The following individuals and organizations were cited for outstanding achievement during the AHTA Annual Members Meeting which took place on Oct. 6th, at the conference in Olympia, WA. The AHTA Board of Directors extends its congratulations and appreciation to these worthy recipients.

Alice Burlingame Humanitarian Award Recipient - Mrs. Pat Buehler Blankenship and the Buehler Family Foundation. Their generosity in promoting and funding two world renowned enabling gardens at Naples Botanical Garden (FL.) and Chicago Botanic Garden (IL.) has provided HT professionals and the general public with opportunities to experience and understand adaptive gardening, therapeutic landscapes and horticultural therapy.

Publication Award Recipient - Patty Cassidy, MA, HTR was recognized for her book, The Illustrated Practical Guide to Gardening for Seniors. Published by British publisher Lorenz Books in 2011, it provides gardening tips, adaptive gardening tools, and garden design ideas focused on senior populations. Cassidy drew upon her experience as master gardener, President of the Portland Memory Garden, AHTA board member, and practicing registered horticultural therapist who works with senior populations.

Rhea McCandliss Professional Service Award Recipient - Hilda Krus, MSW, HTR.  Director of  Greenhouse Program, on Rikers Island Correctional Facility, run through the Horticultural Society of New York in collaboration with the Department of Correction. Krus oversees the program combining HT, vocational training and education serving up to 30 inmate students out of three facilities per day. Participants are sentenced adult men and women, and male detainees within an alternative high school on Rikers Island. In addition, program graduates can join the GreenTeam after release, a transitional paid internship program by the Horticultural Society of New York.

Therapeutic Garden Design Award Recipient - the Veterans Honor Center Gardens at the Gainesville VA Domiciliary, Florida provide a continuum of experiences that enrich homeless and transitional veterans’ lives by providing a platform for expanded life skills programming for recreation, nutrition, and therapeutic horticulture.  The creation of the garden was a collaborative effort with veterans involved in every aspect: garden designed by Leah Diehl, RLA, HTM; materials donated by local businesses and community organizations; labor provided by Alachua County master gardeners; and coordination of garden development/implementation and program delivery by Alee Karpf, MS, HTR, CTRS.

John Walker Community Service Award Recipient - Brian Bainnson, PAL, ASLA, CLARB. (Professional Landscape Architect, American Society of Landscape Architects, Council of Landscape Architecture Registration Board). Since 1998 Bainnson has designed therapeutic landscapes, integrating HT principles with his garden designs. He is best known for his designs in the Pacific Northwest - Portland Memory Garden, The Oregon Burn Center Garden, The Baker Healing Garden amongst others.

Charles Lewis Excellence in Research Award Recipients – Justin F. Wilson and Keith M. Christensen.  Their article, The Relationship Between Gardening and Depression Among Individuals with Disabilities  was published in the Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture XXI. It was recognized for demonstrating good methodology, contributing to the field, reflective of Charles Lewis’ philosophy and offering the possibility for further research on this topic.