Awards

Whiteoak Trophy
2024

The 2024 Whiteoak Trophy was presented to Trudy and Bob Trotter, long-time stalwarts of the Fruit and Vegetable Subgroup. Trudy took on leading the group when membership was declining and worked very hard to change that, by actively promoting the group at VHS meetings, engaging members at the “Fruit & Veggie table” (in her sparkly red hat), as well as penning informative – and always entertaining – “Newsy Letters” to the group.

In reviving the subgroup, she championed a number of initiatives involving the wider VHS membership as well, for example, the borlotti bean–growing contests, as well as opening up the group’s annual seed swap to all VHS Members.

While she has stepped down from running the F&V group, Trudy still actively contributes to the VHS, serving on the Plant Sale Committee and as a member-at-large on our board, where we value her wisdom, earned through a lifetime of experience as a community organizer and volunteer.

All of this with Bob’s – perhaps less noticeable but no less valuable – help and support, of course, because they are truly a team!

Trudy and Bob are always willing to help with other activities, too, representing the VHS at community gatherings with a food-growing focus, such as the Saanich Fair, Lifecycles events and Harvest Festivals. They are especially skilled at engaging children, even initiating a Children’s Corner that welcomed little ones to our annual plant sale this year. Their sunny dispositions, welcoming smiles and enthusiasm are such an asset to our society.

Trudy and Bob, thank you for everything you do for us and the larger community of gardeners!

Whiteoak Trophy
2023

You may recall that Theresa received the Unsung Hero Award last year. Not only has she continued to fulfill all the many volunteer duties that were recognized then, but she has continued to take on even more responsibilities. In addition to her “regular” jobs heading up our Programs team, liaising with the Garth Homer Centre, updating and managing our website and participating in the ongoing work of the board, Theresa has organized field trips, hosted a driveway plant sale, and introduced electronic point-of-purchase transactions for our plant sales and online membership forms for the VHS and the Hardys, which have proved a great convenience to us all. She has also had a large hand in purchasing decisions for much of our other technical infrastructure. On top of it all, she has been the main organizer of our current and last year’s holiday celebrations.

Whiteoak Trophy
2022

I would like to nominate the entire Centennial Committee collectively for their exemplary work over the past several years. In fulfilling the mandate given to them by the members, the Committee engaged the membership in several ways, including plant sales in support of our legacy project, and tree planting by individuals and larger entities. They forged or strengthened relationships with many municipalities and also created partnerships with non-profit organizations working to advance and support learning and doing, environmental awareness, Indigenous culture, food security and land stewardship. These efforts leave lasting legacies contributing, through tree planting, to urban forests and enjoyment of parks, and inspiring a new generation of growers. The exceptional template and application process they developed for the micro-grant program provides the VHS with all the tools needed to continue this program on an ad hoc or ongoing basis, should the members approve such expenditure in future budgets.

Whiteoak Trophy
2021

The Whiteoak Trophy was awarded to Maureen Adams, in recognition of the incredible work she has done this year as Chair of the Centenary Committee, as well as her numerous contributions to the Executive and the Society as a whole.

As well as the trophy, I presented Maureen with a commemorative vase, a permanent reminder of her achievement.

Unsung Hero
2024

This year’s Unsung Hero Award goes to membership secretary Gail Willson. You may recognize Gail as the “face” of VHS, welcoming members and guests to our meetings, but you may not realize just how much work this vital role takes. Gail has been an essential part of the transition to managing our membership database electronically, coming to grips with the idiosyncrasies of the Mailchimp platform and always looking at ways to make things more efficient.

Gail keeps meticulous records and is quick to respond to any issues that arise, from following up with non-renewals, to little tasks like printing and mailing membership cards and alphabetizing nametags after every meeting (which sometimes involves shutting her three cats out of the TV room so she can keep all those strings from getting tangled!).

She is also active in other aspects of the organization, for example, the New Members’ Group and the Hardy Plant Group (where she is also the Membership Secretary).

More than once Gail has opened her beautiful garden to members, and organized and hosted backyard plant sales after our big sale at Garth Homer in the spring, babysitting leftover plants and boosting our Legacy Fund by hundreds of dollars each time. Always willing to step up, she also serves on the Plant Sale Committee and the Premises Search Committee. Few people know that she also devotes a couple of days a week to non-VHS volunteering in her community.

