OUR PURPOSE
Since our founding in 1925, the Blue Ridge Garden Club seeks “to encourage,
promote, and stimulate knowledge and appreciation of gardening,
nature, and the environment” in Lexington, Virginia; Rockbridge
County, Virginia; and the State of Virginia.
OUR HISTORY: HIGHLIGHTS
The Blue Ridge Garden Club has a long history of community service and has been recognized by the Garden Club of Virginia for various contributions and accomplishments over the years.
Member Louise Gilliam, the 15th president of the Garden Club of Virginia (GCV), received the Massie Medal, the GCV’s oldest and most prestigious award, in 1960 with her husband, Frank, for “their inspirational success as horticulturalists and good citizens.” Our first club president, Mrs. William H. Cocke, was the first recipient of the Massie Medal in 1929. The club received the Massie Medal in 1977 for the Bertha Townes Memorial Garden.
The club has won two Common Wealth Awards — in 1980, for landscaping the entrance to the C&O (Chessie) Walking Trail, and in 1996, for the Roots and Shoots Intergenerational School Garden.
The Blue Ridge Garden Club, with the help of the Garden Club of Virginia, has been vigilant since the 1920s in preventing dam construction, road expansion, logging, commercialization and other threats to Goshen Pass.
In 2015, the club successfully nominated Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and Washington and Lee University (W&L) as recipients of the Elizabeth Cabell Dugdale Award for conservation — VMI for its maintenance of the Chessie Nature Trail and W&L for its initiatives in sustainability, including energy efficiency.
More recently, Blue Ridge Garden Club members are active in maintaining the Veterans Memorial Garden; selling wreaths to raise funds to support charitable, civic, and educational projects, both locally and across the state; and supporting the mission of the Garden Club of Virginia (GCV). Member Barbara Walsh serves as the executive director of the Rockbridge Area Conservation Council, helping the club to remain ever vigilant about conservation issues.
October 1, 1925 Blue Ridge Garden Club founded
April 23, 1930 Blue Ridge Garden Club joins GCV
Club Flower The Iris
OUR AFFILIATIONS
Blue Ridge Garden Club
Organized on October 1, 1925, the Blue Ridge Garden Club was admitted to the
Garden Club of Virginia (GCV) on April 23, 1930, becoming the 19th member
and the only GCV-affiliated club in Rockbridge County.
The Garden Club of Virginia
The Garden Club of Virginia exists to celebrate the beauty of the land, to conserve the gifts of nature, and to challenge future generations to build on this heritage. The Garden Club of Virginia has 47 member clubs across the Commonwealth, with a total membership of more than 3,300.
Since 1929, the GCV has been responsible for more than 40 garden restorations throughout the state, including Lee Chapel in Lexington. These restorations are made possible by the proceeds raised each April as the GCV hosts “America’s largest open house” — Historic Garden Week. The headquarters of GCV is at the historic Kent-Valentine House in Richmond.
Rockbridge County
Locally, the Blue Ridge Garden Club is also a member of the
Rockbridge County Council of Garden Clubs.