Awarded to Mrs. Charles Woltz (Dawn)
The Garden Club of Virginia Journal September – October 1987
“Tis a joyful thing we do about this time each year. For on this occasion, we single out one of our own to receive The Garden Club of Virginia’s highest honor. The selection is rarely easy. So much excellence abounds within our ranks that to be chosen the winner of The Massie Medal for Distinguished Achievement is to be named the best of the very best.
The recipient of the 1987 Award is a woman of exemplary spirit and purpose, whose life has been lived in the creation and sharing of beauty. A renowned horticulturist, an artistic flower arranger, an articulate lecturer, an author and a preservationist, she is never happier than when she is lighting the fires of enthusiasm in a novice gardener or flower arranger, or when she is sharing her plants and knowledge with one and all. She has been an invaluable, tireless member of her garden club for 30 years, has held major offices, and continuously has been involved in beautification endeavors in her area. She has been Horticulture Chairman, Flower Show Chairman, Director-at-Large, and member of the Restoration Committee in The Garden Club of Virginia. Her charming garden has been opened repeatedly for Historic Garden Week.
She and her supportive husband do much of their work themselves, both in their own garden and on a 17th century house they currently are restoring. They have become brick-layers, carpenters, landscape designer, and dirt-gardening propagators of specimen plants.
If this necessarily brief sketch of her accomplishments has not revealed already the identity of this delightful lady, let me provide you with a dead giveaway: Since 1974, she has been THE flower arranger at Monticello, and Major Domo of the cutting gardens and greenhouses that provide her material. Here she is in her element designing arrangements in the Jefferson manner to enhance his magnificent home. From this experience she has written one book. “Flowers Grown and Shown at Monticello,” and she is at work on a second. Truly she is deserving of our recognition.
The inscription on her medal reads, “For her glorious gift of beauty, and for her joy in the giving.”
And the name thereon, is of course, Dawn Daniel Woltz.
Dawn’s Other Achievements:
- 1962-1964 President
- 1973-1974 GCV Flower Show Chairman
- 1976-1978 GCV Horticulture Chairman
- 1977 Author of The Flowers Grown and Shown at Monticello
- 1978-1981 GCV Director at Large
- 1979 Edgar M. Williams Silver Bowl - Outstanding Contribution to RGC
- 1996 Honorary Member of Rivanna Club