The 2026 PlantNebraska Awards
PlantNebraska honored 13 individuals and organizations with awards at its annual reception on November 6 at Pioneers Park Nature Center in Lincoln. The following recipients were honored:
President’s Citation: Lyle Karre, Omaha
The President’s Citation recognizes outstanding contributions to PlantNebraska’s mission. The award is nominated by and given at the discretion of the president of the PlantNebraska Executive Board. This year’s President’s Citation was awarded to Lyle Karre of Omaha, a longtime master gardener with the H.O.P.E. Garden in Omaha.
Karre leads the garden’s perennial and pollinator areas, caring for more than 50 varieties of plants while mentoring fellow volunteers and sharing his extensive knowledge with gardeners of all experience levels. He has helped establish a certified pollinator habitat that supports the garden’s vegetable production, which provides thousands of pounds of fresh produce each year to families experiencing food insecurity.
Ron Yoder Service Award: Julie Zahn, Syracuse
The Ron Yoder Service Award was established in 2023 to celebrate the retirement of Dr. Ron Yoder, a long-time supporter and ex officio board member. This award honors a current or past PlantNebraska board member who has generously committed time, talents and effort in support of PlantNebraska’s mission. This year’s recipient of the Ron Yoder Service Award is Julie Zahn.
Zahn served on PlantNebraska’s board and as board president, leading PlantNebraska through a period of substantial change, including the pandemic years and the organization’s name change from the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum to PlantNebraska in 2025. She also volunteered extensively and helped to lead a large-scale PlantNebraska grant project at the Syracuse Area Health Center.
Affiliate Excellence Award: Blair Community Arboretum and Volunteer Betsy Anderson
The Affiliate Excellence Award recognizes excellence in plant collection diversity, maintenance practices and community engagement. This year’s award was presented to Blair Community Arboretum.
The Blair Community Arboretum encompasses approximately 150 acres of plantings across Ralph Steyer Park, Black Elk Neihardt Park, Rhodes Park, Veterans Tribute Plaza, the grounds of Arbor School and the Dana Village Campus.
Betsy Anderson has volunteered thousands of hours over the years to ensure that the parks continue to look their best for the community. She maintains the flower beds along main street, helps to keep up the multiple parks in the city, is a master gardener, serves as president of Blair’s Parks, Recreation and Cemetery Advisory Board, has coordinated several Arbor Day events and has collaborated with Kyle to develop a tree planting pilot program for the city.
Blazing Star Awards: Amanda Stastny, of Omaha and Pollinator Alliance of the Heartland (PATH)
The Blazing Star Award recognizes an individual or organization that has made a significant contribution toward advancing the horticultural use of native plants or the restoration of native plant communities in Nebraska. This year two recipients were honored with the Blazing Star Award: Amanda Stastny of Omaha and the Pollinator Alliance of the Heartland (PATH).
Amanda Stastny has made it her mission to help people discover the beauty and ecological value of native plants. She operates a native plant nursery from her home, focusing on making native plants affordable and accessible. Her pesticide-free, straight-species plants are available through backyard sales and community events, and her own front yard showcases how beautiful native plants can be in a traditional landscape. Stastny also creates opportunities for others to learn and participate. She hosts a Native Flower Garden Club at a neighborhood skate park, offers workshops and free plants, organizes habitat restoration at Cottonwood Creek Preserve, educates the public about native plants and insects and demonstrates how even small urban spaces can have ecological value.
PATH brings together people committed to educating communities about native plants and the pollinators that depend on them. In just a few years, PATH has established more than 30 public gardens and helped inspire hundreds of private gardens, partnering with schools, libraries, municipalities and other organizations to bring pollinator-friendly landscapes to life. Its annual Milkweed and Cookies event distributes 160 mini pollinator gardens while offering educational speakers, vendors and community activities. PATH also provides resources that help people take meaningful steps to support pollinators in their own yards. Through collaboration, education and hands-on projects, PATH is helping native plants take root throughout the region.
Volunteer Awards: Teri Ourada-Hubka of Lincoln and Carol Larvick of South Sioux City
The Volunteer Award recognizes the people whose time, energy and commitment help make PlantNebraska’s mission possible.
Teri Ourada-Hubka, of Lincoln, volunteers many hours each year in the PlantNebraska greenhouses and at Spring Affair, PlantNebraska’s plant sale in April. She brings ideas for improving processes, takes initiative, never shies away from hard work and is warm, friendly and easy to be with. Her initiative, work ethic, and genuine willingness to pitch in make her an incredible asset to PlantNebraska.
