The IDS Collegiate Scholarship Program |
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The Indiana Daffodil Society has been the recipient of bulbs from two of its original members, Helen Link and Libby Frey. Through sharing and generosity to other members, Mrs. Link and Mrs. Frey have supported our bulb sales with their original bulb stocks. Both ladies bought bulbs from our U.S. hybridizers, and both regularly imported bulbs from breeders around the world. We now maintain this stock on their properties and on Sara Kinne's land and sell them at our bulb sales to fund our Collegiate Scholarship Program.
Mrs. Link began growing daffodils in the 1940s and went on to become a world expert in exhibiting, judging, and hybridizing daffodils. She won many blue ribbons in competition and was awarded the highest honor, the Gold Medal, by the American Daffodil Society. Mrs. Frey met Mrs. Link in the early 50s and was so impressed by her growing fields that she aspired to grow masses of daffodils. She became active in IDS and soon thereafter became a passionate grower herself. Mrs. Link originally was a registered nurse but returned to school at age sixty to study botany as she desired to learn all she could regarding her passion for hybridizing daffodils. IDS is committed to promoting our favorite flower and decided our bulb sale profits could be best utilized by establishing a scholarship fund and at the same time remember this influential member in a purposeful way. The three $1,000 scholarships are to Indiana colleges in the field of botany, ecology, horticulture, landscape architecture, and the like. We continue to procure bulbs from other generous benefactors but the beauty and quality of Mrs. Link's and Mrs. Frey's continue to be the gold standard.
A 2015 winner is Ashley Lewis, from Purdue Here is an article from the Indiana Daily Student. We hope you will support our goals and our bulb sales, which keep our scholarships alive. |