SNA Scholarships & New Board Members

Chris Beytes & Jennifer Zurko

Now is the time to get your hort student signed up for one of the Southern Nursery Association’s Sidney B. Meadows scholarships. These are for eligible horticulture students in their junior, senior or graduate years of study.

To be eligible, first you have to be from one of the 16 southeastern states SNA represents: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. And you have to be pursuing a career in horticulture.

The scholarship is dedicated to one of the most honored horticultural leaders, the late Sidney B. Meadows, a Past President of the Southern Nursery Association, who was an avid supporter of student scholarships and believed that providing aid for students was an important way to ensure the growth and development of all facets of the industry. Since its inception in 1989, the fund has awarded over $540,000 in scholarships.

Deadline for application is May 22. The Scholar-ship Selection Committee will make its selections by August 1 and recipients will be notified soon thereafter. Get more information at www.sbmsef.org. 

SNA also elects new board 

Officers of SNA, who will serve for the 2020 term, were elected during the 121st Annual SNA Business Meeting held at the Baltimore Convention Center during The SNA Conference. The election, open to all active SNA members, determines representation from the four geographic regions of the association:

• Chapter 1—Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia
• Chapter 2—Florida, Georgia and South Carolina
• Chapter 3—Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee
• Chapter 4—Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas

Rickey Minton from Triangle Nursery in McMinnville, Tennessee, was elected president, succeeding Joseph Napoli of Athens Wholesale Nursery in Athens, Georgia.

The complete slate of 2020 officers and directors is as follows:

• President: Rickey Minton
• Vice President/Treasurer/Director Chapter 4: Todd Ellefson—Windmill Nursery, Franklinton, Louisiana
• Director Chapter 1: Matthew Shreckhise—Shreckhise Nurseries, Grottoes, Virginia
• Director Chapter 2: Marcus Cook—Marcus Cook Farms, Gray Court, South Carolina 
• Director Chapter 3: Jerry Blankenship—Blankenship Farms and Nursery, McMinnville, Tennessee
• Immediate Past President: Joseph Napoli GT