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2008 Common Wealth Award Finalists Member Clubs are encouraged to discuss the 2008 Common Wealth Award finalists or even visit the proposed sites. Each club must choose one finalist at it's September meeting. The President of each club will cast her club's vote at the Board of Governors' Meeting in October. It is not appropriate to campaign for one’s project by soliciting votes from the member clubs through mass mailings, etc.
A Fort Called Christ-Anna and Its Indian Trading Center Submitted by The Brunswick Garden Club
Established by Governor Spotswood in 1714 as a fur trading center and an experimental Indian School, Fort Christanna, situated on a hill above a bend in the Meherrin River in Brunswick County, is revered by local citizens and Native Americans whose ancestors once occupied this sacred historical site.
Funded by on-going annual Christmas auctions and plant sales, The Brunswick Garden Club has committed assistance to this outstanding restoration project. Initiated by the Brunswick County Historical Society and the Brunswick/Lake Gaston Tourism Association, Phase 1 of this community effort to create a historical park at the site of Fort Christanna has been completed.
Receipt of the Common Wealth Award would allow The Brunswick Garden Club to create a teaching/seating area at the site, based on the plan of an “Indian Town” described in John Fontaine’s 1716 journal. Rustic authenticity is being implemented through the design of cement tree stumps for seating and a lectern. Appropriate signage is being placed throughout the fort area. Student groups and other visitors, who come to experience its historic significance, will benefit from this seating/lecture site enhanced by nature’s own beauty. Native Americans will be beneficiaries of an authentic and sacred setting for annual ceremonies to honor their ancestors.
Deprived of its agricultural and industrial life-lines, effective sources of funding in the area are limited. Therefore, our efforts would benefit substantially from the Common Wealth Award to assist with this historic restoration, beautification and educational project. We sincerely seek your support.
The Lake Lina Wetland at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens Submitted by the Garden Club of Fairfax
The Lake Lina Wetland lures people outside where nature can be experienced by the heart. Lake Lina is a five-acre wetland within Meadowlark Botanical Gardens. Meadowlark, located three miles west of Tysons Corner in Fairfax County, includes 95 acres of mature trees, walking trails, lakes, display gardens, a sensory garden, a log cabin (circa 1755), and plants native to the Potomac River Valley. This beautiful green jewel creates a natural sanctuary of beauty and serenity near a bustling urban area and is enjoyed annually by 180,000 visitors. The Lake Lina Wetland serves as an intergenerational and multicultural classroom for viewing wildlife indigenous to Virginia.
In 2008 the Garden Club of Fairfax (GCF) contributed $1,000 for a SOL-compliant “learning box” to be placed in Meadowlark’s electric car which allows easy accessibility to The Lake Lina Wetland. The “learning box” provides a hands-on learning experience by employing such tools as a dissecting microscope, hand-held magnifiers, guide books to local flora and fauna, seeds and animal skulls, along with local maps identifying nearby watersheds. The electric car and the dissecting microscope will be charged by solar panels.
Since 2002, GCF has partnered with Meadowlark and contributed $10,300 for a variety of projects. In addition, the Boy Scouts have donated over 1200 hours toward the removal of invasive plants and have begun the planting of many native shrubs and wildflowers.
To build on these earlier efforts, the GCF now seeks funds to complete The Lake Lina Wetland. The Garden Club of Virginia’s Common Wealth Award will provide funding for hundreds of herbaceous wetland and native carnivorous pitcher plants, hands-on outdoor classroom enhancements, an amphitheatre seating 50 visitors with wheelchair accessibility, and associated educational signage. With this Award, Meadowlark, GCF and GCV will be able to greatly enhance our common vision…”to celebrate the beauty of the land, to conserve the gifts of nature and to challenge future generations to build on this heritage.”
A Living Shoreline at the Hermitage Foundation Museum Submitted by the Harborfront Garden Club
The Hermitage Museum was built on the Lafayette River in Norfolk as the summer retreat of William and Florence Sloane in 1908. They established the Foundation in 1937 to increase awareness of the arts. The Hermitage is renowned for its art collection, architecture, galleries, Arts School and beautiful grounds. Visitation is 35,000 school children and visitors annually.
Installation of a living shoreline at the Hermitage restored 23,275 square feet of wetlands, acting as a natural filtration system, improving water quality and increasing native wildlife habitats. Educational signage shows pictorial adaptations of the development and the native plants installed. Foundation and professional staff will assess which plantings are most effective.
Harborfront Garden Club contributed $5,000 for the signage and hours of labor in planting native plants. The Foundation pledged a conservation easement and staff and volunteer services for maintenance. Total support exceeded $138,000; $7,826 needs to be raised to complete a boardwalk to access and view the restored area.
This living shoreline will serve as a teaching model for wetland restoration and preservation and provide cultural, horticultural and conservation research and education, historic preservation and beautification of one of Virginia’s treasures.
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