Cornell Cooperative Extension will present Ralph L. Snodsmith, president of R.L. Snodsmith Ornamental Horticulturist Inc. and a radio and television personality, with the 1998 Friend of Cornell Cooperative Extension Award at a celebratory reception Monday, Oct. 5, at 5:30 p.m. at the Wave Hill Arboretum in Riverdale, N.Y. Merrill Ewert, director of Cornell Cooperative Extension, will make the presentation.

Snodsmith was selected for the award for his efforts to extend the mission of Cornell Cooperative Extension. The annual award goes "to individuals who have played a proactive role of stimulator, mentor, critic and supporter -- making the Cornell Cooperative Extension system a better one." Snodsmith is noted for his abiding encouragement for his radio and television audiences to obtain additional gardening information at their local extension office.

Snodsmith will host Ewert on his radio program Oct. 4 between 9 and 9:30 a.m. to kickoff Cornell Cooperative Extension Week, Oct. 4 to 10, which celebrates extension efforts. This year's theme is "Children, Youth and Family Well-Being." In New York state, the Garden Hotline can be heard on WOR-AM 710 (New York city), WRKL-AM 910 (Pomona), WELV-AM 1370 (Poughkeepsie), WKIP-AM 1450 (Poughkeepsie), WIRD-AM 920 (Lake Placid) and WHHO-AM 1320 (Hornell/Elmira).

Snodsmith has been the host of "Garden Hotline" on the WOR radio network for many years. He was the garden editor of ABC TV's "Good Morning America." He is the author of Ralph Snodsmith's Fundamentals of Gardening (Morrow, 1993) and Ralph Snodsmith's 101 Tips from the Garden Hotline (Taylor Publishing, 1984). Snodsmith also has been an instructor at the New York Botanical Garden for 30 years.

The Friend of Cornell Cooperative Extension Award is given in conjunction with Epsilon Sigma Phi (Lambda Chapter), an organization "dedicated to fostering standards of excellence in the extension system and developing the extension profession and professional."