Gardening for the disabled seminar slated
Special to The Monitor
KAUFMAN–Texas AgriLife Extension Kaufman County Master Gardeners are holding an “EarthKind- It’s Not Just Roses” seminar from 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Saturday, May 12, at the Grace Fellowship Church, in Kaufman.
Registration is $20 and begins at 8:30 a.m. and the program will feature three speakers, workshops, silent auction, plant and tool sale, and light refreshments. Information and vendor booths will be open as well.
One of the guest speakers will be Smith County Master Gardener and Dallas Arboretum Volunteer/ Speakers’ Bureau member David Gary presenting his “Enabled Gardening” program.
In a wheelchair himself, due to Becker Muscular Dystrophy, Gary designs and maintains his home landscape with plants and decomposed granite walkways to accommodate his wheelchair.
From adapted tools, to raised beds at sitting to standing height, “enabled gardening” can help us to continue to enjoy and care for our landscape and gardens despite changes in mobility or physical abilities.
Other speakers include CEA Katie Phillips presenting the “40 Gallon Challenge” and Dallas County Master Gardner and North Texas Master Naturalist Tim Allsup speaking on soil ecology and maximizing soil productivity.
Participants can choose among several workshops led by Kaufman County Master Gardeners. Due to space restrictions, attendance is limited. Preregister to guarantee a seat or prepay to sit at a table.
For more information or registration, contact Sharon Burden at (972) 932-9069 or email at sbburden@ag.tamu.edu. 
Grace Fellowship Church is located at 7650 FM 1388, in Kaufman, (Oak Grove).
Texas Master Gardeners is a program of Texas AgriLife Extension, Texas A & M System.
Educational programs of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age, or national origin.
Individuals with disabilities requiring auxiliary aids, services or accommodations in order to participate may call the Kaufman County Extension Office at (972) 932- 9069 to discuss specific needs.

‘Click It or Ticket’ campaign starts May 21
TxDOT says pick-up truck drivers and passengers not buckling up as often
Special to The Monitor
AUSTIN–Suspended in air with a strap made of seat belt material, the blue pickup sends an important message that buckling up is important. Seat belts are strong and save lives.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) launched its 11th annual “Click It or Ticket” (CIOT) safety campaign along the shore of downtown Austin.
The pickup, hanging from a crane, is a visual testimony to the lifesaving realities of using seat belts.
It’s also a reminder that the annual law enforcement crackdown is about to begin and motorists who don’t buckle up will be fined.
From Monday, May 21 through Sunday, June 3, including Memorial Day weekend, law enforcement around the state will be working overtime ticketing unbuckled motorists.
State law now requires every person in a vehicle be secured by a seat belt whether riding in the front or back seat. Fines and court costs for failing to fasten seat belts can add up to $250 or more.
“Not wearing a seat belt will definitely cost you,” TxDOT’s Traffic Operations division director Carol Rawson said.
“Sadly, sometimes people pay with their lives. No matter what you drive or where you are going, buckling up is the smart decision.”
Pickups account for one in four registered vehicles in Texas, and are twice as likely to roll in a crash.
But seat belt use among pickup drivers and passengers continues to lag with 91 percent of pickup drivers buckling up compared to 95 percent of non-pickup drivers.
And only 80 percent of truck passengers use seat belts compared to 92 percent of passengers in other vehicles.
In 2011, more than 3,000 people died in fatal collisions on Texas streets and highways, and almost half were not buckled up.
Wearing a seat belt reduces the risk of fatal injury by 45 percent for car occupants and 60 percent for light-truck occupants.
Texas currently ranks seventh in the nation for overall seat belt use, and 93.7 percent of Texas motorists use seat belts according to the Texas Transportation Institute.
Experts at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimate that the steady increase in seat belt usage in Texas during the past 10 years has resulted in 2,843 fewer traffic fatalities, 48,000 fewer serious injuries, and a savings to the state of more than $10 billion in associated costs.
For more information, go to www.texasclickitorticket.com. 

Come Adopt Us At The Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake

We have many animals at the Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake in Seven Points in dire need of a good home. Please call or stop by the Humane Society today and rescue one of these forgotten animals. The Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake is located on 10220 County Road 2403 in Seven Points. For more information, please call (903) 432-3422 after 11 a.m. We are closed on Wednesday.

For further information visit our website at petfinder.com