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Greetings, Southern Region members:
For
those of you who attended our 32nd Annual Meeting
in Chattanooga, I reckon you enjoyed it immensely, from what I
hear. Lots of folks did. We had 331 registrations, 18 of them
students. We also hosted a host of international guests, three
of whom were on our speakers program. And, we welcomed 23 new
members to the Southern Region ranks.
I hope you were able to spend some time with our
International guests in Chattanooga. A busload of about 45
International delegates, alternates and secretaries from all
eight IPPS regions ended a 2-week tour of the Eastern U.S.,
converging on the Sunday tour preceding our annual meeting.
This was a delightful group, and we (I was invited along)
visited nurseries, scenic locations and historical settings
from Washington, DC, into Virginia and North Carolina before
winding up in Tennessee. This was the first time all regional
secretaries had been together, and our meetings and
discussions proved to be very productive. We owe special
thanks to our organizers, International President James
Gilbert, Southern Region Delegates Eelco Tinga, Jr. and Bill
Barr, and members Bob Smart and Fred Garrett, who made the
arrangements. In addition, International Secretary Pat Heuser
was very generous to include our secretaries group into the
International tour.
In May, our delegates will travel to New Zealand for the 2008
international meeting.
***********************
As you likely know by now, our new Secretary/Treasurer is
Ronnie Stisher of Birmingham, Alabama. I trust you will
give him the same cooperation and courtesies you have extended
me these last 22 years.
Here is a biographical sketch Ronnie wrote about himself:
I grew up in a large family on a farm with an associated
agricultural/ horticultural family business. I attended
Jacksonville State University and Auburn University,
graduating with a business degree with emphasis on accounting
and marketing. I continued my education in soil agronomy,
horticulture, nursery management, and turf science.
I began my career in horticulture as young laborer and
progressed into management and ownership of nursery and
landscape construction and maintenance companies. I have
managed small and very large horticultural companies. I am now
involved in a business called Horticultural Consulting and
Services. My role in this company is to provide professional
consulting and business services to nursery growers, landscape
companies, landscape maintenance companies, retail/wholesale,
and re-wholesale nursery businesses. Such consulting work
involves day-to-day accounting, management, business plans and
profit/loss reports as well tax filings for the individuals
and companies.
I am married to a wonderful lady who works in psychology and
we have three children. The family enjoys fall tailgating as
well as football and basketball games, and we enjoy our summer
beach trips and winter snow skiing. We have house dogs as well
as hunting dogs as our pets.
Our children include our daughter, a nursing student at Auburn
University, a son who is working in the school of business at
the University of Alabama, and a second daughter who is junior
at Mountain Brook High School in Birmingham, Alabama.
I enjoy all types of hunting, fishing, and reading as well as
propagating and growing different plants in the greenhouse. I
am truly appreciative to be named the next Secretary/Treasurer
of IPPS/SRNS, and I am very excited about the future and
meeting all the members and traveling to the conferences.
*********************
Buddy Martin, one of our most loyal and dedicated
members,
received our Sidney B. Meadows Award of Merit in
Chattanooga, the highest honor we bestow. Buddy never misses a
meeting
and is always willing to lend a hand. He is also a Fellow, and
served on many Executive Boards and is a former President of
our region. Congratulations, Buddy. Well deserved.
*********************
Our two new Fellows are Eelco Tinga, Jr., and Bob
Smart. These two hard workers – along with Fred Garrett and
International President James Gilbert – were responsible for
organizing the great International Tour this year.
Congratulations, Eelco and Bob.
********************
We should pause here and offer special thanks to Dr.
Donna Fare, our local site chair in Chattanooga, for
organizing the meeting, and recognize her committee as well:
Bill Boyd, Frank Collier, Benji Moore, Sandra Reed, Milton
Schaefer and Jessica Smith. Dr. Sandra Reed was chair of the
auction committee, too. Thanks, Sandy.
And, of course, let us not overlook the smoothly functioning
and very interesting speakers program, organized by Tricia
Knight.
**********************
The silent and regular auctions raised $5,562. These
funds will be used to augment our Southern Region IPPS
endowment with the Horticultural Research Institute (HRI).