For the past 15 years, Carol Larvick, of South Sioux City, has been the driving force behind the South Sioux City Community Orchard, organizing regular volunteer workdays and helping plant and care for more than 130 fruit trees. Under her leadership, the orchard has grown to include raised-bed gardens, grapevines, a pergola, an apiary and a rain garden. It also welcomes schoolchildren for educational visits and offers community members the opportunity to pick apples and receive honey at no cost.
Community Landscape Awards: Jan and Ken Tell of Grand Island; the Denton Community Center and Denton Historical Society Museum; and Beveridge Middle School and its PTO.
The Community Landscape Award recognizes projects that significantly improved the green infrastructure in a community. Community Landscape Awards were presented this year to Jan and Ken Tell of Grand Island; the Denton Community Center and Denton Historical Society Museum; and Beveridge Middle School and its PTO in Omaha.
Jan and Ken Tell transformed the flower garden at Stolley Park in Grand Island from a collection of struggling trees, sticky weeds, and a hodgepodge of plants into 12 smaller, themed gardens connecting visitors with local history. Through donations, grants, and volunteer labor approaching a million dollars in value, the garden has become a welcoming destination for weddings, concerts, children’s programs, and countless community gatherings.
Through a PlantNebraska Greener Towns grant, the landscaping around the Denton Community Center received a much-needed transformation, with native, pollinator-friendly plants replacing outdated beds. Across the street at the Denton Historical Society Museum, a small but mighty group of volunteers worked tirelessly to establish a sustainable landscape of native trees and prairie pollinator plants that will continue to grow and flourish, reflecting what the landscape would have looked like when Denton’s pioneer ancestors arrived during the Homestead Act years.
Last April, seventh-grade honors science students at Beveridge Middle School learned about the importance of native plants and then put that knowledge into practice. Students designed gardens for a 500-square-foot underused, weedy area of campus, with classmates voting anonymously to select the winning designs. With support from the PTO, the winning designs from each class became a pollinator garden featuring nearly 250 native perennial plants, including spring, summer, and fall bloomers, native grasses, and milkweed.
Johnny Appleseed Award: Jon Forney Grant
The Johnny Appleseed Award recognizes an individual or individuals who embody the generous spirit of Johnny Appleseed through a sustained personal involvement in tree planting in Nebraska. This year’s recipient of the Johnny Appleseed Award is Jon Forney.
Forney has served on the Grant Tree Board for 28 years, including 26 years as its president. A certified arborist and former teacher and Boy Scout leader, he has planted and cared for dozens of trees throughout Grant, led Arbor Day celebrations with local fourth graders, and completed a digital inventory of the community’s trees. He has also helped to access grants that have funded residential tree plantings and continually applies what he learns at state and regional workshops to strengthen Grant’s community forest. Through nearly three decades of service, Jon has become a trusted resource and an enthusiastic advocate for the next generation of tree stewards.
Jim Kluck Honor Award: George Acker, Ogallala
Jim Kluck was a long-time PlantNebraska supporter, past board member, curator and Nebraska nurseryman who loved helping people and communities improve their landscapes. In memory of him, this award recognizes individuals or organizations that have made a significant contribution to PlantNebraska or to an affiliate site.
George Acker, of Ogallala, is the recipient of this year’s Jim Kluck Honor Award. Acker has transformed Tri Trails Park in Ogallala into an impressive elm tree trial site, with more than 15 elm species and a growing collection of unusual cultivars. He helped secure irrigation for the park and continues to expand its plantings every year. In the true spirit of Johnny Appleseed, Acker has taken his passion and advocacy for trees on the road, helping multiple communities establish or reestablish their tree boards; assisting the community of Arnold submit an urban and community forestry grant application, coordinating planting events and delivering trees to communities throughout the Platte Valley. His willingness to share his expertise, time and enthusiasm has helped communities across western Nebraska build stronger urban forests.
Educator Award: Mary Moser, Pawnee City
The Educator Award recognizes educators who have made an outstanding contribution toward advancing the knowledge and appreciation of plants among their students.
Mary Moser, Pawnee County Extension Educator and president of the Pawnee City Tree Board, has spent decades inspiring curiosity and helping others develop a lasting appreciation for the natural world. After 25 years teaching high school biology, Moser continues to bring science, trees, plants and the natural world to life as an Extension Educator for Pawnee County, where she shares her knowledge with elementary students in Pawnee City, Lewiston, Sterling and Tecumseh. Her commitment to education is also evident in her work with her family’s tree service and nursery, where she has developed deep expertise in tree health and proper care.
