The 2019 de Lacy Gray Memorial Medal for Conservation recipient is Carol Carter, nominated by her club, Albemarle Garden Club. In their nomination, Albemarle stated that Carol has been “the voice of conservation” for the club over many years. She has served to inspire club members act to create sustainable habitats both in their homes and on the state and national level. Carol’s many community projects and initiatives have shown her commitment to conservation, environmental advocacy and stewardship of the land.
Carol has served Albemarle Garden Club as Conservation Chairman and President. She has served as a member of the Conservation & Beautification Committee of GCV and most recently, Chairman of the Commonwealth Award Committee.
The Garden Club of America has also benefited from Carol’s involvement in conservation issues.
She was Zone Representative for Conservation & National Affairs and Legislation from 2013-2015, First Vice-Chairman of Conservation & National Affairs and Legislation from 2017-2019, Flower Show schedule reader for conservation & education divisions 2018-2020, organizer of the Conservation Exhibition for the GCA 2020 Annual Meeting Flower Show, which produced a video that was awarded the Marion Thompson Fuller Brown Conservation Award. In 2021 Carol received the Garden Club of America’s Zone VII Conservation Award.
In the Charlottesville area, Carol worked with her club to develop a “Bog Garden” at a city park, winning grants from GCA and GCV. She encouraged the planting of native plants and trees in the garden, helped remove invasives, convinced the city to erect educational signage and inspired the idea to place a Bee Hotel in the garden.
In recent years, the development of the Botanical Garden of the Piedmont became her mission.
Carol is President and was instrumental in the founding of the garden. The garden will attract community and visitors to engage with nature, educate and inspire through plants and advance sustainability. As the President, Carol sees her mission as one of education and protection of the natural world.
Closer to home, her 200-year-old family farm, Redlands, has become a model of conservation. The farm boasts solar panels, a geothermal system and chemical free lawns and gardens. Carol has planted hundreds of native trees on the property.
Upon receiving her award at the Awards Banquet at the Richmond Annual Meeting, Carol shared the long connection of her family with the de Lacy Gray medal. Her mother-in-law, Mrs. Robert Carter, James River Garden Club, received the medal in 1991 “a tireless visionary who served as a catalyst for environmental action in Virginia and across the nation.” In 1966, Mrs. Carter’s mother, Mrs. John H. Bocock, James River Garden Club, received the medal for “her continuing interest and knowledge in conservation and horticulture. She was a pioneer in the development of historic Church Hill in Richmond and led the effort to preserve and maintain trees and planning in Richmond.”
In summing up, this excerpt from her club’s nomination proposal is a fitting tribute: “What makes an effective conservationist? Is it vision, dedication, hard work, love of nature and a belief that ideas and actions can change the world? If so, Carol Carter embodies these qualities. In Carol, we also find a combination of idealism and pragmatism that has enabled her to succeed where many have not.”
Pictured are Missy Buckingham, Carol Carter, Debbie Lewis and Jane Edwards