Last year, a portion of the earnings from the Southern Region
investment went to support our longtime member and former
president Ted Bilderback and his research on growing media.
***********************
For the last few years, we have continued to update this
web page make it more useful and functional for our
membership and our prospective members. The latest feature to
be added involves two of our forms. Applicants can now fill in
the membership application form on line and submit it directly
to the Secretary/Treasurer. And you can nominate a Fellow
directly as well. Simply click on the Fellows link on the
Awards page, and when it comes up, fill it in. In a click it
is dispatched to Ronnie Stisher. We need more Fellows
nominations from you – the members – so we have made it easier
for you. We hope that you will continue to use the web site as
an information source for our Southern Region activities.
***********************
Your Executive Committee made some important decisions in
Chattanooga that will affect you. The board (with the
membership’s approval in the annual business meeting) raised
dues $25. Dues will now be $125 for members who choose
to receive a Proceedings in either hardbound book form or as a
CD. For both, the fee will be $150. At the same time, they
voted to change the membership application process so that
once applicants are approved by the Membership Committee they
will immediately become members. They still will be formally
welcomed and given their IPPS pins at the annual meeting, but
this practice will be ceremonial, not official. The board also
voted unanimously to raise the meeting registration fee in
2008 from $125 to $150.
***********************
The next
annual meetings are as follows:
2008 Charlottesville, Virginia
The dates are October 19-22, 2008. Tom Saunders is the local
site chair. A contract has been signed with the Omni Hotel at
Charlottesville. The social will be at Wintergreen Resort.
2009 Biloxi, Mississippi
Dr. Tricia Knight will be the local site chair. The meeting is
Oct. 25 – 27.
2010 Raleigh, North Carolina Tony
Avent, Chair; Lanny Thomas, Co-chair. The date and hotel have
yet to be determined.
2011 Tallahassee, Florida or
A group composed of Stewart
Valdosta,
Georgia. Mays Family and Kay Phelps has
come
forward with a bid. Dates and site are not set.
2112 Possible joint meeting with the
Still in preliminary stage, the site and date Eastern
Region-IPPS have not been
determined.
*******************
I know you appreciate our tour hosts who graciously
invited us to see their operations: Commercial Nursery, Hidden
Hollow Nursery, Oak Grove Nursery, Schaefer Nursery, Shadow
Nursery, Tennessee Valley Nursery, Bouldin Nursery &
Greenhouse, Pleasant Cove Nursery, Little Rest Nursery,
Zelenka-Knowles Nursery, and the TSU Nursery Research Center
in McMinnville, Tennessee.
********************
While Chattanooga is fresh on your mind, don’t fail to put our
33rd annual meeting in Charlottesville, Virginia,
on your 2008 calendar – Oct. 19 - 22. Tom Saunders has
assembled a well-organized committee and has even printed a
brochure for us. Here is a teaser: Sunday tours will take us
to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and fertile Shenandoah
Valley. On Monday, we will visit historic Central Virginia,
and on Tuesday we go to Richmond, the capital city, and area
vineyards. Our headquarters hotel will be the beautiful Omni
on the historic Downtown Pedestrian Mall in Charlottesville.
Tom says, “Central Virginia offers much to see and do. Whether
you enjoy hiking, taking a winery tour, people-watching as you
enjoy an alfresco meal, or touring the University of
Virginia’s Rotunda designed by Thomas Jefferson, you will
never run out of interesting things to see and do. Yes, this
is the time of year to visit Central Virginia.”
I plan to be there. How about you?
******************
On a personal note, I want to thank you for the many
kindnesses you have shown me over the years as
Secretary/Treasurer. It has been a joy to serve you, and the
Southern Region, and I look forward to many more years of
continued friendships with all of you. As we say in Texas, I
wish you a Próspero Año Nuevo in 2008.
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Our '07 Corporate Sponsors
PDSI
Little Creek Nursery
Graco Fertilizer Company
Harrell's Fertilizers
Bouldin Nursery
Walker Nursery
Tenn Nurs & LA
Pleasant Cove Nursery
Grandiflora
Botanico
Dramm Corporation
Scott's Fertilizer
SunGro |
