COLUMBUS -- The American Nursery & Landscape Association and the Horticulture Research Institute co-hosted a reception Saturday night to celebrate HRI’s 50th anniversary. The reception took place at the Hyatt Regency Columbus after the opening day of OFA’s Short Course.
During the reception, ANLA executive vice president, Robert J. Dolibois, CAE presented current ANLA president Robert S. Lyons with the 2012 ANLA Hall of Fame award. Lyons, owner of Sunleaf Nursery, LLC, in Madison, Ohio is the first two-year president of ANLA since World War II.
After the award was presented, the reception's attendees donated more than $250,000 for HRI research and scholarships, including the Bryan Champion memorial scholarship fund.
HRI’s recent research is focusing on boxwood blight and includes the development of a website, www.boxwoodblight.org, that provides growers with information about the disease.
Founded in 1962 as the research arm of ANLA, HRI has directed more than $5.8 million of industry funds to research projects covering the full range of production, environmental and business issues important to the green industry. HRI, which is an IRS-recognized 501(c) (3) tax-exempt research and educational foundation, distributed $282,500 in grants and scholarships for 2012.