About Us
Hillside Garden Club owes its modest beginnings to Mrs. Julia File and Mrs. Frances Dirom, two young garden-loving friends, who lived across the street from each other on Woodridge Place in Lynchburg and often took a rest time together under an oak tree in Frances’ yard.
One day in the mid 1930s, they invited a few friends to join them. Today no one remembers who participated in those early gatherings, but the club’s first formal minutes, recorded in July of 1935, reflect a membership of twenty-five. Today Hillside Garden Club has over 85 club members that contribute at the local and state level to fulfill its mission.
The object of the Club shall be to stimulate an interest in gardening, to aid in the protection of nature, plants and birds, and to encourage civic planting.
2019 - 2021 Club Officers
PRESIDENT
Sarah Hellewell
VICE PRESIDENT
Beverley Laughon
COMMUNICATIONS SECRETARY
Becky Giles
RECORDING SECRETARY
Blair Rumney
TREASURER
Kris Lloyd
Committees
ADMISSIONS
Becky O'Brian
AWARDS
Leigh Barth
BLUE RIDGE
CONSERVATION
COALITION
Judy Frantz, Kris Lloyd,
Kaye Moomaw,
Susan Timmons
BOARD OF DIRECTORS REPRESENTATIVES
Leigh Barth, Lucy Cook
2021 BOARD OF GOVERNORS MEETING
Peggy Andrews,
Meg Laughon
BY-LAWS
Clarkie Eppes
COMMUNICATIONS DATABASE MANAGER
Becky Giles
CONSERVATION
Judy Frantz
FOUNDATION ENDOWMENT
Leigh Barth, Lucy Cook, Sarah Hellewell, Sarah Sorenson, Susan Wright
FLOWER SHOWS
Carter Paxton
GARDEN DAY
Sherri Meyer,
Becky O'Brian
HISTORIAN
Cornelia Christian
HORTICULTURE
Sonya Wodicka
LILY SHOW
ROSE SHOW
DAFFODIL SHOW
Amanda Smithson
JOURNAL
Leigh Barth
MENTOR
Shelby Crist
NOMINATING
Elaine Passman
PHOTOGRAPHY
Laura Webb
PROGRAMS
Beverley Laughon
PROJECTS AND RESTORATION/ ANNE SPENCER GARDEN
Trisha Moore,
Julie Schietinger,
Elizabeth Harrington
SOCIAL MEDIA
Becky Giles
WEBSITE
Monica Prahinski,
Eleanor Webb
YEARBOOK
Dottie Hendricksen,
Claudia Patterson
Past Presidents of the Hillside Garden Club celebrate c. 1935 at Hillside's
80th Anniversary Luncheon in 2015
Hillside Garden Club and Hillside Garden Club Foundation are recognized as 501 (c) (3) organizations under provisions of the Internal Revenue Code