Lynne McMahon’s been a member - volunteer - employee at the Queens Botanical Garden since 1965, and in 1999, she still looks forward to work.

"Every day is an adventure," McMahon said. "I never know what I’m going to get."

Known at the Garden as the "Plant Lady," McMahon’s interest in plants sprung from a nickel-bag of marigold seeds she was given at age 10.

"I still love that flower," she mused.

Before you could say "chrysanthemum," McMahon was starting up gardens all over Queens, from her first home in East Elmhurst to subsequent residences in Astoria, Corona and Flushing.

Botany, however, was not McMahon’s first love. A talented seamstress, McMahon once hoped to assist a fashion designer.

"I wanted someone to hand me a picture and say ‘whip this up in size four.’ Unfortunately, those jobs were impossible to get during the war," she lamented.

But whether she was taking calls for the phone company or raising her two boys at home, Lynne was always a "plain-dirt gardener."

"My father taught me what he knew, and I just learned by doing."

In 1992, after her husband passed away, McMahon found herself short on cash–but not for long. After 27 years of observing Lynne’s upright professionalism and horticultural savoir faire, the Garden did not hesitate before asking her on part-time. She accepted.

Today, McMahon works eight-hour days two times a week, fielding telephone questions as she handles the front door. "June is the rose month," she can be heard saying. "That’s no good–use a sharp-edged knife."

Fellow 30-year veteran of the Garden Shirley Kushner describes McMahon as "the perfect receptionist."

"She won’t get off the phone–that’s first," Kusher said.

Nothing annoys McMahon more than people in her age group (she’s 74) saying that they’re "bored."

"Go to a school, talk to a veteran–don’t tell me you’re bored. Keep your mind active and your body will go with it," McMahon said. "Working keeps me from going crazy."

But after 30 years doing the same thing, do the roses still smell as sweet?

"This place is keeping me young–I don’t take it for granted. When the trees show color, the magnolia trees bloom, it perks me."

"I like kids," says Mel Passe, a teacher for 30 years, now teaching at Marie Curie Middle School l58 in Bayside. Growing up in Queens, he himself graduated from PS 46, IS 74, and Francis Lewis High School.

Passe began his career in l968, teaching fourth grade in the South Bronx. When he realized that there were students who needed extra help, he went to the principal and asked him to form a class for the neediest 15 children, with whom he would spend a full day (including lunchtime). Passe soon began a three–class center for emotionally handicapped students, becoming the first special education teacher in the Bronx.

Since then, Passe has been able to maintain his interest in teaching by periodically changing either the subject, the grade or the type of student he teaches. He’s been a regular and special education teacher, a curriculum coordinator, a dean and a crisis intervention teacher at both elementary and junior high schools. Passe has been at MS l58 since l982, where he currently teaches math to sixth through ninth grade special education students.

Passe also keeps himself interested by getting involved in extracurricular school activities. He’s supervised students on overnight and senior trips, as well as three-day ventures to Caumsett and Frost Valley. He’s been a union delegate for the UFT, and served on the Staff Planning Team. Presently, Passe is a member of the School Leadership Council, a liaison committee between the school and the Board of Education.

Through the years, Passe has seen changes. "Teaching is a lot harder now," he says, "because schools have become social agencies rather than just [a means of] educating children. We’re asked to do a lot more with less money and assistance." He explains that he manages "by putting in more time and effort."

Yet Passe feels that there are some things that have remained the same. "The large core of teachers," he explains, " who come into teaching are people who come with an ideal and caring. Most people care about what they do."

After 30 years, Passe still says, "I enjoy working with kids who really need me." He feels most rewarded, "To watch the twinkle in a kid’s eye when they finally understand something they just couldn’t get for the longest time. You hear the words, ‘Now I get it!’" Passe wonders where would his students be without a teacher? Where would we all be?