The Blue Ridge Garden Club

March 22, 2022

Goshen Pass 1929-2009

The Blue Ridge Garden Club assumed its first of several leadership roles in the protection of Goshen Pass in 1929, when Virginia Public Service Co. “filed application with the State Corporation Commission (SCC) to construct a dam at the upper end of the pass (Goshen) and a giant flume to carry water from the dam down to a power plant to be built a Wilson Springs.” The Blue Ridge Garden Club organized to oppose the proposed dam that would make Goshen Pass a large lake.

In 1938, the club organized a successful letter-writing campaign to oppose plans to modernize the road through Goshen Pass.

Goshen Pass is Virginia’s oldest state-managed natural area. Located in Rockbridge County, the Commonwealth first acquired the property in 1954 to help protect the views of the 3.7-mile long gorge along the Maury River. The 936-acre preserve was dedicated as a State Natural Area Preserve in 2002. And in 1954, the club organized statewide opposition to timber cutting on the north side of the Maury River in Goshen Pass. Goshen Wildlife Management Area was formed and, since that time, Goshen Pass has been owned and managed by Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).

In 2009, the club rallied for a fourth time to save Goshen Pass when the Boy Scouts of America announced plans to move their 2013 National Scout Jamboree from Fort A.P. Hill in Caroline County to Goshen in Rockbridge County. The Blue Ridge Garden Club took action immediately and member Catharine Gilliam raised public awareness, creating a website www.savegoshenpass.com; Catharine was joined in the effort by her mother, Mary Stuart Gilliam. The club adopted a resolution at a special meeting of the club to oppose the BSA Jamboree at Goshen, and GCV followed the club’s lead with a similar resolution. BSA announced before year’s end that the site was no longer being considered. Catharine and Mary Stuart were awarded the 2010 de Lacy Gray Memorial Medal for Conservation for their leadership efforts in saving Goshen Pass.

Natural Bridge State Park 2017-present

The money was used to outfit an interactive classroom for educational programming in the Visitor Center, to create a Base Camp with exhibits in the Visitor Center, and to purchase equipment for Dark Sky certification.

In addition to this support, the club endowed the building of an amphitheater at Natural Bridge near the Monacan Indian Village display. School groups gather in the amphitheater where they are told what to expect from the village they are about to explore.

The Garden Club of Virginia held its 61st Annual Conservation Forum on September 24-25, 2019, at Natural Bridge. The forum, “Trees: Canopy of Conservation,” was preceded by a native plant horticulture show in the Visitor Center and guided tree walks in the park. Club members and local residents volunteered throughout the two-day event. Photos

Community Projects

The club’s annual holiday wreath sale funds community projects that include hanging baskets that beautify Lexington streets, and charitable giving to organizations such as Natural Bridge State Park, the Roots and Shoots Intergenerational School Garden, Boxerwood, Nature Camp, Scenic Virginia and the Garden Club of Virginia.

Veterans Memorial Garden (2003 – present): Originally a project of the Rockbridge County Council of Garden Clubs, in 2003, the Blue Ridge Garden Club took on responsibility for planting and maintaining the garden at the Veterans Memorial on Main St. The veterans of the Military Officers Association of America pay for the cost of the plants.

Memorial Benches: The BRGC received the very first Common Wealth Award (1980) for landscaping at the entrance to the Chessie Trail. In 1999 and 2000, five of the club’s longtime active members died, and in memory of those deceased, the club installed a wooden bench in the park overlooking the Maury River. The wooden bench was replaced years later with an iron bench and was moved to the Miller’s House at Jordan’s Point, above the floodplain.

Of particular note in the City of Lexington, Molly and Dirck Brown’s Roots & Shoots Intergenerational School Garden for the education and experience of creating a school garden for and by children is hard to match in accomplishment and gratification — not only for the children having the experience, but also nature’s education. The Roots and Shoots program began in Palo Alto, California, where Molly and Dirck Brown were part of a group that created an educational garden that teamed senior citizen volunteers with elementary school students to plant and learn from the garden. When the Browns retired to Lexington, Virginia, they began to build partnerships in the community to create and build the Roots and Shoots Garden at Waddell Elementary School near their home.  The Blue Ridge Garden Club has worked with the Roots & Shoots program at Waddell Elementary since the program’s inception. In that time, Roots and Shoots has received the Common Wealth Award in 1996 and national recognition from the American Horticultural Society and the Children & Nature Network. Originally the program began with the second grade curriculum in 1995, but has since expanded to all grades, kindergarten through fifth.

Garden Club of Virginia Awards

The 1996 Common Wealth Award was presented to BRGC for Roots and Shoots Intergenerational School Garden; the de Lacy Gray Memorial Medal for Conservation was awarded in 2000 to Molly Brown for the Roots and Shoots Intergenerational School Garden, in 2010 to Catharine Gilliam and Mary Stuart Gilliam for Save Goshen Pass and in 2011 to Sallie Sebrell for Global Warning; the 2015 Elizabeth Cabell Dugdale Award for Conservation presented to Virginia Military Institute & Washington and Lee University (proposed by BRGC); the 2016 Conservation Educator Award presented to Roots and Shoots Intergenerational School Garden; and the Horticulture Award of Merit was presented to Augusta Watson in 2009 and to Molly Brown in 2013.

Membership

The club established the Blue Ridge Gardener’s Gazette using the email format from Constant Contact. This media tool was very helpful and gave the club a convenient place to communicate committee reports, GCV information, announcements, member news and community projects.

Sustaining and Nonresident membership categories were created for longtime members who were unable to attend meetings but still wished to participate in club activities. More recently, an Emerita membership category was created for longtime members who have served the club well, but are either physically or mentally unable to participate in the club’s activities.

The club continues to streamline club business during meetings and to reenergize and expand club membership.

2007 and 2017 GCV Board of Governors

The Blue Ridge Garden Club hosted the 2007 Garden Club of Virginia Board of Governors meeting in Lexington. Chaired by Julie MacKinlay, Edith Prillaman and Julie Grover, the meeting showcased historic Lexington history and the beauty of surrounding Rockbridge  County.

2007 BOG Photos

The BRGC again hosted the GCV Board of Governors meeting in 2017, featuring Lexington’s two universities. Barbara Luton chaired the meeting.

2017 BOG Photos

BRGC Presidents 1996-2020

1996-1998	Evan Atkins
1998-2000	Carol Hughes
2000-2002	Patti Hammond
2002-2004	Augusta Watson
2004-2006	Elizabeth Raetz
2006-2008	Julie MacKinlay
2008-2010	Julie Grover
2010-2012	Chris Howison
2012-2014	Jane Brooke
2014-2016	Barbara Luton
2016-2018	Catherine Harcus
2018-2020	Beth Coleman