The youngest daffodil judge
by Marli Guzzetta Independent Arts Editor
Last year, when the Nantucket Garden Club brought in the American Daffodil Society to conduct its first ever judging class on island - the first in a series of three requisite classes - 15-year-old, Nantucket High School sophomore Lizzy Skokan was the youngest student in the room by several decades. Now entering her second year of training, she's a year away from becoming the youngest accredited daffodil judge in the country.

Right: Lizzy Skokan in a sea of daffodils. For a complete schedule of the Nantucket Garden Club's Daffy weekend events, see page 38.

Skokan began growing daffodils for the Garden Club's annual daffodil competition as a kindergartener, using bulbs that had been provided to her by the club to compete in the youth division.

Since then, she's entered and won "Best Arrangement for Youth" and also "Best Junior Bloom," for the best single daffodil. "The closest to perfection," Skokan explained.

Garden Club board members Mary Malavese and Sally Nash initially suggested to Skokan's mother, Joanne, that her daughter begin training to become a judge.

"She's an incredible and mature young lady, just a joy to be with, and she's extremely knowledgeable in her daffodil skills. She takes part in all the classes and events with all the adults with such grace and poise," said Malavese, who attended the first judging class with Skokan last year.

"I was the youngest one by far," Skokan remembered.

"Everyone else in the room was scared of taking a test, because they hadn't taken one in years."

Skokan said that they were right to be nervous, describing the class as "a little bit harder than my honors chemistry class." (Skokan currently has a 94 percent in her honors chemistry class, too.)

In less than a day's time, the students had to memorize each miniscule part of the daffodil's anatomy, as well as learn to differentiate among different types of daffodils and conduct mock judgings.

"We learned a lot in a one-day session," said Skokan, "They cram so much information in five or six hours then you take a 10-page test on it."

While all of the "adults" went to A.K. Diamond's for lunch, Skokan, who had packed her lunch, stayed and studied. She had one of the highest scores on the test, passing with a 75 percent after two tries. (Some students made more attempts before passing.)

The American Daffodil Society only offers classes once a year on island, during the festival. "I still need to work on growing 100 different species of daffodils. I'm not sure how that's certified, but I'd better get working on that, because I'll need them by next year," Skokan said.

She does her growing just outside her front door, not using extra fertilizer. "I just let nature do its work," said Skokan, who added that the trick to creating a winning flower or arrangement is being able to identify which of the daffodils that bloom are the best specimens. She's even begun looking at daffodils around island with a practiced and critical eye.

Skokan said she wants to judge long-term. "It's so unique," she said. "I don't know any other kid who does this."

"It makes me encouraged that someone her age is interested," Malavese said. "So then maybe we

can retire someday." I