2014 Fall BOG: Dolley Madison

November 26, 2022

The 95th Garden Club of Virginia Board of Governors meeting was held October 14-16 at Montpelier, hosted by Dolley Madison Garden Club and co-chaired by Pamela Hudson and Alice Smith. Photos

The Board of Directors was welcomed on Tuesday, October 14 for a tour of The Inn at Willow Grove and luncheon prior to the Board meeting.

President Jeanette Cadwallender called the board meeting to order and reported, “The car and I have attended meetings of most all committees, as well as the Conservation Workshop, Flower Arranging School and Rose Show. I’ve delivered my inaugural ‘on tour’ speech to a tri-club meeting. I am grateful for the support that you have all shown one another by participating in events; supporting one another is one of our greatest strengths. Sandwiched in between have been meetings and phone calls related to our Centennial project, Partnership for Parks, with the Virginia Association for Parks to benefit the State Parks.”

Executive Director Lynn McCashin distributed copies of the Economic Impact Study by Chmura, and she presented a detailed slide show of the report.

Following business reports that primarily summarized reports to be presented at the Board of Governors meeting, the meeting was adjourned.

BOG attendees were invited for cocktails and Dutch treat dinner on Tuesday night at the Market at Grelen. During dessert, owner Dan Grelen presented “Agritourism, Field to Feast, Open Space — How Each Plays a Role in Virginia’s Economic Development.”

Optional tours on Wednesday morning included the Montpelier Oriental Garden or the Annie duPont Garden and Mansion and were followed by lunch at Palladio with a warm welcome from Mr. Luca Paschina of Barboursville Vineyards.

President Jeanette Cadwallender called the Board of Governors meeting to order Wednesday afternoon at Montpelier’s duPont Gallery and summarized her first few months, “on the job,” attending fun and stimulating events and helping frame Partnership for Parks.

Executive Director Lynn McCashin introduced Xiaobing Shuai, Director of Research & Senior Economist at Chmura Economics and Analytics, the consulting firm selected to conduct an economic impact study of Historic Garden Week. His talk included the impact of spending by homeowners, clubs and HGW visitors. Chmura’s survey of restoration recipients showed that GCV funding was crucial to their garden restorations and, without GCV contributions, many preservation projects would remain incomplete. The respondents also stressed that a relationship with GCV has provided value in many other ways. The study estimated cumulative economic impact from 1969 to 2014 at $425 million.

Treasurer Betsy Worthington reviewed GCV accounts. Union First Market Bank in Richmond holds two accounts – an interest-bearing operating account and a money market account. The GCV Endowment Fund, the GCV Conservation Fund and the Common Wealth Award Fund are included in the Investment Management of Virginia accounts. The monies in these three funds are pooled for investment purposes along with two restricted donations — a Symposia Fund and a Kent-Valentine House Fund. Investment funds, overseen by the Finance Committee, are managed by Investment Management of Virginia, located in Richmond, and Darrell & King, located in Charlottesville. The funds for GCV Restoration projects are managed by Darrell & King in Charlottesville. The funds in this account are the proceeds from Historic Garden Week, in addition to donations, and are invested for use on current and future Restoration projects. Betsy closed by explaining that GCV dues are to be based on dues-paying members of member clubs, replacing the term constitutional membership.

Development Committee Chairman Jean Gilpin recognized ten member clubs for outstanding contributions to the Annual Fund and followed with sponsorship updates for the 2015 Symposium and Historic Garden Week at state and local levels. She reported significant gifts to the Conservation and Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Fund from the Robert and Bessie Carter Foundation in the previous spring and the Beirne Carter Foundation in early September.

Kent-Valentine House Committee Chairman Kay Tyler reported kitchen and pantry renovation by Balustrade Construction Company are slated to begin November 2014 and completed before the spring 2015 event season. She added that donations and gifts are gratefully accepted and extended an invitation to all garden club members to consider donating appropriate furnishings and decorative items to GCV. An exquisite Limoges 12-piece dinner and serving pieces was recently given by Williamsburg resident Betty Lewis.

