The Beatles released a single in 1967 entitled “Hello Goodbye”. The song written by Paul McCartney reflects some of the sentiment at Cooperative Extension right now. This month we are saying hello to a new member of the staff and goodbye to another member. A bittersweet time in the life of our Cooperative Extension Family

Meet Anne Higgins

The good news first. We are pleased to welcome Anne (pronounced Annie) Higgins

to our staff effective on October 1. Anne will be the new Administrative Director of Bullington Gardens. She will team with John Murphy who has been at Bullington since 1999 to continue to build Bullington into one of the premiere public gardens in the south.

Anne comes to us with a distinguished career in landscaping. Most recently she was employed by Berrier Select Landscaping where she was a manager and designer. She has also been the owner of her own landscape design and maintenance firm as well as spending time in Design and Sales at BB Barnes.

Anne also taught school in Texas for 10 years before getting into the landscaping industry. While teaching grades 3-8 she also coached cheerleading and volleyball and was the editor of the school’s newspaper and yearbook. She has an associate degree in Horticulture from Richland College in Dallas, TX and a B.A. in Education from Louisiana Tech.

Anne’s position at Bullington will focus on administration and volunteer management. She will seek grant funding and organize fundraisers, recruit and train volunteers and manage the finances and facilities at the garden. This will allow John Murphy to focus more on the educational aspects of Bullington for which is specifically trained.

We are so glad to have Anne as an Assistant Agent in Cooperative Extension. Anne can be reached at Bullington Gardens at (828) 698-6104. This position will be primarily funded by Bullington Gardens with additional funds from Henderson County and NC State supporting the position. Welcome aboard Anne.

Wishing Emily Capps the Best

Now the downside. After a little over two years with Cooperative Extension, Emily Capps has accepted a management position in the quick-service industry. While we are very disappointed to see Emily leave, we certainly wish her the best. Emily will be relocating out of the area.

Since arriving at Cooperative Extension in 2018, we have had the benefit of Emily’s vast talents in social media, marketing, and public relations. As our Administrative Support Specialist, Emily has been of tremendous help in advancing our efforts in Cooperative Extension to reach a broader audience and more clientele. As the keeper of our social media pages, Emily has made sure our content was fresh and relevant.

Emily came to us shortly after completing high school. As a young person, she already possessed many of the technical skills that most of us had to learn as adults. She quickly blended into our family and has been an integral part of our team. We will all miss her talents as well as her sense of humor. Emily has been a conscientious and hard worker in our office.

As a former 4-H'er and Honor Club member, it was a joy to have someone that grew up in Extension come to work for us. However, we are also glad she can take the leadership and life skills she learned in 4-H out into the corporate world. Emily’s last day with us will be on October 30. We hope you will come by and wish Emily well and thank her for the contributions she has made to Cooperative Extension.

Hello – Goodbye to Anne and Emily.