The Green Industry Hall of Fame
Beginning in 1997, the Wisconsin Green Industry Federation (WGIF) began recognizing professionals who have made a significent impact to the green industry throughout their careers. Each year candidates are nominated by their respective associations and then submitted to the Hall of Fame Committee for review and final selection. Once the selection(s) have been determined, recipients are honored and celebrated at a special ceremony among their family, peers, and other industry leaders. The Commercial Growers of Wisconsin are proud to have had several members inducted into this prestigious hall through the years. Since the dissolve of the WGIF in 2018, the Wisconsin Nursery and Landscape Association (WNLA) carries on this rich and necessary tradition.
1997 Charter Members
Ken Altorfer
Patrick Buckley
Samuel Ferguson
Charles Gerlach
Kenneth Greaves
Don Groth
Dr. Edward Hasselkus
Wayne Johnson
William Jung
Karl Junginger
Delmar Lied
Thomas Lied
Lindor Maleztke
W.G. McKay
George Pinney
Thomas Pinney, Jr.
John Schaefgen
Richard C. Schneider, Jr.
Arnold Sieg
Herbert Trautman
John Voight
Tuenis Zondag
1999
L.H. Bruce
Richard H. Garbe
Thomas Pinney, Sr.
2000
L.H. Bruce
Richard H. Garbe
Thomas Pinney, Sr.
2001
Egon Herrmann
Walter C. Holzbog
Edwin Hunkel
2002
Dave Damitz
Bliss Nicholson
Marshall Scheibe
Matthew Stano
2003
Harry Radtke
Paul Swartz
2004
Paul A. Arndt
2005
Don Hahlbeck
John C. Orton
2006
Neal Karthauser
2007
Peter Ganshert
2008
Robert L. Herman
2009
Dr. Gayle Worf
2010
Robert C. Walkoe
2011
James W. Huggett
2012
Dr. Louis M. Berninger
Greg Long
Melinda Myers
2013
Dr. Charles Koval
2014
Phillip Pellitteri
2015
Monroe Miller
2016
Shelley Ryan
Dr. Eugene Smalley
2017
Ron Amos
2018
Randy Jasperson
Ed Knapton
2019
David J. Frank
2020
Terry Kurth
Bill Vogel