Don Williams and Janet Bigelow have won the 2019 Distinguished Service Award of the University of Tennessee Arboretum Society.
Bigelow is a Knoxville native who grew up mostly in New York. She has two degrees in French from the University of Tennessee. Her teaching career spanned 38 years with the last 33 years being spent as a sixth-grade social studies teacher at the Webb School of Knoxville. She loves the outdoors and working with children and adults to foster more awareness of environmental issues. Janet has been on the board of the UT Arboretum Society since 2013 and currently serves as board president.
Don Williams, born and raised in Oak Ridge, has three degrees from UT Knoxville in history and law. He retired in 2014 after 38 years at SSC Service Solutions where he worked his way from part time janitor through many different jobs to end as president and CEO. He is currently an active partner in a local native plant nursery and a storage company. Don and his wife of 43 years, Janis, continue to live in Oak Ridge, traveling frequently to see their daughters, granddaughters and the world. A lover of the Arboretum for over 50 years, Don joined the UTAS board in 2016.
Recipients of the award from recent years include Oak Ridge and Knoxville area residents Diantha Pare, Pat Row, Dennis Superczynski, Norm Dobbs, Lee Ann Dobbs, Charlie Jernigan, Emily Jernigan, Huey Sides, Lynn Carlson, Nancy Smith, Bob Reed, Lynda Haynes, Marti Salk, Melanie Staten and Randy Stewart.
Celebrating 54 years in 2019, numerous programs, lectures and activities were offered in 2019 by the UT Arboretum Society. Programs are cosponsored by the UT Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center.
Two more programs, the Third Saturday Hikes, will be held this year, Nov. 16 and Dec. 21, as well as the annual New Year’s Day Hike. For more information on the hikes or the Society, call 865-483-7277 or mcmpani@utk.edu. Hikes are free and open to the public.