During SAF’s Congressional Action Days in 2017, members of the Michigan delegation, including Nancy Hooper of Norton’s Flowers & Gifts in Anne Arbor and Ypsilanti, Rod Crittenden of the Great Lakes Floral Association and Tim Galea of Norton’s, met with Michigan lawmakers, including staff from the office of Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the first woman from Michigan to be elected to the U.S. Senate, will add another “first” to her resume this fall: Member of the Michigan Floral Foundation’s Hall of Fame.
In October, the Foundation will formally present Stabenow, the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, with its highest honor. She is the first non-floral industry member to be inducted into the group’s Hall of Fame.
Stabenow, meeting with a constituent in Michigan. The senator, first elected in 2000, will be inducted this fall into the Michigan Floral Foundation’s Hall of Fame.
Rod Crittenden, CEO and executive vice president of the Great Lakes Floral Association, said the group decided to honor Stabenow because of her “relentless commitment to the legislation, governance, and principles that benefit every segment and level of the agricultural and floral community.”
In addition to serving on the Senate Agriculture committee, Stabenow authored the 2014 Farm Bill, which Crittenden said, “strengthened Michigan agriculture and made historic, permanent investments in specialty crops, floriculture, pest and disease management, and cutting-edge research.”
She co-authored the bipartisan 2018 Farm Bill, which has helped members of Michigan’s floral industry “explore new options for local crop insurance and strengthening support for specialty crops and floriculture,” according to the Foundation.
Ties between Stabenow and the floral industry also have been fortified during the Society of American Florists’ annual Congressional Action Days, when the senator and her staff have met with SAF members, added Crittenden.
“We’ve always had a good relationship and she’s been very supportive of Michigan agriculture,” he said.
The Hall of Fame ceremony will be held on October 8, 2019 at the University Club in East Lansing, Michigan. Find out more.
Mary Westbrook is the editor in chief of Floral Management.