2001 Fall BOG: Winchester

February 22, 2022

The eighty-second meeting of the Board Governors was hosted by the Little Garden Club of Winchester on October 9-11, 2001, at the Holiday Inn, chaired by Carolyn Griffin and Regina Headley.

The Board of Directors was hosted for lunch and the board meeting that followed at the lovely home of Chris Scully, overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains. Sally Guy Brown later admitted she had spent several minutes thanking Chris, only to find out she was talking to her twin sister.

Treasurer Deedy Bumgardner reported the extension of GCV sales tax exemption through June 30, 2005, and raised the ongoing issue of carry-over event funding. Restoration Chairman Lucy Ellett described September committee visits to Winchester and Leesburg, updates to restorations in progress, and spoke of interest in reprinting Dottie Willliams’s 1975 publication, Historic Virginia Gardens: Preservations by the Garden Club of Virginia. The Flower Shows Committee shared financial concerns and requested a portion of profits from Flower Arranging School be carried over. Chairman Carolyn Jones also sought advice on purchasing the new artistic InterClub trophy.

Following more general business discussions, the meeting was adjourned.

Mary Bruce and Phil Glaize hosted a Dutch treat “Winchester-style” picnic Tuesday night at their home with apple candles, apple hors d’oeuvres, apple casseroles, apple crisp and a delicious dinner served on apple tablecloths.

Mina called the meeting to order Wednesday morning. Little Garden Club President Martha Parthemos welcomed attendees and called upon Dolly Glaize to present the club history. Dolly confided that when murmurs of an invitation to join the Garden Club of Virginia membership were heard in the early 1950s, members panicked and decided the club’s name was not dignified enough for such an honor. After reviewing 17 suggestions for a new name, the club decided upon Glen Burnie, home of Winchester’s founder. Wait a minute! Within thirty days, members voted to change the name back to the Little Garden Club, and so it stood when asked to join GCV in 1954. Dolly then spoke of the club’s many civic projects through the years and the lasting impact of their work in the Winchester community.

Mina marveled at the level of participation in summer and fall activities. She reported that the new one-day Flower Arranging School seemed popular and hoped the new Speakers Series and Kent-Valentine House library would stimulate interest. In the wake of the 911 tragedy, she asked that suggestions for a meaningful GCV response be sent to Meg Clement.

Mary Hart Darden assured attendees that the website committee was working diligently to meet members’ expectations saying, “There is much work to be done.”

Common Wealth Award Committee Chairman Ann Gordon Evans called on Mary Nelson Thompson, president of the Franklin Garden Club, to present an update of their 2000 Common Wealth Award winning project, the Chamber Walk. The slide presentation included stunning images of the recovery of Franklin from the devasting floods and the incorporation of a pocket park in the recovery efforts. Ann Gordon also shared a letter from the Petersburg Garden Club, 1998 recipient of the award, that included a listing of book signings and special events related to the publication of With Paintbrush and Shovel.

GCV Historian Cora Sue Spruill presented a brief history of GCV landscape architects and their restoration projects. One project she mentioned was Rudy Favretti’s project at Bacon’s Castle. As quoted by Will Rieley, “Bacon’s Castle in Surry County may be the most significant garden restoration in the country. Certainly, it is a restoration of our earliest known and documented garden. It was a remarkable undertaking, beginning with archaeologists peeling away the accumulated soil from three hundred and fifty years of history to reveal a garden that looked as if it had been put to bed for the winter….it changes our understanding of 17th-century Virginia gardens in profound ways.”

Horticulture Chairman Rosemary Wallinger presented a scholarly report about the relationship between the practice of horticulture and the processes of nature (ecology).

Mina recessed the business meeting and attendees were hosted for lunch by Ann Glaize and Susan Holland in their homes, followed by a guided tour of 18th-century Glen Burnie House and Gardens. Cocktails and dinner that night were served in Old Town Winchester at Shenandoah University’s Bowman Building, once a bustling bank. Flautists from the university serenaded attendees as they walked into the hall, transformed by candelabra filled with dahlias and roses.

The 2001 Common Wealth Award was presented to the Garden Club of Norfolk for “The Virginia Native Plant Garden at Norfolk Botanical Garden.” The club received $6,000 for the project.

The business meeting continued Thursday morning. Publications Chairmen Clarkie Eppes and Elizabeth Boetsch reported on the September 24 Publications Workshop featuring speaker, widely-published author and member of the Garden Club of Danville, Emyl Jenkins. A frequent contributor to Art in Antiques and Southern Accents, Emyl spoke on the principals of writing. It was also announced that beginning March 2002, the Journal would be published quarterly in March, June, September and December. Prior to that date, the Journal had been published in September and March, with an abbreviated Update published in December and June.

Roundtable discussions followed the business meeting with discussions on organic gardening, obtaining 501(c)(3) status and the restorations of the Garden Club of Virginia.

David Carr, a UVA professor of environmental sciences and the director of Blandy Experimental Farm, then provided attendees with a fascinating lecture on invasive and native plants.

Sally Guy Brown paid tribute to the Little Garden Club of Winchester, closing with,

“But there is something wrong, it seems to me:
The amazing garden club could not little be!”

The meeting was adjourned following the tribute.