This year the Bullitt County Horticulture Program hosted the first hybrid Master Gardener Training.  Beginning with six participants, 5 fully completed the training course (one had to drop out due to Covid complications).  The course consisted of 18 weeks of classes, 13 online via Zoom and 5 in person labs.  At the end of the course, each participant was tasked with researching a horticultural topic of their choice and using land grant publications to present a lesson to their fellow Master Gardeners.  This program was highly successful.  Participants reported learning more than anticipated on multiple occasions, one reported that after the entomology training her whole viewpoint about insects had changed and that she now looks at the world in an entirely different way.  She said, "I never before thought of people as being an integral part of the ecosystem and how bugs are part of that.  I always thought of us as separate."  Master Gardener Trainees are required to put in 40 volunteer hours the first year after passing their final exam. All five of the participants that finished the course are also already at least half way done with their required hours in only a month.  All five have also become active in horticulture programing in the county outside of dedicated Master Gardener activities.  One has become the apprentice to the Orchard Manager and plans to take over the program, organizing work days and planning programming.  Another has planned and implemented cross county programming to assist counties affected by the tornadoes early this spring.