Meet The Master Gardener: Cathy LeBar

By MARCI MOORE, Coweta Master Gardener Extension Volunteer

Master Gardener Extension volunteers (MGEVs) often transfer from other counties, and Coweta County won a prize when Cathy LeBar moved here from Clayton County.

Cathy LeBar

Originally from Greenville, S.C., Cathy grew up on a 25-acre farm and learned at a young age about hard work and creating with her own two hands.  Cathy’s mother was an artist, so when Cathy was old enough to hold a paint brush, she learned to oil paint. As an adult, Cathy worked for OshKosh B’gosh, Carter’s and several other companies where she had a successful 30-year career in design and merchandising. In fact, she won several national awards.

When Cathy left the apparel design world, she spent ten years working for Delta Air Lines and moved to Coweta County in 2019 after she and her husband, Dan, were married. Cathy has always stayed active and was the president of the Clayton County Community Garden from 2012-2019.  The garden began as twelve raised beds and when she left in 2019, the garden had grown to thirty-two raised beds.  Cathy served on the board of advisors for the Reynolds Nature Preserve and was vice president and treasurer for the Clayton County Master Gardeners before transferring to the Coweta County MGEV program in 2020. Cathy completed the rigorous horticultural training twice in order to become a MGEV in both Clayton and Coweta Counties.  She is a passionate gardener and student!

Cathy is most interested in native plants, fruit and vegetable gardening (especially strawberries and asparagus) and herbs.  She makes her own compost and is always glad to teach others how to start a compost pile.  As a Coweta County MGEV, she helps with the greenhouse committee, Backyard meetings, James E. McGuffey Nature Center project, the Boys & Girls Club program, and performs site visits where she helps other homeowners improve their landscapes.

Cathy’s interests are vast and demonstrate creativity and a genuine love of nature.  Like her mother, she still enjoys oil painting, but she also sews, knits, crochets, weaves and makes lovely jewelry.  Most recently, she has begun creating beautiful glass flowers to add an artistic flare in her landscape.

As a member of the Georgia Mushroom Club of Atlanta since 2016, she has learned to forage for chanterelle mushrooms.  Cathy also nurtures beautiful roses and has been a member of the Fayette Rose Society since 2019.  She hopes in ten years to be a master rosarian, which requires national membership, continuous education and sharing her knowledge.

Out of all the activities in which Cathy participates, what she loves the most is giving back to the community through the Coweta MGEV Program.  This girl is an energizer bunny on steroids and just keeps going and going and…  we are so glad to have her as a member of the Coweta County MGEVs. Please say hi to Cathy when you meet her at one of our events.