Staunch RBG Supporter Passes On

RBG staff and volunteers were saddened to hear the news of John Anderson passing away this past Saturday (seen above at the Holiday Lights Show last December with his wife Joanne). John and Joanne have been involved at RBG since the founding of the gardens and John has served as interim Executive Director twice at RBG and has been on the Board of Directors in many capacities (Board Chair, Emeritus position, many committees, etc.). Joanne of course is also very involved as well. John and Joanne actively support many organizations in the area and we have long been fortunate for their support and involvement at RBG. John and Joanne, until recently, had also maintained a garden area at RBG for many years (formal perennial garden) and while Joanne is the gardener in the family, John took directions well! I remember nervously waiting for my job interview over 15.5 years ago and John came over and chatted with me before the inquisition started. I'll never forget that interaction and how nice it was to meet him for the first time. What a truly wonderful, kind person, a true gentleman, philanthropist and so much more He will be sorely missed by many.

We had the skeleton crew in today but finished quite a few projects. Larry (above) is seen here getting the chains on our Grasshopper for traction as this unit is converted from lawn mowing duties to our large snowblower. Larry also worked on myriad other organizational projects in and around the Horticulture Center. Big John was in for his last official day although he'll also help with a couple nights of the Holiday Lights Show (HLS). John helped process more containers for painting and worked with Larry on shifting various items around the shop to make more room for activities like those seen below. Dr. Gredler is repainting our "pedestal/urn" containers and his extended roller has become quite handy as you can see! Doc worked on painting for a good portion of the morning. Pat M. is the only one who went out in the gardens and he's doing a great job of covering yews (Taxus) in the Japanese garden with burlap to thwart the deer. Bill O. was in to help as was Dick H. Vern came in for some carpentry projects as well. Ron W. also popped by to track down some memorial bench information. I'm working on various projects, all related to 2014! Further below are some nice ornamental bark shots to inspire you to observe this feature as it becomes more prevalent during the winter season.