Southern Nursery Association Elects New Board
21 Jan 2011 7:35 AM | Karen Summers (Administrator)
Atlanta, GA, January 21, 2011 – Officers of the Southern Nursery Association (SNA) who will serve for the 2010 - 2011 term were elected during the 112th annual meeting held at the Arthur Outlaw Convention Center in Mobile, Alabama on January 20. The election, open to all active SNA members, determines representation from the four geographic regions of the association:
Chapter 1 – Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia
Chapter 2 – Florida, Georgia and South Carolina
Chapter 3 – Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee
Chapter 4 – Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas
Randall Bracy, Bracy's Nursery, LLC, Amite, LA was elected president succeeding George Hackney.
The complete slate of officers is as follows: Randall Bracy, President, Bracy's Nursery, LLC, Amite, LA; William Boyd, Vice President/Treasurer/Director Chapter 3, Flower City Nurseries, Smartt, TN; Eelco Tinga, Jr., Past President and Director Chapter 1, Tinga Nurseries, Castle Hayne, NC; Richard May, Director Chapter 2, May Nursery, Havana, FL; Jeff Howell, Director Chapter 4, Rocky Creek Nursery, Lucedale, MS; George Hackney, Immediate Past President, Hackney Nursery Company, Quincey, FL
Newly-elected SNA President, Randall Bracy, is owner of Bracy's Nursery - a 150 acre container nursery located in Amite, Louisiana (75 miles North of New Orleans) Bracy's Nursery services independent garden centers and landscapers throughout the Southeast. Founded in 1986 by Randall and his wife Regina, Bracy's grows a full palate of plants from 1 to 45 gallon and carries a full line of branded plants from Encore, Southern Living, Proven Winners, and Knock-Out - just to name a few. Bracy's has received industry recognition through awards for best booth at various trade shows and has also been the front cover spotlight article in Nursery Management Pro, Ornamental Outlook and other trade magazines. Bracy's has also been acknowledged for its Backyard Oasis Program, which markets drought tolerant plants for its customers to offer to their customers.
Raised on a dairy farm, Randy has been in agriculture all his life. He is a member and past president of both his local nursery association (Southeast Louisiana Nursery Association) and his state nursery association (Louisiana Nursery Association). He is a member of the International Plant Propagators Society and a member and past president of the Tangi Economic Development District. He currently serves on the Washington Parish Farm Bureau Board of Directors, is Chairman of the State Farm Bureau Labor Committee, and serves on the Louisiana Farm Bureau Horticulture Committee. As the owner of Bracy's Nursery, he is a member of many state associations throughout the southeast including Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, South Carolina, and Georgia. Randy has served on the SNA Board of Directors since 2006. Both he and his wife Regina are very passionate about the industry and proud to be a part of it. Regina is the Director of the LSU Ag Center Research Station, which deals with landscape management. They have been married 37 years and have two children; Kelly, age 31, is teaching in South Korea, and Matthew, age 21, is a senior at LSU.
Richard May began working at the family nursery (May Nursery, Havana, FL) in 1990 at age 13 as a summer job spacing plants. He has done virtually every job at the nursery working summers from Middle school up through College until he began full-time employment in 2002. Since working at May Nursery in a permanent capacity he has managed Weed control, Pruning, Sales, and Research and Development. Richard now splits his time between Sales, Production scheduling, Purchasing, Quality Control and Pruning for the entire nursery.
Richard was raised attending every SNA trade show as a child from the early 1980's to the present. His grandfather, Fount May, Sr., served as SNA President 1987. Richard graduated from Auburn University in 2000 with a B.S. Agriculture Economics and a B.S. Horticulture - Ornamental Production. He was a recipient of the Sidney B. Meadows Scholarship in 2000. Richard was an Eagle Scout, is a graduate of the Wedgworth Leadership Institute for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Class VII - 2007-2009 – sponsored by the University of Florida IFAS, and is an active member of the International Plant Propagators Society 2003 to present. He is active in his local community and serves as Treasurer for the Gadsden County (FL) Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and is a Youth Leader and Deacon at the First Presbyterian Church of Quincy, FL.
Richard is an avid plant collector and has extensive collections of hydrangeas, azaleas, daylilies, rhododendrons, perennials, and native plants. He is married to Melissa McDaniel (May) from Norcross, GA. They have three children (Lawre Bradley – age 5, Lucy – age 3 and Fountain – age 5 months (named after his Grandfather (past SNA president.))
Jeff Howell, is owner of Rocky Creek Nurseries, Inc. in Lucedale, Mississippi. Jeff's parents, Owen and Connie, founded the company in 1962. Jeff is a third generation nurseryman. The nursery offers quality landscape plants including trees, flowering shrubs, roses, perennials, and fruit trees.
Howell is active in his church, serves on the board of directors of the Southern Region of IPPS, and is chairman of his County Republican Party chapter and serves on the board of trustees of the George Regional Health System. He received the Southern Nursery Association's David E. Laird Award in 1998 and served on the SNA Trade Show Committee in 2003.
Jeff and his wife Melinda have two sons - Tyler, 20 and Jeffrey 17.
Newly appointed SNA Interim Executive Vice President Karen Summers is excited about the diversity of the SNA Board members, and believes this newly elected board will bring positive results for the association. "Bill Boyd and Eelco Tinga have graciously agreed to serve again on the SNA Board. Their experience and wisdom will be invaluable for this newly elected board," Summers stated. "This group of men is dedicated to the industry and has a broad variety of ideas and perspectives on how SNA can meet the needs of its members. With upcoming planning meetings, I am optimistic about the new direction and goals we can set for SNA and our ability to fulfill these goals in the best interest of the industry," she added.
The Southern Nursery Association is a non-profit, professional trade association representing the horticultural industry in the southern U.S. SNA provides member services to wholesale growers, brokers, retailers, landscape contractors, landscape architects, grounds maintenance contractors, interiorscapers and allied suppliers. Established in 1899, the SNA strives to provide educational, marketing and networking opportunities essential to the survival of the horticultural industry.
For further information on SNA, contact the Southern Nursery Association, Inc. at 894 Liberty Farm Road, Oak Grove, VA 22443-5200, Voice/Fax: 804.224.9352, Email: mail@sna.org or visit the SNA Website at www.sna.org.
Southern Nursery Association, Inc.,
894 Liberty Farm Road, Oak Grove, VA 22443
Phone/Fax: 804-224-9352, Email: mail@sna.org, Website: www.sna.org