Group gathers to commemorate 40th Anniversary of Woodland and Floral Garden and influence of beloved professor In April 2020, a Mizzou Botanic Garden (MUBG) event to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the University of Missouri’s Woodland and Floral Garden in April was necessarily cancelled in light of the global pandemic. The garden, a student effort from conception to completion, was to be rededicated as the Missouri Woodland Garden. The anniversary coincided with the 150th intended commemoration. Joan and Bill Ruppert welcome attendees to Fox Hollow Farm for a celebration of the 40th anniversary of MU’s Woodland and Floral Gardens. Not to be deprived of the opportunity to reminisce and celebrate the historic event, a modest get-together was held Oct. 3 by a handful of alumni involved in the project. The group first convened at MU’s South Farm for a look at the Legacy Oaks of the Francis Quadrangle. The five species of forty or so oak saplings, donated to MUBG by Forrest-Keeling Nursery, are putting on size and being evaluated to take the place of the failing pin oaks that have graced the University’s Francis Quad for 60-plus years. MU horticulture professors and friends joined the group for a celebration of the Woodland and Floral Gardens 40th Anniversary at Fox Hollow Farm, the home of Bill and Joan Ruppert, outside of Ashland, Mo. Bill and Kevin Karel, who also was in attendance with his wife Denise, provided vision and leadership for the project as MU horticulture students 40 years ago. Ruppert took the advantage of the get together to highlight and memorialize deceased MU Professor Ron Taven, who served as advisor to the Ruppert and Karel during the garden’s initiation. Taven, a beloved horticulture faculty member, played a prominent role in the lives and education of the horticulture students involved four decades ago. MU Vice Chancellor and CAFNR Dean Christopher Daubert gave opening remarks at the scaled down celebration, noting the 150th anniversary of CAFNR. MU Vice Chancellor and CAFNR Dean Christopher Daubert’s opening remarks lauded the “golden legacy and bold future” of CAFNR, celebrating its 150th anniversary. “Efforts that occurred on this campus and our commitment to student experience 40 years ago still stands,” he said. Ruppert launched the tribute to Taven noting that what made his classes so interesting were the stories behind the plants. Taven’s daughter, Julie Taven, said that every single category of plant fascinated her father. “At the end, it was smelly plants, and plants with thorns. He just took it to the limit. known to say, ‘He who plants trees loves others.’ I’ve never met a man who was so kind. He was awesome.” Kevin Karel, who along with Bill Ruppert led efforts to plan and establish MU’s Woodland And Floral Garden, fondly remembered Advisor Ron Taven. Karel shared the influence Taven had on his life and career. “I’m so grateful I knew Ron. He was humble. He was brilliant. But he never felt the need for attention. All you had to do was listen. ‘Tavinisms’ have become legend, disarming in their wisdom,” Karel said. All of Tavin’s students were familiar with his words of wisdom, coined, Tavinisms. A couple of favorites voiced by those on hand include: “I am not a failure in life. I started at the bottom and enjoy it there.” “You recognize a horticulturist not by the green thumb but by the brown knees.” Ruppert said the Landscape Appreciation class Taven taught seemed like an easy ‘A’ to his journalism major roommate who eventually confessed he “couldn’t understand where Professor Taven was coming from.” “People from all majors took that class. It was beyond your wildest imagination,” Ruppert said. “He saw where the world and environment were headed. I don’t think Ron recognized the lives he touched. Julie Taven poses with a life-sized replica of her father commissioned by Bill Ruppert for the anniversary celebration. David Trinklien, retired MU professor of horticulture, said, “Ron was a genius but he also was such a comedian. When MU Landscape Services was taking a tree down on campus, he said, ‘That’s only one of three specimens in the world and neither of the other two looks that great.’” Ruppert, Karel and Julie Taven unveiled a life-size representation of the popular professor, showing him dressed in his signature flat cap and plaid pants. “He is holding flowers of a yellowwood tree,” Ruppert said. “American yellowwood was his favorite tree.” A program shared at the event included a list of Tavinisms including, “Early in life, I planted trees and enjoyed watching them grow to maturity. As life has progressed, and the time to watch plants grow has been reduced, I have reverted to shrubs, then to perennials, then annuals and tropicals, and in my old age, I suppose I will watch the growth of protozoa.”