Gala in the Garden

May Day

• Sunday, May 1, 2011 – 3:00 pm–7:00 pm

May Day Gala Update

Thanks to our sponsors, auction donors, and guests, the 2011 May Day Gala netted more than $80,000! The Gala is the Arboretum's main fund-raising event of the year, and the proceeds directly support its daily operations of teaching, research, and public outreach, and garden displays.

Enjoy the May Day Gala all over again through these great pictures.

Save-the-date and join us next year at the Gala in the Garden on May 6, 2012.
Gala in the Garden

Flowers… May poles… Colorful ribbons… May wine… Enjoy all the amusements and pure glee that a May 1 stroll in the garden can bring. All these delights, plus perusing the dazzling botanical and non-botanical silent auction items, sipping on a cool drink, and sampling gourmet treats are sure to make you giddy with May Day fever!

The Gala in the Garden is a perfect opportunity to enjoy the merriment of May Day, while you entertain family, friends, and business associates. It is sure to be an afternoon of dreamy fun and great pleasures for the senses; a Raleigh garden party like no other!

Registration

Online registration is closed, but you may still register until Wednesday, April 27, 12:00 PM, by calling (919) 513-0264.

Sponsorship

Sponsors are vitally important for the success of the Gala in the Garden. This is the Arboretum's main fund-raising event of the year, and the proceeds directly support its daily operations of teaching, research, and public outreach, and garden displays. Please consider a tax-deductible contribution to become 2011 Sponsor. The brochure describes all sponsorship levels and benefits—including the Early Bird Special for those who respond by March 15, 2011. (March 15 is also the deadline for sponsor listing on the Gala invitation.)

The Gala in the Garden provides a distinctive opportunity to entertain your family, friends, and business associates, while strolling around the gardens and discovering all the dazzling auction items. You can also enjoy the hospitality tent that is exclusively for Gala Sponsors and their guests. The Gala will end with a delicious dessert social and brief program in the York Auditorium at the Arboretum's McSwain Education Center.

The JC Raulston Arboretum's annual Gala has been a Raleigh garden party and enchanting experience like no other since 1991. Please join us!

Sponsors (as of April 28, 2011)

Diamond
North Carolina Nursery & Landscape Association, Inc.

Platinum
Bayer Advanced
Pender Nursery (Jim and Kathy Deal)

Gold
A. E. Finley Foundation
Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Co., Inc.

Silver
Ted and Linda Bilderback
Brickman Group
Anne and Allen Clapp
The Fire Place
Hawksridge Farms
Hoffman Nursery, Inc.
Jeanette and Wallace Hyde
Jackson Ventures, LLC (Nina and Jerry Jackson)
Frances Jane Meadows
Taylor's Nursery, Inc.
Bobby G. Wilder
Worthington Farms
Jackie and Johnny Wynne

Bronze
BB&T Insurance Services
Bland Landscaping
Phyllis and Don Brookshire
Tommy Bunn
Dorothy and Bill Burns
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Al Cooke and Daphne Hill
Carroll's Plant Center
Gilmore Plant & Bulb Co., Inc.
Judi and Frank Grainger
The Hamlin Companies
Debbie Hamrick and Ed Gaines
Patsy and Harold Hopfenberg
Jere's Landscaping (Jere Stevens)
Johnson Nursery Corporation
Julia Kornegay
LanArc, Inc.
The Lundy Fetterman Family Foundation
Robert E. Lyons
Panther Creek Nursery
Anne M. Porter
Sampson Nursery, Inc.
Sylvia Redwine
Anthea and Russel Tate
Kathleen and Walt Thompson
Bobby Ward and Roy Dicks
Laura Willer and David Huffstetler
Susan and Randy Woodson
Wyatt-Quarles Seed Company

Special Gifts
Garland C. Norris Company
The Hayter Firm
James Schlitt
Rosemary and Smedes York

Silent Auction

Gala in the GardenA very special feature of the Gala in the Garden is the extraordinary silent auction. Featuring an eclectic array of unique plants and many other distinctive non-botanical items, the retail value of the auction exceeds $40,000!

The auction is a wonderful opportunity to showcase your business or special talent, since more than 500 guests will spend the afternoon perusing and bidding on all these items. If you wish to donate an item or gift certificate, please complete the Auction Solicitation Form and bring it by the JCRA, or contact Anne Porter at (919) 513-3826 or anne_porter@ncsu.edu for more information. Your auction item is considered a tax-deductible "in-kind" gift.

If you wish to donate plants for the Gala (or the JCRA Plant Sale in April), please send us a list of the plants that you expect to provide by March 10. Please include the commercial value of the plants (wholesale or retail, depending on the nature of your business) so that we may credit your gift-in-kind contribution and add you to our Plant Sponsor list. The list may be faxed to (919) 515-5361 or e-mailed to mark_weathington@ncsu.edu.

