BELLA VISTA -- The Bella Vista Public Library invites patrons to attend this spring's continuing speaker series for adults entitled "Outdoors in Bella Vista."
The series kicked off April 3 when Phat Tire Bike Shop manager Seth Jacobs spoke about trails in Bella Vista. The second and third talks of the series are set for today and June 5. Both will start at 5:30 p.m.
Today's program will be presented by Kathy Jeffrey, a botanist and master gardener who loves digging in the dirt and making plants and flowers grow. Jeffrey will give a talk titled "Attracting Pollinators With Plants." Her presentation will focus on sharing her gardening experiences, including digging in Bella Vista's often rocky ground.
From her earliest years, Jeffrey has been interested in plants. As a child, she would dig up plants in the cool, damp woods and plant them in the hottest, driest part of her family's garden, where they promptly died. This led to wanting to know why and later to a bachelor of science degree in botany from the University of Wisconsin.
After studying trees, Jeffrey enlisted in the Marine Corps. Later in her career, she left corporate America and started her own landscaping company and volunteered as a master gardener and community forester.
Today, she spends a lot of her time maintaining her own one-acre property in Bella Vista as well as the gardens surrounding the Bella Vista Public Library.
The June 5 program, presented by Bella Vista Property Owners Association Lakes and Fisheries Superintendent Rich Echols, will be the third part in a series on Bella Vista's lakes and will focus on fishing in the lakes.
Echols has a bachelor's degree in biology from Bridgewater College, Va., and a master's degree in zoology from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Originally from the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, Echols has 21 years of experience in fisheries management and aquaculture, including working for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries where he worked as a trout stocker, creel clerk and fisheries technician.
He worked for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife service as a big river fisheries biologist on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and as a fish biologist at the Uvalde National Fish Hatchery in Texas.
He also has worked as an assistant district fisheries biologist with the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources and as owner of his own consulting business.
Library staff said they hope the outdoors theme will attract patrons and visitors to learn more about amenities in Bella Vista.
"There are so many ways to enjoy Bella Vista: biking, gardening, fishing and more," said Amanda Gibson, assistant director at the library. "We hope this information will be beneficial, so our neighbors enjoy more of the outdoors here."
The presentations for today and June 5 are free, with no registration required. Space and parking are limited.
Kathy Jeffrey, botanist and master gardener