Spring 2003

Volume 6 Number 2
A publication of Macon State College

MSC Botanical Gardens Award

The Botanical Gardens at Macon State College have been named for Waddell Barnes, M.D., shown here on campus. Photo by Renee Pearman

By Renee Pearman

Hal Massie, a volunteer naturalist and master gardener, is the recipient of the 2002 Macon State College Botanical Gardens Award.

“Hal calls himself a ‘simple gardener,’ but he is so much more than that,” said Waddell Barnes, M.D., who has guided the development of the college’s Botanical Gardens. “He is a community volunteer, an environmentalist and a writer.”

Barnes presented the award during a Botanical Gardens lecture at Macon State College last October. The guest lecturer was internationally acclaimed gardener, researcher and author Dr. Allan M. Armitage, a professor of horticulture at the University of Georgia. Armitage, who established the horticulture gardens at UGA in 1982, is the author of eight books, including the reference text Herbaceous Garden Perennials, which the American Horticultural Society named one of the 75 most important horticultural books written in the last 75 years.

The evening with Armitage, which was open to the public, was the second in a series of annual lectures at Macon State College focusing on horticulture, landscaping and environmental issues. The series is under the sponsorship of Macon State’s developing Botanical Gardens. Each fall lecture includes the presentation of a Botanical Gardens Award.

Massie, who has a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from UGA, is a member of the Master Gardeners of Central Georgia and the Georgia Master Gardener Association. He serves on the board of directors for the Georgia Botanical Society and is the feature editor for the Society’s newsletter. His column “The Garden Spot” appears in The Macon Telegraph twice a month.

Massie has earned a lifetime status as master gardener. He volunteers as a floristic and avian surveyor and environmental educator at Georgia State Parks and Callaway Gardens, and he writes for various horticulture and botanical newsletters and magazines. In addition, he is a Habitat for Humanity volunteer.

“When you boil it all down, I’m just a simple gardener,” Massie said. “Nothing describes my nature better than that.”

A 25-year veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces, Massie is member of the Georgia Air National Guard and an avionics technician at Robins Air Force Base. He and his wife Marie, a third grade teacher at Crawford County Elementary School, live in Musella.

—Editor’s Note: University of Georgia Athletic Director and master gardener Vince Dooley is scheduled
to be the guest lecturer at the 2003 Botanical Gardens Lecture, which will be Oct. 24 at MSC.