The Porch Bunch: Meeting New & Old Friends at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
by Jonah Holland, PR & Marketing Coordinator, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
The Porch Bunch are (from left to right) Libby Jarrett (Lynchburg), Kitty Fitzhugh (Mechanicsville), Diane Rifer (Gainesville, Va.), Robin Perks (Lively, Va.), Jane Kemper (Farnham), Judy Hansen (Fredericksburg), Julie Crews (Glen Allen) and not pictured but there in spirit Judith Trunzo (St. Victor Lacoste, France).
Jane Kemper emailed me last week with a request I had never had. She wanted to SKYPE with a friend from France while here in the Garden Café. Cool idea! While we couldn’t make the logistics of that Skype conversation work, I did get to know a pretty neat lady and her friends. Kemper explained that she gathers each year with classmates from the University of Richmond. One friend couldn’t make it — she was in France, but hoped to join them anyway — virtually. I like the way these women think!
“We call ourselves the PORCH BUNCH — been getting together for years but have now settled on LG as a favorite gathering spot,” Kemper explains. I received the cutest note from her, the day after their visit. It made my day!
Jonah — we had a lovely day today. We really like the casualness – AND THE FOOD — in the Garden Café*. And, of course, we had to take a brief tour of the Butterfly exhibit. When we passed into the garden we asked the lady at the door if she would take our picture for us, the classmates from the Westhampton Class of ’62. We discovered, happily, that the nice volunteer, Betsy Adkins, was also a class member!! (hadn’t seen in years).
So, the gardens are a a wonderful place to visit and see beautiful plants, and learn, and have a lovely meal, and meet old friends!!
*Kemper says, “I hope you will pass along to the staff of the Garden Café – the cold blueberry soup was fantastic!!!”