Gift boosts Horticultural Research Foundation endowment

Kenneth E. Bull has established two funds to help support programs at the Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Station and to provide annual scholarship money for area students pursuing a degree in horticulture at Michigan State University. The $26,000 gift will be used by the NW Michigan Horticultural Research Foundation as a challenge grant to raise $200,000 in gifts by the end of 2008. Foundation president Rick Sayler said:

“Mr. Bull continues his lifetime commitment to the fruit industry. Through his pioneering gift, he will be providing an endowment for a brighter future for area growers. The establishment of permanent funds that benefit the research station and area students is a wonderful way to insure that his generosity and leadership will leave an everlasting legacy.”

Bull (age 95) has been active in Michigan’s fruit industry for over eight decades. He raised apples, cherries, peaches, plums and pears on 500 acres in Casnovia Township and served as a Director of Michigan Farm Bureau.