H*5379 Resolution, By Hiott, Alexander, Allison, Anderson, Anthony, Arrington, 
Atkinson, Atwater, Bales, Ballentine, Bamberg, Bannister, Bennett, Bernstein, 
Blackwell, Bowers, Bradley, Brawley, Brown, Bryant, Burns, Caskey, Chumley, 
Clary, Clemmons, Clyburn, Cobb-Hunter, Cogswell, Cole, Collins, Crawford, 
Crosby, Daning, Davis, Delleney, Dillard, Douglas, Duckworth, Elliott, Erickson, 
Felder, Finlay, Forrest, Forrester, Fry, Funderburk, Gagnon, Gilliard, Govan, 
Hamilton, Hardee, Hart, Hayes, Henderson, Henderson-Myers, Henegan, Herbkersman, 
Hewitt, Hill, Hixon, Hosey, Howard, Huggins, Jefferson, Johnson, Jordan, King, 
Kirby, Knight, Loftis, Long, Lowe, Lucas, Mace, Mack, Magnuson, Martin, McCoy, 
McCravy, McEachern, McGinnis, McKnight, D.C. Moss, V.S. Moss, Murphy, B. Newton, 
W. Newton, Norrell, Ott, Parks, Pendarvis, Pitts, Pope, Putnam, Ridgeway, 
M. Rivers, S. Rivers, Robinson-Simpson, Rutherford, Sandifer, Simrill, 
G.M. Smith, G.R. Smith, J.E. Smith, Sottile, Spires, Stavrinakis, Stringer, 
Tallon, Taylor, Thayer, Thigpen, Toole, Trantham, Weeks, West, Wheeler, White, 
Whitmire, Williams, Willis, Wooten, Young and Yow
 A HOUSE RESOLUTION TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR MS. DONNA SHEALY FOSTER FOR HER
 DISTINGUISHED CAREER SPENT IMPROVING, LEADING, AND SERVING THE
 ORNAMENTAL-HORTICULTURE INDUSTRY AND SUPPORTING GREEN-INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS
 IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND TO WISH HER UPON HER RETIREMENT CONTINUED SUCCESS AND
 HAPPINESS IN ALL HER FUTURE ENDEAVORS.

   05/08/18  House  Introduced and adopted (House Journal-page 11)

TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR MS. DONNA SHEALY FOSTER FOR HER DISTINGUISHED CAREER SPENT IMPROVING, LEADING, AND SERVING THE ORNAMENTAL-HORTICULTURE INDUSTRY AND SUPPORTING GREEN-INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND TO WISH HER UPON HER RETIREMENT CONTINUED SUCCESS AND HAPPINESS IN ALL HER FUTURE ENDEAVORS.

Whereas, Ms. Donna Shealy Foster, a professional marketing and event planner, has spent over thirty years working with green-industry trade groups, legislators, educators, and other stakeholders. Three professional associations have benefitted from her service and their association with her: SC Green Industry, SC Greenhouse Growers Association, and the International Plant Propagators' Society; and

Whereas, Ms. Foster most recently served as executive director of the South Carolina Green Industry Association, spending her time enriching the educational opportunities and networks of green-industry and ornamental-horticulture professionals; and

Whereas, her life of service extends to her family, her church, the Boy Scouts of America Troop 4, and business and ornamental horticulture through memberships in SC Society of Association Executives, Palmetto Business Council, and Trees SC; and

Whereas, Ms. Foster provided professionals who might never have pursued educational advancement opportunities to learn respected agricultural practices, and she has organized thirty-two multi-day conferences, eighteen Fall Field Day sessions, and numerous smaller events where professionals earned certification credits for pesticide use, certified nursery professional, and other ornamental-horticulture certifications. Her largest trade show had over sixteen hundred participants and three hundred booths of industry representatives; and

Whereas, Ms. Foster was influential in coordinating training efforts between the South Carolina Department of Pesticide Regulation and the South Carolina Landscape & Turfgrass Association to address the public health concerns over the 2016 Zika virus outbreaks in South Carolina, and as a result of these specialized trainings and a memorandum of understanding developed by the Department of Pesticide Regulation, approximately three thousand six hundred licensed turf and ornamental applicators can now directly address this public health threat; and

Whereas, a leader and a tireless promoter of the South Carolina green industry, she built strong relationships between professionals, legislators, and educators. She has been called a powerful liaison, a tie that connects one-person businesses to large companies and legislators, and a reliable, honorable representative; and

Whereas, Ms. Foster organized seventeen legislative events, coordinated trade shows with over two-hundred fifty booths and more than twenty speakers at each event, directed twenty-one years of the green-industry magazine South Carolina Nurseryman, and recruited new members to green-industry associations during her annual presentations to students in Clemson University classrooms and by overseeing student interns from various colleges and universities at conferences and trade shows; and

Whereas, the House of Representatives of the State of South Carolina is grateful for Donna Foster's lifetime commitment and tireless efforts on behalf of green-industry professionals that enable them to empower themselves to serve the citizens of the Palmetto State, and the members wish her many years of enjoyment in her well-earned retirement. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize and honor Ms. Donna Shealy Foster for her distinguished career spent improving, leading, and serving the ornamental-horticulture industry and supporting green-industry professionals in South Carolina and wish her upon her retirement continued success and happiness in all her future endeavors.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Ms. Donna Shealy Foster.