AIB Elects New Officers & Board Members

America in Bloom elected new board members and officers at its annual meeting earlier this month. 
 
Katy Moss Warner, president emeritus of the American Horticultural Society, was elected president of the board. Evelyn Alemanni of ALLEA and Tony Ferrara of Arroyo Consulting Group, were elected 1st and 2nd vice presidents, respectively. Dr. Marvin Miller, Ball Horticultural Company, was elected treasurer, and Dr Jack Clasen was elected secretary. Dr. Charlie Hall, Texas A&M University, serves as the past president.
 
Linda Hart of Holland, Michigan, Walter Heath of Morro Bay, California, and Leslie Pittenger, Belpre, Ohio, were elected as new board members. Learn more.

 
America in Bloom Celebrates Its 15th Year
By Katy Moss Warner, AIB President

America in Bloom embarks on its 15th year with great news on many fronts.  
  • 40 communities are in the America in Bloom National Awards Program this year. 
  • A team of 25 professional volunteer judges will travel across the country to offer advice and provide encouragement to each of these communities. 
  • An exciting program has been developed for the annual America in Bloom Symposium and Awards Program in Arroyo Grande, California, scheduled for Oct 6-8, 2016. Details coming soon!
  • Each of the symposium sponsors who supported the event in 2015 have returned and are eager to support AIB again in 2016. New sponsors have joined the America in Bloom family. 
  • A new leadership team has been approved by the America in Bloom Board. I am honored to step forward as your new America in Bloom President and hope that together we can energize community leadership across America to transform the places we live.  
We are poised in our 15th year to really see the benefits that America in Bloom has provided to communities across America - the economic, health, environmental, and social benefits from flowers, trees, and landscape plants. In whatever way you can, we are hopeful that you will find reason to celebrate with us this year!



 
AIB Plants Pride at Philadelphia Flower Show

By Evelyn Alemanni, 1st Vice President

Just like our friends in AIB-participating communities across the nation, America in Bloom was busy planting pride by creating a garden display at the recent Philadelphia Flower Show. With help from lots of talented volunteers, AIB's special garden earned a bronze medal. 
 
As the oldest and largest flower show in the US, the Philadelphia Flower Show attracted record attendance of 255,000. AIB volunteers were out in force to greet these garden lovers and share the AIB message with them. We are proud to say that we had 41 volunteers from 11 states. These volunteers included AIB judges and board members, people from AIB participating communities, and their friends and relatives.

 
Why Hanging Baskets?

We were recently asked for documentation that reinforces the importance of hanging baskets to communities. Katy Moss Warner, President of America in Bloom and former Director of Disney's Horticulture and Environmental Initiatives, responded.

Why are flowering hanging baskets important to communities? I am asked this question frequently. I share my personal experience in hopes that it will offer some answers to this question. 

I worked for 24 years in the Horticulture Department at Walt Disney World in Florida. When I first arrived in 1976, I was surprised to learn that our guests hardly noticed our beautiful landscapes. We had gorgeous big trees that had been moved from locations all over Florida. We had rolling terrain with waterways and manicured lawns. The palette of plants - trees, shrubs, ground covers, and flowers - was impressive. And these beautiful landscapes were surrounded by well-maintained charming architecture including an elegant magical castle. Based on surveys, our guests hardly saw the landscapes or the architecture. They noticed the "friendliness of the staff" and the "overall cleanliness," but they never mentioned the trees or flowers.

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Have a story to share? We would love to hear from you! Tell us about AIB activities in your community, or let us know about a community you have visited that should get involved with AIB. E-mail your story to Laura Kunkle, AIB@AmericainBloom.org