A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MARTINSVILLE GARDEN CLUB
The Martinsville Garden Club was organized in April, 1923, with the purpose "to promote interest in and knowledge of gardening, to stimulate interest in civic planning, and to aid in the protection of our native trees, shrubs, wild flowers and birds." It became a member club of the Garden Club of Virginia the following year.
Through the years, the Martinsville Garden Club has focused on city and county beautification, conservation and community landscaping projects. Some of these projects have included plantings and installing gates at the entrance of Oakwood Cemetery, the grounds of Memorial Hospital, the grounds of the Henry County Courthouse, dogwood trees at an elementary school, Constitution oaks at the high school, the grounds of the Adult Day Care Center, the SPCA, and the Walker Fine Arts Center at Patrick Henry Community College. In 1979, the club began landscaping the grounds of the Blue Ridge Regional Library. This project continued for over 30 years. In 2009, the club co-sponsored the "Forgotten Garden", an exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Natural History. That same year, the club assisted with the funding of the installation of the garden surrounding the Big Chair in Uptown Martinsville. More recently, the Martinsville Garden Club is working with the Gateway Streetscape Foundation to beautify areas of both Martinsville and Henry County and on creating pollinator gardens at the Paw Path at the Smith River Sports Complex and at Fairy Stone State Park.
Martinsville Garden Club has participated in the state-wide Garden Week events since their beginning in the 1930s, either with home tours or lectures. All net proceeds from these activities are sent to the Garden Club of Virginia, earmarked for the renovation and preservation of historic gardens in Virginia. Some of those funds "have come home", as the Garden Club of Virginia announced, in the fall of 2011, that they had chosen the historic Henry County Courthouse in Martinsville as their latest landscape restoration project. We thank the GCV Restoration Committee and Will Rieley for honoring our community and enhancing our historic courthouse, a centerpiece of Uptown. The completed work was presented on Thursday, October 15, 2015.
THE MARTINSVILLE GARDEN CLUB TODAY
Our mission is to promote interest in and knowledge of gardening, to stimulate interest in civic planning and to aid in the protection of our native trees, shrubs, wild flowers and birds.
COLORS: Yellow and White
FLOWER: Daffodil
*******
"The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth."
Dorothy Frances Gurney
*******
President: Kim Snyder
First Vice President: Leslie Hervey
Second Vice President: Frankie Smith
Treasurer: Debbie Toms
Recording Secretary: Laura Hundley
Corresponding Secretary: Natalie Coleman
Parliamentarian: Shar Peitz
The Executive Committee consists of the current officers and Cindy Edgerton, Rita Hodges, Susan Morris, Nancy Moore, Beth Sibbick, Sarah Fain and Sandy Martin. The Martinsville Garden Club is a tax exempt organization pursuant to section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
There are three classes of members: Active, Associate and Honorary.
Martinsville Garden Club, through the Garden Club of Virginia, provides its members opportunities to learn and improve flower arranging skills through three annual flower shows, the daffodil, the lily, and the rose shows. These nationally sanctioned shows also focus on horticulture, giving opportunity to learn and improve growing and exhibiting techniques for roses, lilies and daffodils.
