January 15, 2016
Bob Allen, former Landscape Ontario president (1985) and long-time member of the Ontario Horticultural Trades Foundation and Farm Safety Association, announced his retirement in November.

Owner and operator of  RW Allen Horticultural Services in St. Thomas, Allen says after 41 years, it’s time to shut it down.

Although he has closed his business, Allen is not going to sit around. He will remain as a director on the Ontario Horticultural Trades Foundation and a member of Landscape Ontario. “I’ve already paid for another year to belong to LO,” said Allen.

Another former president of LO, Tom Intven (2010-11), wrote in a letter of congratulations on Allen’s retirement, “Looking back over the past 40 years, you have had an amazing career, one of which you can be most proud. You have given so much to the community of St. Thomas, both professionally and personally. Your business has beautified countless homes and properties over so many years. Your involvement in the Down Town Development Board, and Communities in Bloom, has substantially contributed to the beautification of our city. In your lifetime, you have contributed significantly to the advancement of the horticultural industry and its appreciation in St. Thomas.”

LO executive director Tony DiGiovanni says that Bob Allen is a safety pioneer at Landscape Ontario. “It’s great news that he will continue his work with the Foundation. His service would be greatly missed.”

Allen established the Bob and Ruby Allen Scholarship in 2013.