The Awards Committee, chaired by Katherine Knopf, was created by the Board of Directors at its summer Board meeting to incorporate the Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Award, the Common Wealth Award, the de Lacy Gray Conservation Medal, the Elizabeth Cabell Dugdale Award for Conservation, and the Massie Medal Garden Club of Virginia Awards under one umbrella. Katherine reported that the Bessie Bocock Carter Conservation Award, the de Lacy Gray Conservation Medal, and the Elizabeth Cabell Dugdale Award for Conservation are all reviewed by one subcommittee with a conservation focus while the Common Wealth Award and the Massie Medal have their own committees with members who have strengths in those areas.

Centennial Committee Chairman Anne Cross discussed plans to partner with Virginia State Parks, the culmination of ideas presented to the Long-Range Planning Committee and shared a video highlighting the “Partnership for Parks.” She described subcommittees for the Centennial, including the partnership, VHS exhibit, publications, merchandise, club gifts and celebrations. Thirty members of the Partnership for Parks met in Richmond on September 9 with Jeanette Cadwallender, Anne Cross, Mary Bruce Glaize, Susan Robertson, Mary Anne Schmidt and Kim Nash representing the GCV. It was announced that the Governor and his wife would serve as Honorary Chairmen. Following the meeting, attendees were invited to lunch at the Executive Mansion to celebrate the partnership.

The meeting was adjourned for the day and attendees boarded buses and headed back to Montpelier for cocktails and the awards banquet. The Common Wealth Award was awarded to the Ashland Garden Club for the Ashland Train Station project in the amount of $8,500. Second place, in the amount of $4500, was awarded to the four Richmond Clubs — the Boxwood Garden Club, the James River Garden Club, Three Chopt Garden Club and the Tuckahoe Garden Club of Westhampton for the Canal Walk in Shiplock Park.

Corresponding Secretary Linda Consolvo reported on meetings to discuss the role of the Corresponding Secretary, redefining the position to encompass communications, the website, proofreading communications and communicating with the club presidents and to discuss the website needs for HGW and Development, with interactive data retrieval for names of HGW visitors or GCV donors considered a high priority. Historic Garden Week’s new site is in progress and will enable portable device users a more easily accessible and readable site with formatting to scroll on the site for information.

A “GCV Tech Summit” held on September 10, 2014, and included James Eastman of Colophon New Media and graphic designer Dale Edmondson. The discussions included how best to build a site that will allow for growth; have a design that is current (the present site is eight years old); how to design the site to recognize that users want quick access to a topic; and how to best utilize the myriad of types of software, social media links, technologies that are available. These discussions led to the service needs of having adequate wiring for the KVH to accommodate the multiple portable devices that interfere with the staff’s computer systems.

Awards Committee Chairman Katherine Knopf congratulated 2014 Common Wealth Award recipient, the Ashland Garden Club, before introducing Rappahannock Valley Garden Club president Tricia Garner, who provided an update on Chatham Manor Gardens, recipient of the 2013 Common Wealth Award. Chatham Manor was built in 1769 and was on the first HGW tour, as well as the 2013 tour. Notable visitors over the years included George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and Robert E. Lee. The gardens were designed by landscape architects Ellen Biddle Shipman and Charles Gillette. Many of Shipman’s gardens no longer exist, making this restoration important to the many visitors to the gardens. The National Park Service acquired Chatham Manor Gardens in 1976. Prior to the 2013 tour, the gardens appeared neglected and much work was to be done to get ready for HGW. The Rappahannock Valley Garden Club partnered with Friends of Chatham and the Fredericksburg Rotary Club. The three groups continued to work together and persuaded the Park Service to provide a gardener as they continued to provide volunteers for mulching, planting bulbs and weeding. With the funds from the Common Wealth Award, 430 boxwoods were purchased and planted and the beds were mulched. The Park Service brought in specialists to plant the boxwoods and created a training video of the planting to help other Park Service staff with site preparation and planting techniques. Much work remains to be done, and the remaining funds will be used to plant trees and shrubs. She thanked the members of GCV on behalf of her club for this wonderful gift.

Following reports from the Restoration Committee and the Restoration Fellowship subcommittee, GCV Landscape Architect Will Rieley presented a slide lecture on current projects Green Spring, Poplar Forest and Monticello.

Following adjournment, attendees were invited to enjoy boxed lunches at Mount Sharon, the home and garden of Mary Lou and Charles Seilheimer. The Seilheimers worked with landscape architect Charles Stick for three years to design, craft and build an impressive classical garden.