The Bronze Medal was authorized by the American Rhododendron Society in 1967, the same year the Valley Forge Chapter was welcomed into the American Rhododendron Society. The Bronze Medal Award was created to recognize Society members who make outstanding contributions to a Chapter, which may include accomplishments of the recipient outside the Chapter consistent with the goals of the Society. It is the highes award, an American Rhododendron Society Chapter can bestow on one of its members. The award consists of an engraved medal and a certificate citing the recipient's accomplishments. A committee of Bronze Medal recipients is responsible for nominating award recipients. Congratulations to the following members of the Greater Philadelphia and Valley Forge chapters who received the American Rhododendron Society Bronze Medal:

Ron Rabideau presents Gary Ammon the Bronze Medal

Karel Bernady - President		Plant Sale Committee: Propagation
Jerry O'Dell - Vice President		Program Committee: Chair
Bob Smetana - Treasurer		Finance Committee: Chair
Kim Kopple - Secretary

Directors:

Craig Conover (2023-2024)   Darlene Henning (2023-2024)   Steve Henning (2023-2024) Website Subcommittee: Chair Maris Ogg (2023-2024) Membership Committee: Co-Chair Steve Wright (2023-2024) Membership Committee: Co-Chair Stuart Brooks (2023-2025)   Bill Halberstadt (2023-2025) Linda Hartnett (2023-2025) Plant Sale Committee: vacant (2023-2025)   Perc Moser (2023-2025) Program Committee: vacant (2023-2026)   Michael Mills (2023-2026) Communications Committee: Chair Ron Rabideau (2023-2026)   Kathy Woehl (2023-2026) Program Committee: Banquet

Membership Application

Membership Applications (3)

Renewal Forms for Members (2)

Renewal Forms for Associate Members (2)

2-year grafted in one-gallon pots list

Rooted cuttings in 3.5-inch pots list

Bylaws of the Delaware Valley Chapter of the ARS

To return to top Click Here.

History

Founding of the Philadelphia Chapter in 1957

Seventeen devotees of the genus Rhododendron gathered on Nov. 11, 1957, at Morris Arboretum and founded the Philadelphia Chapter, the ARS's 12th. In 1989, the chapter name was changed to the Greater Philadelphia Chapter. Since its founding, the chapter has convened at the arboretum, St. Joseph's University, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Fairmount Park's Horticulture Center, and again at Morris. Betsi Kelius and Charles Herbert were driving forces at the beginning, joined by Morris's director J. M. Fogg Jr. Among the early luminaries were John and Gertrude Wister, Franklin West and Al Martin. Four times the chapter has been cohost of the ARS national convention,1971, 1976, 2004 and 2019. Through it all, thousands of new hybrids have been brought into existence, millions of propagations made and uncountable friendships cemented over the love for this phenomenal genus.

Founding of the Valley Forge Chapter in 1967

Charlie Herbert and 15 friends founded the Valley Forge Chapter, American Rhododendron Society on March 1, 1967. At the May, 1967 ARS Annual Meeting in Asheville, NC, ARS President Edward B. Dunn welcomed Valley Forge Chapter. It was the 23rd chapter. The Valley Forge chapter came in with 16 members and 10 associate members, that is members of other chapters who desired to be affiliated with the new group also. The officers were: Pres. Charles W. Herbert, Phoenixville Pa.; Vice Pres. - Oscar F. Krebs, Norristown, Pa., and Sec.-Treas.; Mrs. Ruth Amenda, Perkiomenville, Pa. After meeting at Charlie Herbert's home for a few years, the meetings were moved to the Valley Forge Methodist Church and then Jenkins Arboretum where the Executive Director, Harold Sweetman, said that Jenkins was the chapter's Club House. In 1972 the Test Garden at Tyler was established by Philadelphia and Valley Forge Chapters. The area was about one fourth planted, by springtime with over one hundred plants. The two chapters also worked together on ARS Conventions, the Philadelphia Flower Show, and many other events.

