The Virginia Beach Garden Club

March 21, 2022

vbgardenclub.org

In March 1937 when Virginia Beach was a summer resort with a small winter community, eight women organized The Virginia Beach Garden Club.

VBGC members have wonderfully diverse interests ranging from floral design and horticulture to conservation and photography. Many members have gone beyond the club level to grow and to share, joining local federated garden clubs, the Garden Club of Virginia and the Garden Club of America committees and judging programs. Meeting programs and workshops continue to be the focus of club members as they revel in learning and growing together. The club’s annual propagation workshop teaches the Forsythe method and floral design workshops are always well attended.

Through the Years

By 2006, VBGC had become computer savvy and created a member database, a new logo that would evolve over the next fifteen years and an online newsletter, the Ground Cover. Annually, the club invites its Junior Virginia Beach Garden Club for a joint meeting and program.

In 2010, the Virginia Beach Garden Club Fund was established as a means to defray travel expenses for presidents and delegates attending the GCA and GCV meetings. The fund continues to grow from investments and donations.

In 2012, VBGC celebrated its 75th Anniversary with appreciation for the past and renewed enthusiasm for the future.

By 2014, work began to develop a club website which members now rely on as a cornerstone for club business.

In March 2020, with the spread of the COVID-19, quarantine became the order of the day. Many VBGC activities and those of GCV and GCA were canceled. Members worked tirelessly to stay connected and successfully learned to Zoom for meetings and to enjoy creative safe distance gatherings.

In 2022, after  years of hard work by dedicated members, Mac Houfek’s garden Fernwood was documented and accepted into the Garden Club of America Collection at the Archives of American Gardens in the Smithsonian Institute. Mac’s garden joins the other VBGC documented garden belonging to Meg Campbell.

In 2024, the spirit of the Virginia Beach Garden Club is alive and well with an enthusiastic membership and great hopes for a bright future.

Fundraisers and Community Events

Fall Flower Festival

The success of the festival led to a change of venue to the Virginia Beach Convention Center. Between 1992 and 2019 booths were added to include local vendors, rare plants, Second Hand Rose (a booth of recycled home and garden related items donated for resale by members), Roots and Shoots (a booth of perennials from member’s gardens potted for sale) and Garden Art (a booth featuring planted hypertufa pots created by our members in workshops), as well as consignment shrubs and perennials from a local grower for purchase on sale day. As rental expenses continued to rise, the festival was pared down and the focus shifted to online orders.  When COVID-19 hit, the Fall Flower Festival became the Fall Flower Sale, a completely virtual ecommerce event with a one day pick-up and delivery.

Tidewater Garden Symposium

The Tidewater Garden Symposium, started in March 1988 by Dale Henderson, was a joint venture with the Garden Club of Norfolk that continued for over 20 years. This annual event was a non-profit educational project for the public, emphasizing local growing conditions. Each event had four nationally known speakers and drew horticulturists from all areas of Tidewater.

Community Projects

VBGC members continue to prioritize community projects that highlight the club’s mission. In the late 1990s, the club focused on funding projects at the Virginia Marine Science Museum (Native Plant and Wildflower Garden and the Coastal Woodland Retreat) and the Norfolk Botanical Garden (Native Plant Garden, the World of Wonder’s Children’s Adventure Garden and the Safari Wetlands Garden).

In 2004, the club proudly reframed twenty-one watercolors, painted by VBGC past president Adele McMahon, that hang in the Kent-Valentine House.

Mary’s Garden at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital has been a project near and dear to VBGC from its inception in 2001. Named for and honoring two beloved club members, Mary Hamilton Winder, who donated a large amount of money from her estate, and Mary Babb Savage, who had a lengthy hospital stay. Under the leadership of Jean Marie Randolph, VBGC designed, implemented the construction and helped raise over $200,000 needed to complete the garden. Meg French, then a member of the Junior Virginia Beach Garden Club and now a member of VBGC, drew the plans for an exquisite garden complete with a fountain, seating areas and curved brick walls. This garden provides peace and solace for all who visit.

At St. Mary’s Home for Disabled Children, VBGC funded their entrance walkway, lining it with blooming trees and flower beds. In 2009, the club partnered with The Garden Club of Norfolk to fund a visual sound buffer along the interstate by planting 24 native trees.

The second decade of the 21st century brought the club’s vision to the Brock Environmental Center with the Rain Garden at Pleasure Point, as well as the Living Green Wall in the Environmental Studies Classroom. Support for the Norfolk Botanical Garden continued as the club supported their 75th anniversary by contributing to the Reflection Garden.

