2007 Spring Annual Meeting: Hampton Roads

May 2, 2022

Photos

The eighty-seventh Annual Meeting of the Garden Club of Virginia was hosted by the Hampton Roads Garden Club on May 8-10, 2007, at the Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Newport News, chaired by Anne Harrison Harris and Sally Harris.

The Board of Directors met on Tuesday, May 8, 2007, at the home of Martha Kelly for a delicious luncheon prior to the meeting.

In continuing the Strategic Plan implementation, the Board of Directors approved status changes to the Communications and Outlook committees. Second Vice President Kim Nash referenced a widely held belief that the Garden Club of Virginia’s future based on the Strategic Plan, should be “built, not bought,” and cautioned board members to recognize that substantial construction costs are involved in the GCV renovation.

Cocktails and the Dutch treat dinner on Tuesday night were held a short walk from the Marriott at the Red Star Tavern.

Sally Guy called the business meeting to order Wednesday morning and introduced Hampton Roads president Joanne Prillaman. Joanne talked of “excitement in the air in our part of the state as we celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown.” Sally Harris, co-chairman of the meeting, introduced Mary Lou Hatten who provided an entertaining history of the 75-year-old club. Mary Lou, who, as a child lived near the club’s founder, “Miss Lizzie, vividly remembered her looking like Miss Minerva. She described early projects ranging from Yorktown onion research to wartime assistance in the 1940s and 1950s; and a disastrous Historic Garden Week when a powerful nor’easter blew in, forcing evacuation of the entire tour area as flood waters rose with alarming speed. She laughed when saying that club members wrote so many letters to Congressman Thomas N. Downing, in support of or in opposition to environmental issues, he began referring to them as his pen pals. In closing she described the club’s latest projects — donating a wetlands garden to Christopher Newport University, funding thousands of daffodil bulbs and Scotch broom for Highway Department planting along roadways and planning restoration work in the churchyard at St. John’s Church in Hampton.

Sally Guy introduced GCV Honorary Member Dudley Brown, who thanked the members for honoring him and expressed his appreciation for the good work of the GCV.

She then reported that in the year since taking the gavel “with trembling hands,” the GCV membership had been working diligently to implement the Strategic Plan. She reviewed members’ suggestions that were incorporated into the plan, assuring attendees that the board reports and committee reports that followed would “knock your socks off.”

First Vice President Cabell West announced that the Communications Committee is to become the latest Standing Committee and described changes already in place. Of particular importance, the Historic Garden Week Guidebook cover, beginning 2007, will now give credit to the Garden Club of Virginia for sponsoring the event, a glaring oversight revealed during strategic planning.

Second Vice President Kim Nash announced that the Outlook Committee, an evolution of the ad hoc Strategic Plan Committee, is to become a Special Committee for an initial term of four years. She stressed the importance of building a regional network for communication and education within the GCV membership, citing the benefits seen by Historic Garden Week in using a similar, regional framework. Corresponding Secretary Mary Bruce Glaize reported that plans to welcome new GCV members with a letter from the GCV President were pending receipt of a complete list of names, and that a committee was being formed to plan New Member Orientation meetings within a regional framework.

Director at Large Anne Cross read a letter from the General Assembly of Virginia and the Virginia Capitol Foundation in appreciation of the Garden Club of Virginia’s involvement in providing floral arrangements for the Rededication of the Capitol, the black-tie gala and the visit of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

Hampton Roads Garden Club member Midge Eason introduced speaker Bly Straube, Senior Curator of the Jamestown Rediscovery project of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. She, along with archeologists Bill Kelso and Nick Lucketti, discovered the irregular footprint of the James Fort in 1996, previously thought to have been washed into the James River. She was quoted in the Daily Press, “Each artifact has a story to tell about the past. I was given the task of giving them a voice. With one million artifacts, it is like being in a room of screaming people. I can’t use them all; I have to pick the ones that tell the story the best.” Bly presented a fascinating slide lecture focused on the Jamestown Rediscovery Project.

Luncheon followed in Hampton Roads member homes, after which buses transported attendees to Northrup Grumman Newport News Shipyard for a windshield tour of the shipyard and a private, “hard hat” tour of CVN 77 George H.W. Bush Aircraft Carrier, the tenth and final NIMITZ class nuclear aircraft carrier.

The black-tie awards banquet was held Wednesday night at Christopher Newport University David Student Union Ballroom.

Journal reports from Gail Braxton, Peggy Federhart and Betsy Agelasto summarized administrative changes made during “year one of the saga of reinventing the Journal,” and the newly acquired ability to use online file sharing for more efficient editing.

Attendees learned that the Kent-Valentine House was used for a photoshoot in the April 2007 issue of Virginia Livingmagazine and Chairman Missy Buckingham encouraged members to use the house for club meetings, and for personal use at reduced rental rates. She also noted that a search was in progress for a GCV Executive Director and for a HGW Administrator.

Before moving to approve the 2007-2008 budget, Finance Chairman Anne Baldwin reminded attendees that it reflected the fiscal year change from April 1–March 31 to July 1–June 30 as approved by the Board of Directors in January. She also reported on a change to the SEED Fund description, “This fund may be spent in its entirety excluding any restricted funds or unused portion thereof.”

Development Chairman Karen Jamison reported on the efforts and progress of the committee as it focused on strategies to educate, encourage and engage members in giving gifts to the Garden Club of Virginia, adding that Journal articles and remittance envelopes would be continued. She described the planned publication, GCV Year in Review, that will highlight accomplishments in areas of education, conservation and restoration and will be designed to inform membership in order to “build pride in being part of the organization.” It will include a list of donors to the GCV.

Editor of the Register Meg Clement reported that the odd-year GCV Supplement to the Register would no longer be printed, adding that odd year changes to club officers are now available on the GCV website.

Horticulture Chairman Kay Van Allen announced the 2007 Horticulture Award of Merit recipients: Mary Eades, Rivanna Garden Club; Rachel Hollis, the Spotswood Garden Club; and Eleanor Towers, the Tuckahoe Garden Club of Westhampton.

Online Chairman and Webmaster Nina Mustard reported on website updates and announced that Closerware had been selected to provide future website software. The company is known for its support of nonprofit and member-based organizations and is current host to more than 80 Junior League chapters around the nation.

Nominations Chairman Mary Hart Darden presented three names for election as Directors at Large: Peggy Bowditch, the Garden Club of Gloucester; Di Cook, Leesburg Garden Club and Glenna Graves, the Spotswood Garden Club. Mary Hart’s motion to accept the slate carried.

Ann Gordon Evans followed business reports with a tribute to the Hampton Roads Garden Club and the meeting was adjourned.