Armitage's World of Horticulture

Project Safe Raises $93,000!!

and you made it possible.

March 23, 2010. The dancing is over!  After months of angst, practice and worries about looking like a fool, we did a darn good hustle in front of 1600 people at the Classic Center in Athens on Sunday night.  The place rocked, the applause was prolonged and the Princess and The Frog even looked pretty flashy.  Our YouTube video will allow you to judge our performance and our degree of flash.  We came in 4th place (the judges had a bad night, we were definitely top 2 material.)  We also made the front page of our local paper, not too shabby.  It turned out that nobody was watching me, they were all looking at Liza and studing our T-shirts.

However, the best part is that we came in third place for the People's Choice Award by raising the third most money among the 12 couples.  We raised over $6,000!! That is a lot of one dollar and ten dollar votes!  Thank you all who voted for us on line, you are terrific.

The auction was a fantastic success.  I hoped I could raise $1000.00 and on Sunday evening, we presented a check for over $1400.00 to Project Safe. 

To watch the entire evening with the other couples, click on this YouTube link, they are all listed to the right.

Thank you everyone, what a group!!

--------------------------------------------- from the beginning

December 2009 - To My Friends in Horticulture:

I know this is hard to believe, but I have been asked to participate in the Athens-area chapter of Dancing With the Stars - as a star! I would not have agreed to make a fool of myself, except that it is a major fundraiser for Project Safe, a terrific organization working to end abuse against women. The world is a tough place for many, and having a support group like this makes a huge positive difference. For those of you not familiar with Project Safe, read more at www.project-safe.org  Recently this organization has experienced an unprecedented rise in demand for its services. More than ever it relies on  local community events like Dancing with Athens Stars to provide financial support.

I am practicing hard for the “Audience Favorite Award” which is given to the couple who receives the most votes, both during the show and in the months leading up to it. I will keep everyone involved as the dance date, Mar 21 approaches.

So I am asking for your votes, not for me but for Project Safe.  You can laugh at me while giving.   I will update you with my progress as soon as I learn what I am doing.

Athens DWS, 2009

Here’s how it works:

Each vote is $1 donated to Project Safe, and voting early and often is definitely encouraged!  You can vote in several ways. Voting through the website is probably easiest. Go to www.project-safe.org and click on the Dancing with Athens Stars button. You'll see my name and my beautiful and talented partner Liza Pitts as couple #9.

Clicking on the donate button takes you to Project Safe’s secure Paypal site. Follow directions there.

If you prefer to donate by check, they should be made out to Project Safe and sent to

.  Be sure to note couple #9 on the memo line.

By the way, I will be doing The Hustle.  I never heard of The Hustle, but there you go. 

This is serious stuff:  I have been having fun with the dancing and hoping people will support the cause, but even I forget that what we are doing is deadly serious.  This is a latest report from Joan Prittie, the executive director of Project Safe

It's been a busy and dramatic few days at Project Safe as we helped a North Georgia shelter relocate a woman here who was severely beaten by her husband--broken ribs, broken scapula, and so many bruises. Such pain she's in! She soon became terrified that he had discovered her plans and would be searching the Athens area, so we moved her this morning to yet another location. The bed she occupied at our emergency shelter has already been filled by someone else.

As the Georgia legislature considers budget cuts for this year that may severely impact programs like Project Safe, the donations you're raising through early voting allow us to respond quickly and confidently to help people like the woman I just described. Thank you for helping us maintain the resources to assist others in crisis!

February 21, 2010  - On-line auction to open March 1

 One last National Effort to Help Project Safe.  The Trial gardens at UGA will be sponsoring an on-line auction of wonderful garden items, including an afternoon with Dr A., my books, garden art , plants, support from Mr Football, Vince Dooley, as well as a dancing lesson from Liza, my partner.  All proceeds go to Project Safe, so please let your heart do the talking. Details can be found at www.trialgardensauction.webs.com. The auction opens at 9:00am  on March 1 and closes precisely at 9:00pm on March 17.

Come to the Auction - all sorts of goodies to feed your plant habit, your reading habit and any other habit you might have - including the newest Armi book, available mid March, 2010.

 and wonderful plants like an heirloom tomato collection.  Here are my somewhat vigorous 'Brandywine', 'Purple Cherokee' and 'Grandfather Ashlock' plants in my garden last year.

As of March 14, the auction stands at $650.00 - we are trying for $1000.00.  It closes on Weds, March 17 at 9:00 pm.   The Hat and the vine book are among the leaders in the bidding wars, but so are the veggies and the window box.  Stay with us. 

The auction is now officially closed, I will announce the official amount raised and the winners tomorrow.

