Mark your calendar for next year’s event: April 29-May 1, 2016
But Sommerville chose blueberries and enjoyed learning from Scott NeSmith (BSA ’83, MS ’86), professor of horticulture at the Griffin campus, about how UGA research played an important role in helping Georgia become the nation’s top producer of blueberries. He also gained an appreciation for the painstaking pace of research. “You may not see the results of … basic research for years,” Sommerville says, “but you have to do the basic research in order to get …” “You have to have something to build on,” McCarthy says, finishing his sentence. Clark is impressed by today’s blueberry varieties, some developed at UGA, that are bigger and ripen faster. “We have some that are drought resistant, that are moisture resistant so they don’t crack open,” she says. Tomorrow these three will attend more sessions with faculty—exploring health messages about food and the science and economics of UGA’s caviar production—and enjoy lunch on D.W. Brooks Mall, a wide swath of green on South Campus converted in 2003 from a former roadway. They’ll also consider the future of food at the concluding session led by Peter Dale (ABJ ’99), owner/chef of The National in Athens and Food & Wine’s People’s Best New Chef Southeast for 2012. But tonight, McCarthy is marveling at how campus seems the same yet different. It’s her first visit in 40 years, and she’s glad to see that the buildings she spent much of her time in—Moore College and Soule Hall—look better than ever. She has a special connection to Waddel Hall—it was named for her great-great-great-grandfather, Moses Waddel, UGA’s fifth president. “I am just blown away by the upkeep and how everything looks,” she says. McCarthy heard about last year’s Return to the Arch seminar after it happened, so she was sure to mark her calendar for this year. “It’s been wonderful,” she says. “I’m delighted I came.”
ALLYSON MANN
UGA grad student Noelle Fuller (BSFCS ’15) (center) speaks with Vickie Henry (MEd ’74) and Reginald Henry (right) during a tour of UGArden, a 4-acre, studentrun farm centered on a sustainable food system.
RICK O’QUINN
On Saturday night, the Return to the Arch seminar featured a farm-to-table dinner held under a tent on Herty Field.
ALLYSON MANN
Before dinner, attendees sampled products from the annual Flavor of Georgia contest. Austin Johnson (left) showcased Sinclair’s Sauce, which he developed as a student. “I’m a sauce man,” Johnson (AB ’15) says. “I actually made a sauce for sandwiches originally, but then I found out it went great on everything.”
SEPTEMBER 2015 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE
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