VBGC partnered with Camp Grom to create a Healing Garden for Veterans and their families and contributed to the VB Public Art Sculpture overlooking the Lynnhaven River on the Lesner Bridge.

Looking forward, VBGC is committed to the Sentara Brock Cancer Center, Grey’s Garden at CHKD Mental Health Facility, Judeo Christian Outreach Center and the Dozoretz Hospice House.

VBGC contributes to Scenic Virginia and sponsors a child to Nature Camp every year

Garden Club of Virginia

For many years, the club has enjoyed teaming with The Garden Club of Norfolk, Harborfront Garden Club and The Princess Anne Garden Club to alternately host the GCV President for a joint meeting in November every other year. The meeting now features local vendors and offers a great opportunity to enjoy being together with sister clubs.

Historic Garden Week

The VBGC has been a member of GCV since 1953 and has enthusiastically participated in HGW for over seventy years. In 2000, VBGC joined with The Princess Anne Garden Club to merge tours and work together for a single Virginia Beach Tour. For a decade, beginning in 2010, VBGC has hosted the Painted Garden, an art show featuring local artists, during HGW in alternate years.

GCV Annual Meeting

The club hosted the 2009 Garden Club of Virginia Annual Meeting, Treasures of the Sea, at the Sheraton Hotel, c0-chaired by Molly Rueger and Joan Lyons. In keeping with the theme, PAGC members wore pearls throughout the meeting.

GCV Awards and Positions

1996-1997 Conservation Committee: Betsy Agelasto

1996-2000 Admissions Committee: Sandra Baylor

1996-2005 Speakers Bureau: Sandra Baylor, Dale Henderson

1997-1998 Conservation Committee: Betsy Agelasto; Horticulture Committee: Susie Brown

2000-2001 Editorial Board: Betsy Agelasto; Speakers Committee: Molly Rueger

2000 – VBGC, along with three other GCV Tidewater clubs, proposed the Elizabeth River Project for the GCV Dugdale Award in Conservation which they were awarded at the Conservation Forum.

2000-2006 Horticulture Committee: Mac Houfek

2002-2005 Editorial Board Chairman: Betsy Agelasto

2003-2005 GCV Director at Large: Molly Rueger

2005-2008 Journal Advertising Chairman: Betsy Agelasto; Speakers Bureau: Sandra Baylor, Dale Henderson

2008 – 2009 Director-at-Large :Betsy Agelasto; Speakers Bureau : Sandra Baylor

2009 Annual Meeting Co-Chairmen: Joan Lyons, Molly Rueger

2010-2011 HGW Public Relations Associate: Ellen Sinclair

2010 – 2012 Conservation Committee: Betsy Agelasto; Finance Committee Chairman:  Julie MacKinlay

2012 GCV Legislative Day Chairman: Betsy Agelasto

2012-2014 Conservation Committee: Betsy Agelasto; Development Chairman: Julie MacKinlay

2014 de Lacy Gray Memorial Medal for Conservation – Betsy Agelasto

2014-2016 Horticulture Committee: Meg French

2018-2019 HGW District 6 Chairman: Emily Mills

2018-2020 Conservation and Beautification Committee: Ann L Wright, Lynda Strickler; Development Committee: Betsy Agelasto; State Parks Committee: Molly Ill

2020 VBGC GCV Common Wealth Award recipient for the Living Green Wall in the Brock Environmental Center Classroom

2020-2021 Membership News Chairman: Molly Ill; Conservation and Beautification Committee: Ann L Wright, Lynda Strickler; Development Committee; Betsy Agelasto

GCV Accredited Judges, Artistic Division: Sandra Baylor and Judy Terjen

GCV Horticulture Awards of Merit: 2002, Evie Holt; 2004, Mac Houfek; 2010, Donna Eure; 2011, Susan Gentry; 2012, Dana Parker; 2013, Meg French; 2017, Susie Brown, Kay Shiflett;

VBGC Presidents 1996-2020

1996-1998	Betty Moss Sundin
1998-2000	Molly Starr
2000-2002	Betsy Rawls Agelasto
2002-2004	Mary Ludwig Denny
2004-2006	Sandra Loftin Burroughs
2006-2008	Carol Forney Temple
2008-2010	Mac Doughtie Houfek
2010-2012	Elisabeth Fuqua Miles
2012-2014	Donna Andrews Eure
2014-2016	Lynda Gomez Strickler
2016-2018	Molly Slingluff Ill
2018-2020	Lou Cocker Flowers