Founding of the Delaware Valley Chapter in 2023

The seed for the eventual merger of the Greater Philadelphia and Valley Forge Chapters was planted on June 2, 2015. Greater Philadelphia President Kim Kopple proposed to Valley Forge President Robert Smetana that the boards of the Greater Philadelphia and Valley Forge Chapters of the ARS hold a joint meeting. The meeting was held at Jenkins Arboretum. After each board met separately to tend to chapter-specific affairs, the two sets of officers and directors sat down together and talked. There was an agenda, but, as Michael Mills put it in the RhodoGravure, not “an agenda” on anyone’s part. The word merger was carefully avoided. It quickly became evident that all in attendance were interested in finding ways to cooperate, streamline, and avoid duplicate ARS activities. Everyone was aware that our membership rosters were aging. In recent years, there were two recurring combined activities: the annual joint meeting in February and the truss show, which alternated yearly between the two chapters. All agreed that these were fine successes. One decision by the group involved each chapter’s annual banquet. Going forward, neither chapter would have a monthly meeting the same month as the other chapter’s banquet and both banquets will be listed as chapter meetings for both chapters. Another level of agreement was that Valley Forge members would be invited to join Greater Philadelphia’s propagation program by helping stick cuttings and make grafts. In turn, Greater Philadelphia would include Valley Forge members in its plants-for-members program. These changes were very well received. (1)

It wasn't until 2/24/2021 that talks, via Zoom, of merger were literally in the air when a joint committee of GP and VF members met. Elements of merger were definitely contemplated like combining banquets, truss shows, plant sales, newsletters, bylaws and websites. The joint truss show would be at Jenkins Arboretum. For the other items, the chapters' boards each appointed three individuals to serve as a joint committee to explore the chapters' futures and make recommendations to the boards. In the meantime, Valley Forge obtained a memorandum of understanding with Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens. (2)(3)

The pandemic put a crimp in the committee's work, but on March 22, 2023, the committee met in earnest. The committee members were Perc Moser, Bob Smetana and Steve Wright from Valley Forge and Gary Ammon, Karel Bernady and Maris Ogg from Greater Philadelphia. The committee and the two chapter boards believed there were numerous advantages to merging, at a time when attendance had been declining, the average age of members had been rising and the Greater Philadelphia Chapter was in search of a new meeting place. The chapters had already combined the truss show, the annual picnic and the annual February joint meeting, and had together met the challenge of hosting national and regional ARS conferences. The committee and the boards believed that a full merger was the best way forward and that it was time to accomplish it. (4)

Gary Ammon prepared the new set of bylaws and saw to legal details. The surviving chapter was the Greater Philadelphia Chapter because it had a Pennsylvania Sales Tax Exemption. The officers and board members came in equal numbers from each chapter. Bud Gressman, a CPA, was called upon to review the books of each chapter and found they were in order. The secretaries reviewed the past 2 years of the other’s Board minutes. Things moved quickly and the merger was finalized at the annual picnic on June 18, 2023, at the Bryn Mawr home of Perc and Sally Moser, the combined membership inaugurated the Delaware Valley Chapter by adopting a new set of bylaws and electing officers and directors. (5)(6)(7)

References:

1. Summer 2015, RHODOGRAVURE, "A notable meeting"
2. Feb. 24, 2021, Joint committee minutes.
3. 2022 Memorandum of Understanding with Jenkins
4. Mar. 22, 2023, Joint committee minutes.
5. April 14, 2023 Announcement of Merger Approval
6. May 28, 2023, Merger Agreement
7. June 18, 2023, Bylaws of the Delaware Valley Chapter

To return to top Click Here.

Past Presidents

To return to top Click Here.

In Memory of Those We Lost

Pauline Raughley

Alice Horton

Frank Brouse

Nancy Greenwood

To return to list Click Here.

