01/26/2009

Ag Alumni Association to Induct New Hall of Honor Members

AUBURN, Ala. — The Auburn University Agricultural Alumni Association will honor five outstanding individuals who have had significant impacts on Alabama agriculture when it hosts its 2009 Hall of Honor Banquet at The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center Tuesday, Feb. 24.

Three men will be inducted into the Hall of Honor in recognition of their contributions to and support of agriculture in the state. The three are AU College of Agriculture Dean and Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station Director Richard L. Guthrie of Auburn, honoree in the education/government sector; agribusiness-sector honoree Wyeth Holt (Chuck) Speir Jr. of Daphne, now retired from a career in agricultural chemical distribution and sales; and, from the production sector, Ronnie B. Holladay, owner and operator of successful cattle and farming operations in Lowndes County’s Trickem community.

The association’s 2009 Pioneer Awards will be presented to the families of the late Samuel H. Booker of Pinson and the late Ralph W. Martin Jr. of Catherine as a tribute to the significant influence they had on strengthening and helping shape Alabama agriculture. Booker was an advocate for rural Alabama during his 39-year career in management and leadership positions with Alabama Power Company. Martin was a Wilcox County farmer who served on the Alabama Farmers Cooperative board from its founding in 1974 until his death in 2006.

Tickets to the banquet and awards ceremony are $50 per person and should be purchased by mid-February. Contact Elaine Rollo at 334-844-3204 or rollome@auburn.edu for information about tickets or about the corporate sponsorships the Ag Alumni Association has available to help fund the banquet.

Registration for the event will begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by the banquet at 6:30.

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1/26/2009

News from:
OFFICE OF AG COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING
Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 COMER HALL, AUBURN UNIVERSITY
AUBURN, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)
AgComm@auburn.edu

Contact: Jamie Creamer, jcreamer@auburn.edu