Voting closes for your favorite couple on Sunday evening:  Get involved, $1.00 is a very little but with other little votes, goes a long way.  Go to www.project-safe.org. Thanks to all.  I will be sad when this finishes, but you will probably be glad to hear the end of it.

Watch YouTube next week for the dancing with all the Stars, even I will be included. 

My blog about DWS

Nov 15, 2009:  I was called to be on Dancing with the Stars!  Who would have thunk??  I immediately said "No Way, thanks" - until I was told that it was a fund raising event for a very worthy cause (Project Safe) - so with my students and my children egging me on,  I said yes.

Dec 5, 2009:  I met my partner, Liza Pitts, who turns out to be a brilliant student, a beautiful young lady (Miss University of Georgia, 2008) and an excellent dancer.  We started our first practice - she said "We're doing the hustle - by Peaches and Herb."  As she looked at my vacuous stare, we both knew it was going to be a long journey.

 ec Dec 9, 2009: I sent some notices about this adventure to magazines and other organizations, including Facebook, to promote the event. Wouldn't you know it, my image taken in vain not once (Allan Travolta) but twice (me and Paula) - so far.

Dec 18, 2009:  I went for a video and photo shoot today.  The video was taken of my partner and me doing some practice steps.  Lot of laughing and carrying on.  I received the the still photos, done by Wingate Downs - he is so good that he made me look better than you know I look.  Here's a couple: 

Dec 21, 2009:  Damn, this stuff is hard! It really isn't dancing, it's choreography!  Just when I think I know where my feet are supposed to go I forget about my arms, and when finally I think I have it down, Liza looks at me and says "Time for something new!"  Counting beats, 8-time, 4th-time, feet here, not there, back straight, stomach in - geez, and I have learned  less than half the steps we will be doing.

Jan 19, 2010:  We have taken a break for a few weeks because Liza is very involved in a big dance show this Saturday, called Ballroom Magic.  However, I still "hustle" through parking lots and stores, drawing all sorts of weird stares.  I listened to Joan Prittie, see note on right, and realized this dancing has very little to do with me.  By the way, I am in #$*#! fourth place in voting.  Help me out if you can.

Feb 10, 2010.  Oh boy, I have been traveling and Liza has been busy, and we haven't practiced in about 3 weeks.  I have forgotten everything!!  We met again today and she stood on her tiptoes. patted my head and said all would be well.  Practice starts in earnest again this weekend.  I'll let you know if I trip all over my feet.

Feb 22, 2010.  Had a good, gruelling 2 hour session on Saturday.  The good news is that The Hustle is coming together; the bad news is that rehearsal is on Sun, Feb 28.  Oh well, thank goodness Liza is patient.  Last practice before rehearsal is on Thursday. Learned about money standings, still only in third place, so we have decided to conduct an on-line auction (see note above on right).  Here's hoping!

February 26, 2010. Practiced on Thursday, wow, felt like a klutz.  Got to do better as the competition is coming soon.  Rehearsal Sunday, no worries, she says.  I also found out we had fallen off the radar as far as raising money is concerened, not even in 5th place!!  I am too competitive to stand idly by so I have sent details of the online auction to as many people as I could. Please get involved in this effort one way or another.  I understand the lack of time, but I am not sure those battered women do.

March14, 2010.  I have finally been in town enough to practice this thing.  Good grief, I feel like a lightbulb joke ... how many professors does it take to screw in a lightbulb? ...  In my case, how long does it take a professor to learn a 2 1/2 min dance?  However, I feel like I finally have my feet going in the right place and I haven't messed up too badly lately.  Of course, this is the final week!! We extended the on-lline auction, I am hoping to raise $1000.00 for Project Safe.  We're at $650.00.

March 17 (St. Patty's Day), 2010. Well, Liza found my outfit today.  Just call me Allan Travolta, all white with an edge of black - even have dancing shoes.  Lord, who would have thunk?  I had dress rehearsal in the whites, not too bad.  The real good news is that the when the auction closed tonighht, we had raised over $1200.00. All for Project Safe - now I can really dance with a smie.  Thank you to everyone who participated.  You still can help by voting until Sunday evening by 8:00 pm.

March 23, 2010 (last entry on the blog)  Well, we did it, we danced, we smiled, we had a ball.  I didn't fall on my keister, or embarrass my friends, family or students who were raucously yelling for couple #9.  The dancing is on YouTube, have a ball watching. 

If you need an example of challenging oneself, or doing something out of your comfort zone, think of me - and think of me saying "this was just a fantastic experience". Thanks to all who voted for me, we made a difference. 

The entire experience raised over $93,000 for project Safe.  Isn't that fantastic?  Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

Now I will go back to phone booth and change from John Travolta's duds to my horticulture jeans.  Let's stay in touch.