1998 Fall BOG: Charlottesville

January 26, 2022

The 79th Board of Governors meeting was hosted by the Charlottesville Garden Club on October 7-8, 1998, at the Boar’s Head Inn. The meeting was chaired by Jane Maddux and Kate Kessler.

The Board of Directors was invited for lunch on October 6, 1998, by Dr. and Mrs. John Janes at their UVA Pavilion V home. The board meeting that followed included a discussion of flower shows, a topic that arose when member club presidents met with GCV leadership at the Kent-Valentine House in September. From Bessie, “My experience so far is that flower shows are in need of an update on their format. Each one is so beautiful, and so educational, that we would like to think the present way will last forever. However, they are too costly in time and money for the host club and the InterClub arrangements require too much time and too many flowers for the clubs. We are working on what we can change without losing the high quality our shows now represent. Any ideas are very welcome; please give them to me or Annabel Josephs or Elizabeth Boetsch.”

Further discussions included plans for upcoming Board of Governors and Annual Meetings, with primary focus on streamlining future BOG meetings. Sarah Bass sent a revised format to the board with a late morning start to Wednesday’s meeting. Tuesday arrival for delegates would be optional, giving them the option to travel on Wednesday morning. The board agreed to offer this option for the 1999 BOG meeting in Staunton.

Cocktails were served that evening at “Double Fault,” the delightful home of Hunter Smith, followed by Dutch treat dinner at the Boar’s Head Inn.

Bessie called the meeting to order Wednesday morning and welcomed guests. Charlottesville Garden Club President Linda MacIlwaine welcomed attendees and introduced Kate Kessler, who provided a brief history of the club beginning with a project to arrange dried flowers at Monticello. The first club president, Martha Rankin, authored a pamphlet on drying flowers that sold 27,000 copies to benefit the club. With $2,000 from the 1988 Common Wealth Award, members attempted to clean up the fraternity/sorority area at UVA. Kate remarked, “At least the entrance on University Avenue shows some positive results.”

Bessie called for reports from GCV officers and committee chairmen. Treasurer Deedy Bumgardner reported the recent sales tax exemption granted to GCV does not apply to GCV member club purchases, unless GCV authorizes the purchase and is obligated for the expense. Financial reports were followed with updates from previous Common Wealth Award recipients. Carol Hughes of the Blue Ridge Garden Club provided an update of its 1996 Common Wealth Award project, Roots and Shoots Intergenerational Garden at Waddell Elementary School. The award provided funds for garden supplies and resource material to create theme gardens and to provide an associated curriculum. Mary Ann Miller of Rivanna Garden Club provided an update of its 1997 Common Wealth Award project at Ivy Creek Natural Area, a 215-acre site of natural beauty and a diverse wildlife habitat. A landscape plan has been drawn to surround the new education building, and planting is to begin this fall.

Parliamentarian and Editor of the Register Marty Whipple pointed out the 1998 Register included first names of GCV members for the first time.

Following business reports, guest speaker Dr. Richard Guy Wilson, Commonwealth Professor and Chair of the Department of Architectural History at the University of Virginia, presented “The Colonial Revival in Virginia.”

After adjournment for the day, attendees enjoyed a tour of Bessie’s Redlands, followed by lunch on her front lawn served by Albemarle Garden Club members. Attendees then enjoyed a spectacular garden tour of Morven, a three-story, brick manor house built in the late-Georgian/Federal Style that dates to 1820. The land on which it sits was part of the original Carter family land grant and was known to Thomas Jefferson as “Indian Camp.”  The formal gardens at Morven were restored in 1930 by landscape architect Annette Hoyt Flanders and have been open to the public for Historic Garden Week every year since 1933. The property is on the National Register of Historic Places and on the Virginia Landmarks Register.

The awards banquet was held at the University of Virginia Rotunda.

“The Rotunda at the University of Virginia was designed by Thomas Jefferson as the architectural and academic heart of the University’s community of scholars. He named the University’s original buildings the “Academical Village.” As the phrase suggests, the ‘Academical Village’ is based on the Jeffersonian principle that learning is a lifelong process, and that interaction between faculty and students is vital to the pursuit of knowledge.”

“Jefferson modeled the Rotunda after the Pantheon, a second-century temple in Rome. Construction began in 1822 and was completed in 1826, shortly after Jefferson’s death on July 4 of that year. Built at a cost of almost $60,000, it was the last structure to be finished on the Lawn. Together with Monticello, the Academical Village is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.”

https://rotunda.virginia.edu

The 1998 Common Wealth Award was presented to the Petersburg Garden Club for “A Legacy of Wildflowers,” a project to preserve Lee Park and its wildflower legacy with a botanical art book, With Paintbrush and Shovel, and reproductions of watercolors originally painted by Bessie Niemeyer Marshall. The four Richmond clubs — Boxwood, James River, Three Chopt and Tuckahoe — received second place for revitalization of Library Park in partnership with the City of Richmond.

Charlotte Frischkorn offered a tribute to the Charlottesville Garden Club before Mina adjourned the meeting.

Floral designer and author Hardie Newton then presented a flower-arranging demonstration entitled “Nature’s Fall Finery.”