• ARS/Tyler Rhododendron Test Garden - The ARS and Tyler Arboretum formed a partnership to establish a test garden for new rhododendron varieties created by Mid-Atlantic hybridizers. The half-acre test and display garden will feature cultivars recently hybridized in the Mid-Atlantic region. The goals are to seek elepidote rhododendrons (large-leaf, evergreen hybrids) with less common coloration and moderate stature, record their performance over several years, and to publish the assessments of the trials. This garden will help educate visitors to understand how to grow and care for them. Funding is shared 50:50 between the ARS and Tyler. For more information visit the article on ARS-Tyler Rhododendron Test Garden in JARS.
  
  
• ARS Endowment Fund - The ARS Endowment Fund income is used to provide grants to worthwhile projects and activities in accordance with the Society's mission. Some recent grants have been:
  • Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden: Plant Acquisition and Signage
  • Horticulture Centre of the Pacific in Victoria: Container Demonstration Garden
  • Tyler Arboretum Hybrid Rhododendron Test Garden
  • VanVeen Heritage Garden: Plant Information Tag Project
  • Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens: Rhododendron Propagation Facilities
  • Meerkerk Gardens: A Hybridizers Tribute Garden
  
  
• ARS Research Foundation - The Research Foundation of the ARS funds scientific research projects. Information derived from the projects yield practical benefits for growing or enjoying rhododendrons, or yield new insights into the biology, geographical distribution or history of rhododendrons. Some recent grants have been:
  • Eureka Chapter/Humboldt Botanical Gardens Foundation
  • ARS NextGen Committee
  • Holden Forests and Gardens
  • Noyo Chapter/Mendocino Botanical Garden
  The results of a grant was published in the Fall 2021 JARS: Soil Microbes Protect Rhododendron from the Oomycete Pathogen Root Rot (Phytophthora cinnamomi).
  
  
• Jenkins Arboretum - Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens is in an area with a very long history of botany and horticulture going back to the 1700s when John and William Bartram started America's first botanical garden in Philadelphia. With this history and appreciation for the natural world, H. Lawrence Jenkins thought to preserve his property. Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens opened in 1976, providing a tranquil escape from the bustling Philadelphia suburbs, being open every day of the year with free admission. Perhaps more importantly, Jenkins has become one of the region's great horticultural and environmental assets, now preserving a total of 48 acres of natural woodland and utilizing native plants in the landscape. In 2019 Jenkins reported the total number of rhododendron and azaleas plants currently in the Jenkins world-class collection is 4,612.
  
  
• Rhododendron Species Foundation - The Rhododendron Species Foundation is dedicated to the conservation, research, acquisition, evaluation, cultivation, public display, and distribution of Rhododendron species. The Foundation provides education relating to the genus and serves as a unique resource for scientific, horticultural and general gardening communities worldwide.
  
  
• Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy - SAHC conserves unique plant and animal habitat, clean water, farmland, scenic beauty, and places for people to enjoy outdoor recreation in the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina. Native azaleas grow there in abundance. SAHC actively works to maintain natural collections of native azaleas.
  
  
• Tyler Arboretum - Tyler Arboretum is a place of natural beauty and history dating back to the time of William Penn. Tyler's Wister Rhododendron Garden was started in earnest in 1946 by Dr. John Caspar Wister to “present in an orderly way as many possible representatives of the different series, species, and hybrids of rhododendrons and azaleas to give a long season of bloom and attractive color harmony that would inspire more and better rhododendron and azalea planting in the Philadelphia area, and that it would be used by expert growers for serious study.” Tyler fulfills its mission through quality educational programs, extensive horticultural collections and displays, preservation of its historic buildings and stewardship of 650 acres of woodlands, meadows and stream valleys. Visitors to the Wister Rhododendron Garden are able to see a wide array of rare plants, enjoy a beautifully designed and maintained landscape, and take home ideas for their own gardens.
  
  

* These are charitable organizations that the chapters that merged to form the Delaware Valley Chapter of the ARS supported.