ASHS President William J. Lamont, Jr., is with filled with fond memories while facing the dreaded chore of "straightening the office."

OK, I know what you are thinking! What is he up to with that title and this should be interesting to see where he is going to take us with this column. I will freely admit that this column came to me as I was organizing my office. For those of you that have had the opportunity to view my office, you know why some remedial action was sorely needed and for those that have not had that insight, just think of what your office would look like after a tornado passed through it. The office motif is definitely early Lamont, a collection of assorted items that represent my life, travels, and career.

Now I know that all of you have an office, so we can agree that we start from a common jump off point and that your offices probably run the gamut from the “very organized and nothing out of place look,” like maybe I would envision Randy Woodson’s office, to the “very interesting but where do I sit” office, probably represented by my friend Fred S. Davies. My office is more in the mold of Fred’s office, and I decided that it was time to clean it up and rearrange the furniture to present a more “professional look” to the outside world and also so people could finally have a place to sit when they visited on official business.

As I began the cleaning up and organizing process, it struck me (divine revelation) that I was reliving the current and past history of horticulture and ASHS. I saw that much of the papers and stuff in my office could be traced back directly or indirectly to members of ASHS—both past and present—or to horticultural activities I have been involved in around the world. As I tried to discern what to do with all my stuff, I looked at who the authors were on all kinds of printed materials, from scholarly journals, extension publications of every size and age, to articles on resident education, and finally to a tons of popular press, trade, or commodity publications. I became aware that many of these publications were indeed authored by members of ASHS. Some of the papers or articles were authored by friends who have gone on to greener gardens, such as Bernard Hall, University of California, Doug Sanders from North Carolina State, Dermot Coyne from the University of Nebraska, William Kelley from Cornell University, Herb Bryan from the University of Florida, and Norm Smith, Rutgers University, just to name a few.

As I organized my issues of HortTechnology, I thought of Jack Kelly and his service as the first editor of HortTechnology and also of my good friend John M. Gerber, from the University of Massachusetts, who spearheaded the effort to bring HortTechnology into being. Jack Kelly and others represent a group of horticulturist’s who were leaders and very active in ASHS during their careers and are now known as “Emeriti.” They continue to be active in and outside the society, and are a source of wise counsel. Being a history buff, I really appreciate Don Maynard, the ASHS Archivist and Historian, who shares with us some of history of the Society in each issue of the Newsletter.

The next step in organizing my office was to remove all the rocks that I collected from my travels that resided on the top of my filing cabinets. Each rock reminded me of trips that I have taken both in academia and the Navy to places such as Israel (rocks from the wall around Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, and the Masada), Japan (a volcanic rock from my climb up Mt. Fuji), and Italy (a piece of marble—not off a statue), just to name a few. I thought of the people I met and the breadth and beauty of horticulture that I saw in each of those places and how international our profession and society is today and how we can collaborate with other colleagues around the world. I thought of Diane Doud Miller, current Vice President for ASHS International Division and John Griffis, former Vice President for the International Division, who have been instrumental in bringing to the society the international opportunities and also spotlighting the international facet of our society in presentations and in the monthly Newsletter. We are truly a global professional society.

As I organized my proceedings from many of the commodity meetings that I have been involved in around the country, I thought of the organizers—many of them members of ASHS—and what effort it took to organize and put together those educational programs and how I enjoyed visiting with colleagues around the country, many of whom are members of ASHS, at those meetings.

Cleaning up and organizing my office made me again realize how much my membership in ASHS and the friends that I have made as a result of my professional involvement in the Society has meant to me both professionally and personally. I would have never thought that the simple act of organizing my office would have been such an enriching and enlightening experience. It was a chance to visit the membership of ASHS, both past and present, via their corporate body of their work contained in my office and files and reinforced the idea that the current ASHS is built on the strong foundation laid down by so many members over the years. Membership in ASHS is truly a life-changing experience, the benefits of which can be enjoyed in having the chance to remember and reflect on friends and colleagues active, retired, or gone on to a greater horticulture endeavor beyond the bounds of Earth. What an unexpected plus to organizing my office!

My quote for this column comes from Jonathan Edwards:

“Surely there is something in the unruffled calm of nature that overawes our little anxieties and doubts; the sight of the deep-blue sky and the clustering stars above seems to impart a quiet to the mind.”

- published in the October 2009 issue of the ASHS Newsletter