Richard Ware

Award of Merit Citation - 2010 Blenheim Conference

I have the very pleasurable job of awarding our Society’s top award tonight – The Award of Merit. To receive this award the recipient must have given meritorious service to the IPPS, to still be an active member, and they must have given meritorious service to NZ horticulture. Only eleven other members have received this award. The recipient fills all of the above criteria in spades.

In asking around our long-term members a number of stories came out. Gus Evans tells me about the times at conference he has seen him working out on his ‘rebounder’ on his hotel balcony in the early hours of the morning. Also the time while on an IPPS field trip to one of his previous employers, he got commanded to "SHUT THE BLOODY DOOR *******". Our recipient tonight duly jumped and got it done. Many members will never forget his presentations at conferences. Delivered with passion and strong conviction, with great content but with little interest in inconsequential things like time. Others recall him using a fridge for a filing cabinet, his penchant for “alternative food” and healthy living, and his nursery site where you have to be a contortionist mountain goat to survive.

In the horticultural world, he obtained a diploma at Massey under Murray Richards in the late 60’s. He is renowned for the having probably made more cuttings than any other NZ propagator. Many millions of plants around NZ started life under his knife and clippers. He has brought vast amounts of new plant material into NZ, as well as production technologies not previously seen in our country. He was one of the first to prune his plants very hard and to facilitate this he developed an excellent trimming machine. His love of new things takes him overseas and when he returns he seeks to share this information with others.

As to his service to IPPS there is no doubt about his credentials. He became an inaugural member and committee member at the first meeting on the 26th September 1972. He has served on the Executive in various roles for the periods 1972 to 1980, and from 1984 to 1991. In that time he served two terms as President, in1976/77 and 1988/89, and one term as our International Director in 1990 and 1991. He has been extremely active in attending and organizing field days and conferences, and that extends to our conference today and even more so next year.

To finish with Gus’s words “My instant recall would be his love, passion and continued support for IPPS over many many years. He is always available to fulfill and help out with any IPPS tasks asked of him, and always willingly and instantly.”

It is with the greatest respect and pleasure I would like to announce the recipient, Richard Ware could you please come forward.