THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 26, 1995 TAG: 9505260491
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
The Virginia Beach Garden Club beat out almost 200 other garden clubs nationwide for a $20,000 award from the Garden Club of America to create a Coastal Woodland Retreat at the Virginia Marine Science Museum.
The five-acre retreat will consist of nature trails featuring native trees, shrubs and wildflowers as well as nesting boxes and feeding stations for wildlife.
``This is the biggest honor the club could get,'' said Lee Moomaw, who heads the project for the garden club. ``This is really a dream come true.''
The project is the final element of the garden club's three-phase program at the museum, highlighting the area's three habitats - marsh, upland and woodland.
The club previously established a half-acre wildflower meadow in the upland habitat adjacent to the museum, which now features glorious bursts of spring color. The meadow is in full bloom with Queen Anne's lace, black-eyed Susan, coneflower, lobelia, foamflower and dozens of other varieties.
The upland garden won the Commonwealth Award from the Garden Club of Virginia.
As for the marsh habitat, the club helped fund the museum's marsh boardwalk. The boardwalk winds through the Owl Creek marsh, the last remaining salt marsh in Virginia Beach with direct access to the Atlantic Ocean.
Moomaw said the grant will complete the club's mission of educating the public about conservation and restoration of Virginia's coastal lands.
The woodland retreat will be part of the Virginia Marine Science Museum's new 45-acre salt marsh preserve, which is part of a $35 million expansion.
The preserve is becoming a refuge for mammals, birds and reptiles being squeezed out by development in the city.
The retreat will be adjacent to the Owls Creek Salt Marsh Building, which is under construction about a half-mile south of the existing museum building. The new building will house an otter pool, an aviary for native birds and two marsh life exhibits.
The woodland retreat, the salt marsh preserve and the new building are scheduled to open in December. The two additions on the existing building, including an IMAX theater, a huge tank featuring sharks and a seal tank, will not be complete until the fall of 1996.
``This is a good recognition of their work as educational as well as scientific,'' said Lynn Clements, a spokesman for the museum. ``It blends the two and brings it to the public.''
The $20,000 Founders Fund Award was voted on by 190 member clubs of the Garden Club of America at an annual meeting in Boston last week.
Two other clubs, in Ohio and Pennsylvania, received $5,000 runner-up awards.
``This is the first time in 17 years that a club in Virginia has received this prestigious award,'' said Eleanor Snodgrass, president of the Virginia Beach Garden Club.
The Founders Fund was established in 1934 as a memorial to Mrs. J. Willis Martin of Philadelphia, the first president of the Garden Club of America, which was founded in 1913. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
BETH BERGMAN/Staff
Anne Gilliam, left, and Lee Moomaw of the Virginia Beach Garden Club
inspect the club's five-acre retreat at the Virginia Marine Science
Museum. The project is the final element of the garden club's
three-phase program highlighting the area's three habitats.
by CNB