The Rivanna Garden Club Documentary Celebrating our 90th Anniversay ~ as premiered on June15, 2012 Thank you to Lucy Huff for her inspiration and to Mark Edward for his creativity.
Rivanna Garden Club is delighted to announce that the Blue Ridge Juvenile Detention project is the winner of the Garden Club of Virginia's 2015 Common Wealth Award.
Rivanna Garden Club is delighted to announce that the Hatton Ferry project is the winner of the Garden Club of Virginia's 2011 Common Wealth Award Click Here for more information If you would like to see more on the Hatton Ferry, here is a link to a Community History series program that included a presentation by Bernard Chamberlain.
VIEW IN PDF FORMAT INTRODUCTION In addition to Follow the Green Arrow, Volumes I and II, which chronicle The Garden Club of Virginia and its member clubs from 1920-1995, The Rivanna Garden Club is fortunate to have a previous history of its own, “Rivanna Garden Club History 1922-1962”, by Mrs. Alfred Balz, Mrs. Austin Kilham, Mrs. William Phillips and Captain and Mrs. Edgar Williams, and later short recollections by Betty Henneman, Jean Printz, and Betsy Tremain,* as well as club presidents’ two-year histories. This account of our first 90 years is drawn in good part from those sources. [...]
Thanks to several Albemarle Garden Club members, a second area garden club, the Rivanna Garden Club, was born Nov. 16, 1922 and admitted to The Garden Club of VA (GCV) two years later. Twenty five years afterwards, Rivanna spearheaded creation of the Charlottesville Garden Club. What have we done to enhance this community in our 83 year history?? The answers are not necessarily in either chronological order or order of importance. Regularly we have sent children to camps we help support: Nature Camp at Vesuvius and the ARC Camp at Panorama Farm . Albemarle, [...]
1920 – 1930 RIVANNA: When this second garden club in Charlottesville was formed November 16, 1922, “the guiding angels” were from Albemarle, Mrs. C. E. Blue and Mrs. J. S. Davis. Called Rivanna River Garden Club, it elected Mrs. Thomas Fawcus president. This history says: “Just when we dropped the River, I no longer remember.” She continues, “There were no winter meetings that first year, which speaks volumes about the roads our county members would have to negotiate.” They set aside $5.00 for printing the constitution and by-laws. It wasn’t enough. So they decided to wait [...]
1970 -1980 In a tax conscious decade, Rivanna Garden Club was proud when the Internal Revenue Service granted the club charitable status. The club celebrated its 50th anniversary with a Sentimental Journey in 1972 and sent a gift to the Kent-Valentine House. Club members serving with distinction on The GCV Committees during this decade were Miss Jean Printz, Director of Public Relations (1970-1972), Parliamentarian and Editor of the Register (1972-1974), The GCV Treasurer (1974-1978, and First Vice President (1978-1980). Mrs. Charles K. Woltz (Dawn) was The GCV Flowers Show Chairman [...]
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 [...]
Rivanna Garden Club has participated in Historic Garden Week since its beginning 1928. In 1950, Mrs. Charles Marvin suggested that Rivanna open “small gardens tucked away where no passing tourists can see their treasurer” which were named “Friendly Gardens.” In 1956, Mrs. Emerson Spies conceived the idea of opening small gardens which were called “Country Gardens.” In 1974, Mrs. Davison spearheaded the reorganization of Historic Garden Week, making it a joint venture with the three GCV Clubs, Albemarle, Charlottesville, and Rivanna. She served as the first Chairman of this joint [...]