2005 Spring Annual Meeting: Huntington

December 10, 2021

Photos

The 85th Annual Meeting was hosted by the Huntington Garden Club at the Omni Hotel in Newport News, co-chaired by Rose Garrett and Katie Spencer.

Board members arrived Tuesday for lunch and board meeting hosted by Nan Leigh Smith at her home overlooking the James River (the oldest home in Newport News). She seemed relaxed as she informed the board her son’s wedding was to take place that weekend. Business discussions included questions regarding naming conventions in the Register (referring to the long-held formal custom of identifying a member by her husband’s name); the creation of the webmaster position; KVH ongoing construction; excessive Historic Garden Week expenses; a committee name change from Communications to GCV Online; and possible improvements for the “costly and underattended” flower shows.

The Dutch treat dinner Tuesday night was held at the Virginia Living Museum. When Deedy thanked Huntington members Wednesday morning for dinner “with the wildlife,” it wasn’t clear if she was referring to the animals or the attendees.

Huntington President Debbie Spencer welcomed attendees to Hampton Roads on Wednesday morning and introduced club historian Mary Sherwood Holt. In presenting the history of the Huntington Garden Club, Mary Sherwood admitted her club members were not quite sure when the club was established (1934 or 1935), or how the club’s name originated (Collis P. Huntington or Huntington Heights neighborhood, home of the founding members).

Project financing ideas reached new heights in early days for Huntington when members worked as dairy-maids-in-attendance, escorting guests through a local dairy to fund shrub planting along Warwick Blvd. The shrubs did not last long because they “were constantly being run over or side-swiped by errant vehicles.” The dairy-maid legacy lives on.

When Warwick County purchased Camp Henry, a WWII staging facility described by one as “five acres barren and pitted with mud holes,” and revealed plans in 1948 to create Patrick Henry Hospital for the chronically ill, Huntington Garden Club members eagerly volunteered to take on a long-term project to landscape the hospital grounds. The project was the club’s “pride and joy, as well as its near demise,” when 35 years later, exhausted club members were still volunteering. The project finally came to an end when Riverside acquired the hospital in the mid-1980s and converted it into a modern retirement community.

Mina Wood read a tribute to former GCV President (1964-1966) Dorothy Hunt Williams, written by Page Sullenberger. A member of Dolley Madison Garden Club and a true gardener, Dottie received the Massie Medal for Distinguished Achievement in 1976 “for her long and distinguished service and for the unselfish use of her time and talents in publishing Historic Virginia Gardens, the history and blueprints of all gardens restored by the Garden Club of Virginia, 1929-1973.”

Morning business concluded with “The History of American Gardening,” presented by William Seale, architectural restorationist, noted speaker and author. Following Mr. Seale’s presentation, attendees were invited to a beautiful al fresco lunch at Tazewell, the historic home of John and Paige Lawson on the James River, and afterwards to visit the Mariner’s Museum where the afternoon was filled with planned activities and tours.

The awards banquet that evening was held at the Ferguson Center for the Arts at Christopher Newport University, one of the first events to be held at this venue — reason enough for the banquet chairman to have sleepless nights as city inspections for occupancy continued to the last minute.

Thursday morning’s business began early with an update of the Balustrade Project by Catherine Whitham, who announced a $25,000 gift to the project from the Roller-Bottimore Foundation, a $25,000 gift from Restoration and $39,000 from member clubs and individuals.

Horticulture Chairman Fran Boninti announced the following 2005 Horticulture Award of Merit recipients: Nancy Lowry, Rivanna; Candy Crosby, Albemarle; Suzanne Aiello, Dolley Madison; Julia Cox, Tuckahoe; Evelyn Nock, Eastern Shore; and Elizabeth Brown, Gloucester.

Mary Hart Darden followed with a report describing the upcoming yearlong Strategic Planning process.

Betty Schutte presented the following slate in nomination for 2005-2007 Directors at Large: Nan Freed, the Garden Club of Danville; Mary Nelson Thompson, the Franklin Garden Club; and Suzanne Wright, the Petersburg Garden Club. Motion seconded and passed.

Tata Kellam delivered a tribute to the Huntington Garden Club and the meeting was adjourned.