Hampton Roads Garden Club
Membership Meeting
The Home of Becky Tench
May 12, 2026
President Ann Fisher welcomed to the final meeting of the year, our Annual meeting and Luncheon. From Ann’s perspective it has been a fun year! She thanked Becky Tench for hosting us in her beautiful home. Ann welcomed our associates. It is always great to have them with us. Ann also welcomed our first Honorary member today, Bo Parish.
Jennifer Dick called the roll 42 members were in attendance.
The April minutes were approved.
Trish Lively, our Membership Committee Chair on behalf of the Membership Committee, presented a new member proposal to the Executive board who approved the proposal. Trish shared the two proposal letters from Kristen Barnes and Rita Quinn and then the club voted to approve the membership of Wendy Linehan.
Officer’s reports:
President:
Ann Fisher said our Gardn Week Tour Day this year was one of the best for her! From start to finish, the day was perfect. The flower arrangements were stellar, the hostesses were welcoming, happy and informed. Local visitors and many other states, including the drivers and their passengers in the antique cars, enjoyed the day. Everyone was full of sincere compliments. And then to top it all off we got to relax and enjoy ourselves at “Flowers After Hours”. Thank you to all of you for all that you did to make it a memorable and impressive tour for everyone who was fortunate enough to be a part of it. There was a great effort by many in preplanning and on the days leading to opening our doors to the public.
Yesterday, on May 11th, Cultivating Conversations hosted “Celebrating Historic Garden Week’s Fabulous Floral Arrangements. You could view it on the GCV website if you missed it along with any other topics they have had this year. Thank you to Amanda Graham for the great collection of photographs taken at the Beasley and Short homes.
Horticulture Field Day in Charlottesville on June 9-10th, has sold out. For those of you that jumped in and got a ticket, we are looking forward to a recap with next fall.
The Lily Show is scheduled for June 17-18th in Richmond at Grace Baptist Church, hosted by the Tuckahoe Garden Club. The theme is “Renewal” and the event is FREE. There is also a free workshop scheduled for the 18th at 11 am entitled “Using Lilies in Ikebana” with Janice Whitehead. Registration is on the GCV website.
Reminder to all committee chairmen to turn in your committee reports. Please take the time to share any helpful tips and records that you have with the new chairmen that will start in September.
Reminder, if you have had any changes in your address or contact information, please notify Sherry Maynard no later than June 15th. We will have a new yearbook printed in the late summer and it is most helpful to have your current information in advance. Please check what is currently printed to be sure that it is correct.
Vice President:
Allison Clock thanked the May luncheon committee, Allison Hund, Sherry Maynard, Teresa Robinson and Molly Trant. Allison also thanked Becky Tench for opening her lovely home and presented her with a gift.
Allison invited the club and will be emailing additional information to the Martha’s Way ribbon cutting on May 29th at 10:00 am.
Treasurer:
The account balance is $55, 864.59.
Committee Reports:
Community Projects:
Sherry Maynard read thank you notes from Deer Park Elementary School for the funds for their garden learning lab. Sherry also read a thank you note from Thrive for the funds for their fall garden seedlings.
Database Manager:
Sherry Maynard reminded each of us to send any updates regarding address, email, phone numbers to her so she can keep the database correct. Deadline is June 15th for printing in the 2026-27 Yearbook.
Historic Garden Week:
Stacy Queensberry thanked the club for the amazing success of Historic Garden Week. The funds raised from the Historic Garden Week tour went to GCV to help fund the restoration and conversation projects. The Flowers After Hours raised $996 for the club.
Nature Camper:
Mindy Beasly reported that we used our funds for a scholarship for Nature Camp.
Newsletter/GCV Annual Fund:
Mary Johnson thanked the membership for their donations to the GCV Annual Fund. To date, 49% of our members have donated the annual fund. The GCV fiscal year ends June 30, 2026. All members who donated to the annual fund were entered into a drawing and Julie LoCicero won a $25 gift card.
Photography:
Amanda Graham thanked everyone for sending photos during the year. She reminded everyone of the GCV Summer Collection photo contest. The themes are bubbles and native plants. Details are on the GCV website.
New Business:
Lifetime Member Recognition:
Ann Fisher recognized our first Lifetime Members today and presented them with a small token of the club’s appreciation of their steadfast and exemplary years of membership in the Garden Club of Hampton Roads. The recent Bylaw revisions included provision for Lifetime Members who are women that have reached 85 years of age or unable to no longer able to fulfill the requirements of membership due to health or other reasons.
Today we will receive 3 HRGC Lifetime Members.
- G.G. Buxton, who is unable to join us today, was a member of the HRGC for over 50 years serving as president, vice president, treasurer, chairman of the Rose Show, bus trips to the Philadelphia Flower Show (for 11 years), just to name a few.
- Martha Field, also unable to join us today, maintained her active membership for at least 26 years. During that time, she served as Vice-President and President, led several successful fundraising projects and always found ways to motivate others to serve in our club. Her wit and dedication will not be forgotten.
- Mary Jane Peake, who is with us today as new Lifetime Member. Mary Jane joined the HRGC in 1981and was an active member for over 30 years when she became an associate member until this year when she became an associate member…. That’s 45 years! Mary Jane served on our Admissions (now Membership) committee, twice, Programs committee, Historian. Daffodil Advisor and others. She opened her home many times for membership meetings and luncheons, always filling her home with her own floral arrangements. Her own garden reflected her love of gardening. She even hosted a dinner for the delegates attending the Annual Meeting held in our area.
Honorary Membership Recognition:
Our recently revised Bylaws provides for an Honorary Membership to a non-member who has shown long-standing commitment to our club’s mission. Ann Fisher presented the first Honorary Member award to Mr. Bo Parrish. Bo grew up in Hilton Village in Newport News, graduated from Washington and Lee University and returned to our area to work in his family’s real estate company, Virginia Land and Homes. For over 20 years, Bo and has been the primary financial sponsor of our local tour as well as a HGW guidebook advertiser. Bo shares our enthusiasm for conservation and restoration of historic landscapes throughout our beautiful state of Virginia. It is with great pleasure that our club recognizes Bo Parrish as our first Honorary Member for all that you have done to promote and support and preserve the beauty of the state we all call home. Bo was present and said his father always said, “to plant a tree was to look to the future.”
Birthday Recognition:
Ann recognized all those birthdays in May, June, July and August.
Passing the Gavel:
Ann Fisher gave her end-of-the-year remarks and passed the gavel to Allison Clock.
With no further business, the meeting is adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Dick
Recording Secretary
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