Non-botanical Auction Donors

A. E. Wiley Photography
Rosanna Adams
Tim Alderton
Jeanne and Tom Andrus
Arnold's Monogramming
Atlantic Mulch & Erosion Control
Atlantic Spas & Billiards
Alumni Hall
Baggage-N-Gifts
Angelia Beasley
Deborah Brogden
Mark Burnham
Pam Byington
CALS Advancement
Carino's Italian
Lisbeth Brittain Carter and Jon Michael
Chestnut Hill Inn
Tim Chorba
Connie and Laurie Cochran
CoolSweats
Susan Bashford Dahlin
Genelle Dail
David's Dumpling & Noodle Bar
Jeffery Dean and Stephanie Martin
Designing Solutions
Roy Dicks
Dennis Drehmel
Sylvia Drew
Suzanne Edney – Custom Landscapes
Arlene Fabiano
Mary and David Farrell
Fine Art Colored Pencil by Liz Guzynski
Peter Finkelstein
The Fire Place
Wayne Friedrich
Liza Gettles
Jerome Glenn
The Go Pack Store
Judi Grainger
Abie Harris
Julia Hoffman
Margaret Hoffman
Patsy and Harold Hopfenberg
Brian and Marty Howard
Jacqueline Elaine's Art
Jere's Landscaping
Jewelry by Artie
Jewelry by Dayle
Beth Jimenez
Margaret Jordan
Cheryl Kearns
Melanie Kelley
Barbara Kennedy
Charles Kidder
Pat Korpik
Amelia Lane
Linda Larkins
Lasting Impressions
Kathleen Lessard
Local Color Gallery
Long Hill Bed and Breakfast
McCanless Pottery
Verna Medieros
Rita Mercer – Rita's Garden
Jean Mitchell
My Sister's Closet
Nature's Art by Sue Aldworth
Lou Raye Nicol
Dayle and Keith Oakley
Odora Designs
Peanut Roaster
Pet Sitting for Your Best Friends
Plantworks
Anne Porter
John and Charlotte Presley
Quail Ridge Books
Martha Ramirez
Redwine Plantscapes
Sylvia Redwine
Sandy Reid
Rey's
Rick Bogg's Landscape Architect
Nancy Simonsen
Sixpence Accents
David Spain's Moss & Stone Gardens
Twentynine Design by Cody Eyman
Under the Oaks
Vrb Photography
Bobby Ward
David White and Janie LeBlanc
Bobby Wilder
Susan Woodson
Susan and Randy Woodson
Wren Rehm Designs
Johnny and Jackie Wynne
Carl and Louise Zorowski

Botanical Auction Donors

A & A Plants (Brown Summit, NC)
All Things Acer (Huntland, TN)
Appledorn Landscape Nursery (Bostic, NC)
Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories Arboretum (Charlotte, NC)
Beneficial Insects Laboratory of NCDA (Cary, NC)
Big Bloomer Flower Farm (Sanford, NC)
Rick and Betty Boggs (Raleigh, NC)
Broken Arrow Nursery (Hamden, CT)
Buchholz & Buchholz Nursery (Gaston, OR)
Buds & Blooms Nursery (Browns Summit, NC)
Cam Too Camellia Nursery (Greensboro, NC)
Camellia Forest Nursery (Chapel Hill, NC)
Currin's Nursery (Willow Spring, NC)
Fair View Nursery (Wilson, NC)
Finch Blueberry Nursery (Bailey, NC)
Christopher Glenn (Wake Forest, NC)
Greenleaf Nursery Co., NC Division (Tarboro, NC)
Hawksridge Farms (Hickory, NC)
Heritage Seedlings (Salem, OR)
Highland Creek Nursery (Fletcher, NC)
Hoffman Nursery (Rougemont, NC)
Iseli Nursery (Matthews, NC)
The Ivy Farm (Locustville, VA)
Jericho Farms (Pikeville, NC)
Johnson Nursery Corp. (Willard, NC)
Melanie Kelley (Raleigh, NC)
Klehm's Song Sparrow Farm and Nursery (Avalon, WI)
McCorkle Nurseries (Marietta, GA)
Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center, NC State University (Mills River, NC)
Nelson Nursery (Mooresville, NC)
Niche Gardens (Chapel Hill, NC)
North Creek Nurseries (Landenberg, PA)
Old Courthouse Nursery (Warsaw, NC)
Panoramic Farm (Marshville, NC)
Panther Creek Nursery (Willow Springs, NC)
Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden (Kernersville, NC)
Piedmont Carolina Nursery (Colfax, NC)
Plant Delights Nursery (Raleigh, NC)
Pleasant Acres Nursery (Holly Springs, NC)
Riverbend Nursery (Riner, VA)
Spring Meadow Nursery (Grand Haven, MI)
Tarheel Native Trees (Clayton, NC)
Taylor's Nursery (Raleigh, NC)
Walter's Gardens (Zeeland, MI)
Williford's Nursery (Wilson, NC)
Zelenka Nursery (Sims, NC)
Gala Committee

The Gala Planning Committee members are busy planning delightful May Day Gala in the Garden. Our sincere thanks and appreciation to this dedicated and very talented group of volunteers!

Honorary Chairs
Susan Woodson

Event Chair
Jere Stevens

Event Committee
Jill Adams
Jayme Bednarczyk
Jennifer Bernabi
Ted Bilderback
John Buettner
Kathy Deal
Judi Grainger
Larry Hancock
Margaret Hoffman
Patsy Hopfenberg
Beverly Hurley
Jerry Jackson
Cheryl Kearns
Barbara Kennedy
Charlie Kidder
Judy Morgan-Davis
Anne Porter
Frank Powers
Sylvia Redwine
Kathy Myers Reece
Mark Weathington
Chris Wessel
Laura Willer
Jackie Wynne
Helen Yoest

Event Coordinator
Anne Porter

Photographs

To see photographs of last year's Gala in the Garden, please visit our Web site's Photography section.

Sponsored by the North Carolina Agricultural Foundation, Inc.

Cost

$70.00 ($25.00 is tax deductible).

Registration

Online registration is closed, but you may still register until Wednesday, April 27, 12:00 PM, by calling (919) 513-0264.

Location

JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University, 4415 Beryl Road, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Directions

Need directions? Click here.

Parking

Free parking is available along Beryl Road.

Questions

Please call Anne Porter at (919) 513-3463 or anne_porter@ncsu.edu for more information about this event.