Gail, we can’t imagine how you do it all, or how we would manage without you!

Unsung Hero Award
2023

We honour Ruth Howell for her many years of dedicated service to the VHS as Secretary, maintaining excellent records of our activities and decisions, and especially for her quiet insights and thoughtful counsel to the board. Although she resigned that position in 2021, Ruth remained on the board as a director-at-large, where she gracefully and graciously served as a backup to our most recent past secretary and as a mentor to both her and our current secretary.

During her tenure Ruth has also fielded the many messages and requests we receive via our public email address, which range from the mundane through the esoteric to the genuinely bizarre. She is often the first line of contact with the VHS, and has always represented the Society with great diplomacy, and frequently a touch of warm-hearted humour. She continues to perform that service as a non-board volunteer, for which we are very grateful.

The board presented Ruth with a beautiful crystal vase engraved with the VHS logo at a separate gathering later in December.

Unsung Hero Award
2022

Theresa Scholes has been working behind the scenes for us since 2018 — on website design & maintenance, software & e-commerce solutions to help make our work more efficient and much more. Website/hosting “stuff” truly is unseen and under-appreciated by many (most?) of us, but our website has become the backbone for the services we provide to our Members and, without Theresa’s help, it would be much less useful, I am certain. She has helped with many other tasks over the years, most recently taking over as Programs Director.

Unsung Hero Award
2021

The Unsung Hero Award was presented to Carol and Tim Smith, for their long-standing contributions to the Society over the years. They received a gift certificate and a commemorative vase.

Mariev Wade was awarded a Lifetime Membership in 2021.

Executive Recognition Award

Last year we introduced a new award, to be given out at the discretion of the Executive – a beautiful crystal vase engraved with the VHS logo. The Whiteoak Trophy and the Unsung Hero Award are usually only given to a volunteer once, but that does not mean that ongoing volunteer work should not be recognized. This award is intended to be a permanent token of thanks to those who continue to contribute to the Society year after year. I am very pleased to announce that, this year, the executive has decided that Alimay and Robin McNeil should be recognized in this way.

They have done so much for the VHS that it’s hard to know where to begin…suffice it to say that, on behalf of the entire Executive, I offer them our heartfelt thanks.

The Victoria Horticultural Society would like to thank all members for contributing to the success of our workshops, lectures, plant sales, parlour show, open gardens, library, mentoring programs, snack and tea services, multimedia and computer services, and numerous other activities.

Every year the VHS recognizes individuals who go above and beyond to help the Society’s continuing success.

Our Dick Bullard receiving a VERA (Valued Elder Recognition Award) award from the UVic Institute on Aging and the Eldercare Foundation, in honour of the International Day of the Older Person (Oct 1st).

Dick was nominated for this award by the Abkhazi Gardens folks and the VHS, where he has been volunteering for many years as our Membership Director.

Whiteoak Trophy

This trophy goes to a member who has made exceptional contributions to several areas of VHS operations.

Unsung Hero Award

This award is presented to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to VHS operations.

Parlour Show Rose Bowl

Judged by Jacqueline Bradbury, this award goes to the individual earning the most points for the year, whose consistent entries offer colour and variety.

2024

We were delighted at the December meeting to – once again – present our prestigious Parlour Show Award to Marion Parker! In addition to winning this award many times, Marion enthusiastically promotes the Parlour Show and warmly encourages other members to try their hands at exhibiting.

No matter how bleak or bountiful the season, Marion always finds a way to make the show shine, finding beauty and worth in even humble plants that others might not consider when faced with competition from the belles of the garden ball. Although roses, clematis, dahlias and more frequently make it into her arrangements, she also works her magic with beloved self-seeding annuals. No plant is overlooked when Marion heads out with her secateurs to create her amazing bouquets and designs.

Thank you, Marion, for ensuring that our Parlour Show table is never empty, and for welcoming all VHS members to join in the fun of working with whatever the garden offers up. The show has grown considerably in the past couple of years, largely due to your willingness to show what you grow and share what you know!