Indiana Ag Connection - Indiana to Host Northern Nut Growers 100th Annual Meeting

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Indiana to Host Northern Nut Growers 100th Annual Meeting
Indiana Ag Connection - 06/22/2009

The 100th annual meeting of the Northern Nut Growers Association will be held July 19-23 at Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Indiana. The local arrangmenets chair is Jim McKenna with the USDA Forest Service and the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources (FNR) at Purdue. He is working closely with the Purdue Conference Center and the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Bureau to make this 100th annual NNGA meeting a memorable occasion.

Every effort is being made to hold down housing and registration costs so that more members will be able to attend in spite of high travel costs. To that end the FNR Department is contributing $2,000 to help offset conference expenses. Additional sponsorship dollars are being solicited from other groups and companies, including suppliers and state nut grower associations.

The program at this time includes a board meeting on Sunday with registration scheduled to begin Sunday afternoon, followed by a BBQ and mixer in the walnut woods at the FNR Department's Martell Forest and Wright Center on Sunday evening. Show and Tell will be held in the new conference room at the Center following the barbecue. The possibility of live entertainment is being explored.

After the Monday morning business meeting and welcome address by Dr. Charles Michler, director of the Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center (HTIRC), the keynote address will be delivered by the internationally renowned Dr. Jules Janick, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, on the "History of World Horticulture--Nuts, Fruits, and Art." The remainder of the day will consist of technical presentations followed by the Annual Research Auction in the evening.

On Tuesday, the group will tour the University fruit and nut research plots and the intensively managed 100-acre plantations of Arbor America, Inc., a Spanish company that grows grafted walnut for timber production. The banquet speaker Tuesday evening will be Dr. Robert Swihart, head of the FNR Department at Purdue, who will present a unique and fascinating talk on his years of research on nuts from the squirrel's perspective that is guaranteed to enlighten, infuriate, and entertain nut growers. Expect extra recognitions and awards from the Awards Committee.

Wednesday will feature a second full day of technical papers and presentations. The meeting will conclude Thursday with an optional tour to Indianapolis to see Charles Spurgeon's large collection of pecans, shag and shellbark hickory orchards, and Marilyn's well managed flower and vegetable garden. Charles also has a large collection of antique tractors. From there the group will travel to Terre Haute to see Jerry Lehman's persimmon and pawpaw plantings and test orchard.

Additional activities are being planned by the Complementary Alternative Program (CAP) committee and will be announced soon. A Centennial Cookbook being prepared under Sally Martyn's direction featuring CAP members' favorite nut recipes will be distributed to meeting attendees.

Last but not least, Charles Spurgeon is researching and writing a report on the history of NNGA. Since Charles has been an outstanding historian for the Indiana Nut Growers for years, and since he has a complete collection of NNGA's annual reports, he is uniquely qualified to write an interesting, informative, and comprehensive treatise on the history of the first century of the NNGA.

Items are also needed for the annual auction whose proceeds support research. Exhibitors, both commercial and grower, are invited. In celebration of our centennial, we are seeking memorabilia and photos from past meetings for display. Jerry Lehman Jim McKenna 7780 S. Persimmon St 3216 Elkhart St. Terre Haute, IN 47802-4994 West Lafayette, IN 47906 Ph: (812) 298-8733 Ph: (765) 464-1688 Email: jwlehman@aol.com jrmckenn@purdue.edu