Roanoke, VA – The Garden Club of America (GCA) awarded the Zone Civic Improvement Commendation Award to the
Michael Clark, Director of Parks and Recreation, and Marilyn Arbogast, Landscape Coordinator, accepting an award from the Garden Clubs of America
City of Roanoke Parks and Recreation Department for its ongoing partnership and support of the Mill Mountain Garden Club and Mill Mountain Wildflower Garden. The award was presented at the Zone VII Meeting at the Hotel Roanoke on Oct. 10.
“The City of Roanoke Parks and Recreation Department is very deserving of the GCA’s Civic Commendation Award. The department has supported Mill Mountain Garden Club and our mission to stimulate the knowledge and love of gardening, especially in our wildflower garden,” Janet Frantz, Mill Mountain Garden Club Awards Chair, wrote to the GCA Awards Committee.
Since 1971, the Roanoke Parks and Recreation Department and Mill Mountain Garden Club have worked in conjunction to maintain the 2.5-acre wildflower garden through hurricanes, droughts, and even forest fires. Both groups actively participate in plantings and garden maintenance, and it is estimated that volunteers have accrued more than 50,000 hours at the garden.
“I’m humbled to be honored by the GCA and Mill Mountain Garden Club for our collaborative work. Aside from its beauty and diversity of plantings, the wildflower garden a perfect example of how public-private partnerships improve our community,” said Michael Clark, Director of Roanoke Parks and Recreation.
Clark, along with the department’s landscape coordinator Marilyn Arbogast, accepted the award on behalf of the department.
