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 Valhalla, NY - The Native Plant Center (NPC) at Westchester Community College will celebrate its tenth anniversary with a Founders’ Dinner and Awards Reception on Saturday, September 27 at the Bedford Golf and Tennis Club.
The event will commence with a cocktail reception at 7:00 p.m.
The NPC was founded ten years ago by three local residents who initiated a plan to develop a Northeastern affiliate of Lady Bird Johnson’s Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas. These visionary women—Marybeth Weston Lobdell, Marie Smith Schwartz and Betsy May Stern—were all members of the Board of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in 1998. It occurred to them native plants could be promoted and preserved most effectively by local centers, and founded this one in Westchester in 1998. There are now 22 national and international affiliates.
At the dinner, Katonah, New York resident Martha Stewart, Founder, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, will be present to accept the NPC’s first Acorn Award, which honors an individual or group that inspires people to learn about native plants and to grow them in their own gardens. Stewart, an enthusiastic gardener, has developed an extensive woodland garden at her Katonah home.
Dr. Douglas W. Tallamy, Professor and Chair of the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, will receive the Lady Bird Johnson Environmental Award for his environmental advocacy and the long-range impact of his recently released book, Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens. Dr. Tallamy will give a lecture the day after the dinner on Sunday, September 28, at 1 p.m. at Westchester Community College.
Both of Lady Bird Johnson’s daughters—Linda Johnson Robb and Luci Baines Johnson—have agreed to be honorary chairs for this celebratory event. Co-chairs of the celebration are Jan Blaire of Irvington, Laura Blau of Bedford and Phillis Warden of Bedford Hills. “We consider contributions to the Founders’ Dinner a valuable way to help us grow. No donation is too small,” said Blau. “Even if you can’t attend, any contribution will enrich our educational mission, and help develop programs for schoolchildren.”
Tickets for this special evening will range from individual tickets at $350, $500 and $1,000; Platinum Tables for 10 guests at $7,000; Gold Tables for 10 are $5,000 and Silver Tables for 8 are $4,000. All proceeds from this anniversary celebration will be used to expand educational programming at The Native Plant Center, and to enrich its educational mission.
The Founders’ Dinner will be held at The Bedford Golf & Tennis Club, located on Route 22 in Bedford Village. For further information about the event, or the lecture by Dr. Tallamy, please contact the Native Plant Center at 914-606-7870, or visit the web site at www.nativeplantcenter.org.
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