The 2020 Massie Medal Award for Distinguished Achievement recipient is Kimbrough Koontz Nash, who was recognized at the Board of Governors meeting in October 2021. The medal’s inscription read: “In recognition of her judicious leadership, grace and humor guiding the Garden Club of Virginia to the next century.”
The award was meant to be given in GCV’s Centennial Year, 2020, and could not be more appropriate for the service Kim has given to the club and her own Warrenton Garden Club for more than 38 years. Positions she held in her club include President, Second Vice President, Executive Committee, Horticulture Chairman and Chairman of Historic Garden Week. Kim is an avid gardener and she and her husband, Bunny, have placed a conservation easement with the Virginia Outdoor Foundation on their farm, Granville, near Warrenton. An accomplished horsewoman, Kim was Joint Master of the Warrenton Hunt and is a Lucas terrier enthusiast.
In the late 1990s, Kim began her service to the GCV, leading to 12 years of board appointments: Recording Secretary, Second Vice President, First Vice President, President, Nominations Chairman and Chairman of the Restoration Committee. During her time on the Restoration Committee, Kim gained wide respect for her knowledgeable and vigorous support of a number of projects including Green Spring, Poplar Forest, Monticello Kitchen Road, Stratford Hall and Historic Henry Courthouse in Martinsville.
As GCV President, Kim updated financial management procedures and streamlined meeting practices. Many of the successful outcomes accomplished during this period were of an administrative or organizational nature and not immediately apparent for their impact on GCV’s horticulture, restoration or conservation agendas. These endeavors to take the GCV into the 21st century ensured the club’s work in these key areas could continue to grow and expand.
Kim’s devotion to our commonwealth has informed many of the choices she has made in her life, no more so than her commitment to the Garden Cub of Virginia.
Kim Nash (center) with daughter-in-law Lillian, husband Arthur (Bunny) and sons Wilson and Stephen.
