The GCA Recognizes Joan Roberts for her 55 years with The Gardeners

Joan and Wyn

Joan and Wyn

The Gardeners membership applauded and were so proud at our May 2014 meeting when our president Wyn Coghlan presented Joan Roberts with a GCA award in recognition of her 55 years of dedicated service to The Gardeners.  In commemoration of this event, the following letter was sent to Joan from our GCA president, Katherine P. Hines:

Dear Joan,

It is with pride and admiration that I send my very best wishes and congratulations on the occasion of your 55th anniversary of membership in The Gardeners.

In recognition of this very special occasion, a certificate is enclosed.

Joan Roberts, 55th Anniversary

Presented to Joan Roberts in celebration of her 55 years of dedicated service to The Gardeners.

This is a fitting tribute to one who has carried out the aims and objectives of The Garden Club of America through years of loyal and active service to your club.

The Officers and Directors join me in applauding you on this auspicious occasion.

Cordially

Katherine P Heins , President

*****

Following the above presentation, I asked Joan if she would write something about herself, her family and how she affiliated with The Gardeners. The following is in her words:

My mother urged me to join and rallied some of her friends to write letters. She knew the Roberts in-laws were pushing for the Weeders, and she wasn’t about to let that happen, since her mother, my grandmother, was one of the founders of The Gardeners.

Over the years I’ve held lots of positions in the Club, which tends to happen to any member who can prove to be alive and awake. I have been president, vice president, recording secretary, and chairman of Admissions, Nominating, Flower Show, and Program committees, as well as some more minor things, such as Parliamentarian (which means I get to mumble “all in favor” when someone needs to pass a motion). I’ve also co-chaired the major club exhibit at the Philadelphia Flower Show, once with Lana Crawford (we got a Third with our kitchen garden, and sometime do ask Lana about the bundled newspapers), and once with Pixie Biddle, a smaller garden with some challenging horticulture and a sort of Adirondackish structure of thick, gnarled vines. That one got a Second.

I’m not sure I can point to any major accomplishments on my part in all of this, but I did chair our Gardeners’ Hundredth Anniversary celebration, which, thanks to a strong team of helpers was a success and a lot of fun.  I’ve never held a position with the GCA, though I have served on the Philadelphia Committee (PCGCA) as the Fertilizer Fund rep from the Club.  I’ve always thought one should try to get involved with the artistic as well as the horticultural side of things, and I entered lots of arrangements in shows back in the day. But I think club rules for shows were more lenient then, and when I’m faced with having to identify (botanical name) every weed that has found its way into my artistic offering, I tend to get lazy and just bring in what Mother Nature has been kind enough to bring into bloom for a Hort. class. I do think, however, that it’s good to get used to doing things correctly!

My mother was an avid gardener. She really got down on her knees and dug in the dirt, with good results. Her mother, my grandmother, had lots of garden, which we inherited later when we moved into her house, but I never saw her out digging. (She had helpers–and she was older by the time I came along.) Howard’s parents, my in-laws, tended to pick out plants that someone else put in—but they were older by the time I met them. I do remember my father-in-law getting quite absorbed in cultivating some beautiful tuberous begonias that he grew in Maine. Howard, of course outdid us all with the rhodies that he hybridized. He had about 600 “crosses” (unnamed) that he managed to create.

My great joy, beyond the garden, has been guiding tours in historic areas. I started off in 1961 as a guide in the historic houses in Fairmount Park. This led me in 1974 to Independence National Historical Park, inside the buildings and giving walking tours around the area. I’m still guiding in both, but I also give architectural walking tours in different parts of Philadelphia, presently under the auspices of the Preservation Alliance. All of these I do as a volunteer. For some years I worked for several professional tour organizations, escorting groups of visitors around the Philadelphia region, and I continue to take groups of students around Independence and Valley Forge.  Anything to keep the brain going!

*****

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Comments

  1. D. Wayne Speight  July 20, 2014

    7.20.14

    Ms. Roberts was the tour guide today in the Spruce Hill area for our group from The National Alliance of Preservation Commissions. What a joy and a bundle of energy! Were that we all could have the sharp wit, underlying knowledge and athleticism that she exhibited today. You have a priceless treasure in your Club and hope you acknowledge it at every turn.

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