'Horticulture Field Day' brings tomorrow into focus
Published 11.21.2022
– Photos by Tom Wilson, writer/editor-PCToday
... and was among those attractively setting up promotional displays in the ESC library.
Kendra M. (Snyder) Aycock – who, with her husband, Hunter, owns H&K Nursery and Feed Store in Montoursville – talks with Field Day participants in an ESC classroom. Aycock graduated in 2019 with an associate degree in landscape/horticulture technology: landscape emphasis, and bought the family business (formerly Snyder's Nursery) earlier this year. She judged the Plant ID competition with Kendall A. Wanner, another 2019 graduate, who is employed at Earth, Turf & Wood Inc. in Denver, Pa.
Landscape/nursery technology alumni Jeff N. Walizer, '93 (center), and Scott A. Fohringer, '98, both employed by Creative Plantscapes Inc. in Lewisburg, join landscape/plant production technology student Laura A. Snyder, of Harrisburg, as judges in the Sales Presentation category. Asked by this student what drew them to their chosen field, all three cited an affinity for plants and an attraction to working outdoors.
... and was presented with a Penn College Alumni T-shirt by Lori A. Boos (left), alumni and career engagement coordinator, and Shelley L. Moore (not pictured), senior director of the Center for Career Design.
Overseeing the Landscape Estimation competition is Matthew D. Lowe, an account manager at Tomlinson Bomberger Lawn Care & Landscape in Lancaster. Lowe earned an associate degree in ornamental horticulture: landscape technology emphasis (2012) and technology management (2014) ...
Evaluating a centerpiece as part of the Floral Design competition are landscape/horticulture technology: plant production emphasis alums (from left) Sabrina S. Baker, '18, and Jessica M. Duke, '20. Baker is employed by Dillon Floral in Bloomsburg, which donated flowers for the event; Duke's business – Jessie the Florist – is based in Allentown ...
Jeremy L. Thorne (with clipboard), owner and operator of ThorneCare Landscape Solutions LLC, in Sugarloaf, supervises the busy Hardscape Installation event. Thorne, a 2013 graduate in the landscape technology and plant production emphases of the former ornamental horticulture major, was presented with a Mentorship Award four years later for ongoing involvement with his alma mater.
Flower and Foliage ID was also on the day's competition schedule.
Sure, there's an easier way to stack firewood, but it's not nearly as much fun as this engaged mini-excavator operator is having in the greenhouse parking lot!
Just in case hands-on involvement wasn't enough to convince them, a strategically placed trailer reminds visitors of an attractive career path.
Justin M. Rinehimer (right), owner and operator of Stubb's Landscaping in Mountain Top, keeps a watchful eye on a student skid-steer operator. Rinehimer earned three diplomas from Penn College – associate degrees in landscape/horticulture technology: landscape emphasis and landscape/horticulture technology: plant production emphasis (2017) and a bachelor's in applied management (2018) – and was a member of the Wildcat archery team.