Valencia — A national garden center magazine has named Quality Gardens, 409 Route 228, one of the 100 best independent garden centers in the country.

Tom McMeekin, owner and operator of Quality Gardens, said he received notice from Today's Garden Center on Oct. 17 that it made the list of the “Revolutionary 100” garden centers for 2015.

“The criteria is not necessarily biggest or most profitable, but who's looking forward, looking to change the industry and adapt,” McMeekin said.

The magazine posts a yearly survey for garden centers and uses those results to compile the top 100 list, McMeekin said. This is Quality Garden's first year on the list, but McMeekin said he won't know where its ranked until Today's Garden Center publishes the list in early 2015.

“We're very proud of what we've accomplished,” McMeekin said.

BUTLER TWP — Baglier Buick-GMC-Mazda, 248 Pittsburgh Road, is collecting food and donations for the company's annual food drive.While employees contribute much of the food and make many of the donations each year, anyone can donate at the dealership so it can meet the goal of collecting more than 10,000 pounds of food.The items will be given to the Butler County Food Bank the day after Thanksgiving to restock the food bank for the winter holidays.More than 32,000 pounds of food was collected a year ago.Contributions will be accepted until Nov. 22, and can be sent to: Cindy Martsolf, Dennis J. Baglier Buick-GMC-Mazda, 248 Pittsburgh Road, Butler, PA 16001.Checks can be made to Baglier Buick Food Drive.

PITTSBURGH — Stantec in Butler received an award at the AIA Design Pittsburgh Awards Ceremony and Gala on Oct. 23 at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Education Center.It got the Honor Award in architecture for its work on the Leunter Commons at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.Stantec design team members who worked on the project were Mike Carter, Chris Panichi, George Rieke, Ivan Nemecek, and Erin VollmerAIA Pittsburgh is a professional association of architects that promotes architectural services and good design.

NEW YORK — Those chocolate bars for ninjas and ghosts probably didn't cost you more for Halloween, but picking a sweet for your Valentine could.The cost of ingredients in chocolate bars is rising, and the nation's biggest candy makers have warned of price hikes next year. And it's not just costs that are pushing up prices. A growing sweet tooth worldwide means more demand for chocolate.

Don Henley, vice president of human resources at Grove City Medical Center was honored as the Distinguished Human Resources Professional by the Society for Healthcare Human Resources Professionals of Pennsylvania. The award is presented annually to a member for service to the organization and the profession.From staff and wire sources