Howard Hite Award – 2023 Winner: Steve Williams
The Howard Hite Award is to honor a Region 2 ADS member who has contributed notable achievements in the field of hybridizing. These achievements have been the results of years of dedication to a hybridizing program and have greatly influenced the world of daylilies.
The Award, established in 1989, is sponsored by The Southern Michigan Daylily Society and is named for the late Howard Hite.
Howard was an avid fan of daylilies. In the early 1960’s he began working on a hybridizing program which focused on the entire plant. Strong plants which could withstand the cold winters of Michigan. In 1968 he registered his first daylily “Angelus Bells” and for the next 35 or so years he worked tirelessly, and registered 125 cultivars.
Like most daylily hybridizers, Howard had dreams, he was working for a true blue daylily and he wanted to live to be 100 years old. He didn’t make it to his 100 birthday; however, a week prior to his 99th birthday he submitted his last registration. The daylily was registered as “Christine Walser Hite”, and was named for his mother. Shortly after submitting the registration he passed away.
Although the Howard Hite Award was established in 1989, it wasn’t until 1995 when Howard was presented the award. At that time he joined the ranks of other highly regarded hybridizers, Dr. Charles Branch, Bryant Millikan, Charles Recamp, and Steven Moldovan.
Criteria For Howard Hite Nominations
The Howard Hite Award is a free-form, sand-etched glass plate with an engraved image of Howard Hite’s H. ‘Indonesia’. The award is not based on the quantity of nominations for any individual, but on the quality of the individual’s years of hybridizing efforts to improve daylily cultivars.
The criteria for selection of a recipient are as follows:
- The award is to honor a Region 2 ADS member who has contributed notable achievements in the field of hybridizing from years of a dedicated hybridizing program.
- The award may be given each year only if a recipient is selected.
- A person may receive the award only one time.
- Deceased hybridizers may be considered for the award.
- Any ADS Region 2 Member (including committee members) may submit names of possible recipients to the Awards and Honors Chair before April 15 of each year. The final selection will be determined by the Hite Award Committee composed of four members and the Regional President representing the five states in the Region.
- Names of past nominees may be considered as possible candidates for future years.
2023 Howard Hite Nomination Form in .pdf format available HERE.
Howard Hite Award Winners
1990 Dr. Charles Branch
1991 No Award
1992 Bryant Millikan
1993 Brother Charles Reckamp
1994 Steve Moldovan
1995 Howard Hite
1996 Charles Griesbach
1997 Dennis Anderson
1998 Curt Hanson
1999 Margie Soules
2000 Jon Benz
2001 Leo Sharp
2002 Walter Jablonski
2003 Charles Applegate
2004 Dan Bachman
2005 Dottie Warrell
2006 Don Jerabeck
2007 Richard Norris
2008 Roy Klehm
2009 Jamie Gossard
2010 Robert Ellison
2011 Joel T Polston
2012 James Marsh
2013 Martin Kaminski
2014 Sandy Holmes
2015 Bret Clement
2016 Phil & Luella Korth
2017 Bob Faulkner
2018 John Kulpa
2019 Mandy McMahon
2020 No Award
2021 No Award
2022 Gerda Brooker
2023 Steve Williams