Dear Ladies,
The French Broad River Garden Club Foundation looks forward to welcoming you to the Garden Club of America Zone VII meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, September 17-19, 2007. “The Legacy of the Land” is our meeting theme celebrating the gifts the natural beauty of our region provides coupled with an ever-increasing awareness of the stewardship required to sustain this legacy. Climate change, land and water issues and sustainable economic development will be the focus of our Speaker’s Forum at the North Carolina Arboretum on Wednesday. Before that a two-night stay at the beautiful Inn on Biltmore will provide the opportunity to view preservation at its finest while enjoying the camaraderie and “joys of association” a GCA Zone meeting always affords.
There will be a Zone Plant Exchange featuring plants from the original Frederick Law Olmsted plan for Biltmore Estate implemented by landscape curator, Chauncey Beadle. Hopefully you have been growing these plants since last September. Also, there will be a photography show, “Through the Eye of Frederick Law Olmsted” with classes drawn from his landscape concepts. Please check the GCA website under Zone VII for your registration information and the meeting schedule.
Asheville has enjoyed an incredible renaissance in the last 25 years with a revitalized downtown and large influx of people choosing this mountain lifestyle. Like many cities with rapid growth have come issues related to quality of life and sustainability. We will share ideas at our Speaker’s Forum and through questions and answers offer some solutions.
We invite you to come a day early or stay a day later to enjoy all that Asheville and this region have to offer. (Your rate at the Inn also applies to Sunday and Wednesday nights.) Should you wish, we have planned three Monday morning pre-meeting tours for which you must register in advance. They are Riverlink, our river front development; the Urban Trail, a downtown historical walk; and a Green Walk-a-bout at Warren Wilson College. In addition, the Biltmore Estate has many exciting offerings from fly-fishing and rafting on the French Broad River to a “Behind the Scenes” tour of the House. When making your reservations at the Inn, be sure to ask the concierge about the available tours.
On Wednesday we will have our Conservation meeting at the North Carolina Arboretum. Do allow enough time to tour this wondrous facility after our morning Speakers’ Forum. Though relatively young, the Arboretum is a showcase of native flora in a beautiful mountain woodland setting. The Executive Director of the Arboretum, George Briggs, is a Member-at-Large of the Garden Club of America.
The French Broad River Garden Club Foundation looks forward to having you in Asheville for the 2007 Zone VII meeting.
Sincerely,