Common Wealth Award Committee Chairman Candy Carden (GC Northern Neck), Fauquier and Loudoun President Aline Day, Petersburg Garden Club President Mary Nelson Thompson, GCV Historian Bettie Guthrie (Petersburg GC)
The 2017 Common Wealth Awards were presented at the Board of Governors Meeting in October.
First Place:
The Healing Grove at Boulder Crest Retreat
Submitted by Fauquier and Loudoun Garden Club
Boulder Crest Retreat, located in the Piedmont of Northern Virginia, is the nation’s first privately funded, completely free treatment facility dedicated to our wounded warriors and their families. The retreat focuses on individual and family recovery from the traumas of war, the loss of limbs and comrades on the battlefield. The Fauquier and Loudoun Garden Club continues our commitment to these remarkable individuals by planting a grove of trees that will create a soothing link between the lodges where warriors and their families stay during recovery and the walled garden already in place through the generosity of members of the club and the community. Warriors and their families find the walled garden a tranquil place for meditation and healing. The addition of a grove of native trees will provide a much-needed transition to that space. The club believes there is no tribute too great for those who returned to us after sacrificing so much on our behalf.
Second Place:
The Lee Park Wildflower and Bird Sanctuary
Submitted by The Petersburg Garden Club
The Lee Park Wildflower and Bird Sanctuary is the heart of Lee Memorial Park, encompassing the environmental, historical and social significance of the park and, through its restoration and interpretation, offering a model f or stewardship, education and environmental responsibility. During the 1930s, through a remarkable WPA project, PGC members worked with African-American women of Petersburg to establish a botanical preserve in Lee Park. Species were identified, an herbarium collected, exquisite paintings executed and specimens planted and nurtured. Over 10 miles of paths were developed. Although in continuous use as a city park and recreation area, the 25-acre sanctuary has been virtually unmanaged for over a half a century. Yet much of the original flora and fauna documented and installed during the WPA project remain. As part of an ongoing effort to restore Lee Park, the club has established a new low-maintenance informational six-panel kiosk at the trailhead to the meadow and Wildflower and Bird Sanctuary. The interpretive signage for the kiosk and an accompanying brochure and rack card will tell this important national story and promote the conservation of the sanctuary and create programs for at-risk youth.
