Kelly's cousin, Clyde Weeks was Executive Director and he needed help in the garden areas there. He physically wasn't able to tend to them, so I took the job over. Spring of 2013 the Extension Office was offering a Master Gardener program, so I attended that and was able to apply some of that knowledge to bring the gardens back into shape. I had a lot of professional photographers use those gardens as back drops for graduation pics, engagement pics, and we eventually had at least 2 weddings there per month after I was named Executive Director when Clyde retired. 

 

I retired from there in 2017, then found part time work at Remington Nature Center, which eventually grew into full time work. I did revamp part of the garden around the building itself and met Mitch Jameson, Bev Hoyt, who introduced me into gardening at the Wyeth Tootle Museum, St Joseph Museum, and some at Albrecht-Kemper Art Gallery after retiring from the Nature Center, I now but keep busier than ever with making wire wrapped jewelry to sell at different events in the area and helping out a bit with the Community Garden Group and also the Wednesday Evening Garden Group. 

• High School Volunteer

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Join our team and earn your ten hours of community service hours for graduation in a fun, learning environment. You will get to work with the best mentors in the city, cultivating hope and food security for those in our community. Contact us here.