Autumn Newsletter 2006 - Queens Botanical Garden

IN MEMORIAMWith great fondness as well as sadness, we remembertwo members of QBG’s family who passed away inrecent months.A former board chair and president, Muriel M.Weinstein was a vibrant member of a core group ofGarden leaders who generated support and provideddirection for the fledgling institution when it opened inits new home on Main Street in 1963. Her involvementbegan as a committeemember for theChrysanthemum Balls(the precursor to today’sRose Ball), followed bylong-standing membershipon the board of trustees,and several turns as galaMuriel Weinstein dons ahard hat for the EducationBuilding groundbreakingin 1984.co-chair and chair. Shecontinued to be a guidingforce through the mid1980s, overseeing thegroundbreaking of the Charles G. Meyer EducationBuilding in 1984, the first and only new building tobe erected at QBG until recently.Her president’s message, written that year for the 34thannual Chrysanthemum Ball, resonates today: “Forover 22 years, year after year, as season followed season,I have watched the growth of our beautiful Garden,the changing moods of our floral displays, the shiftsin terrain, the stately formal front beds, the emergingof our Backyard Gardens, the Children’s and SeniorGardens, the magnificent wonder of our WeddingGarden, and the varied herb experimental and otherventures. As our staff labored in the vineyards, as manyof our colleagues worked in our fund-raising activities,our Garden grew and grew. It is the center and the hubof many functions; yet it is still a lovely oasis of peaceand quiet in the midst of an active urban community.”QBG honored her and her husband, Judge MosesWeinstein, at the 1998 Rose Ball, which celebratedthe 50th Anniversary of the Garden’s opening.Because Rita Soares Fernandes said “yes,” more thingswere possible at QBG. A member of the Visitor Servicesstaff from 1997 to 2005, Rita welcomed thousands ofvisitors to the Garden each Sunday. She oversawweddings and receptions, photography bookings, thegarden greeters and junior weekend staff, and assistedwith public programs. The former Flushing residentgreatly enjoyed working with the public, and consideredher Garden responsibilities a perfect complement to herjob as a NYC public school teacher. Rita, who held severalmaster’s degrees, regularly imparted her love of learningto her small charges, whom she adored, and shared herenthusiasm for life and for new things with us all.INTRODUCING QBG’S GREEN TEENSIf you visited the Garden this past summer, you may have noticed a flurry of activityand enthusiasm among the staff – and many new faces! The Garden’s new internshipprogram for high school students attracted a crop of twenty-three bright and eagerteens who helped out in nearly every department. Wearing their bright greenT-shirts, they assisted youngsters in the HSBC Children’s Garden, eradicated weedsin the Cherry Circle, wrote press releases, and helped staff with projects in finance,human resources, and cultural research.The QBG High School Internship Program, renamed the QBG Green Teen Program,has finished its inaugural summer thanks to generous grants from the AltmanFoundation and The Pinkerton Foundation, as well as support from HSBC in theCommunity (USA) Inc. The Garden’s interns also received funding through LEARN,a program of the New York City Department of Education, and through TheAfterschool Corporation(TASC) and the AsociacionCultural Beneficia de FatherBillini in Corona, bothpart of the City’s SummerYouth EmploymentProgram. These grantsand partnerships enabledthe Garden to expand theinternship program beyondthe Children’s Garden to alldepartments, with weeklyworkshops to developprofessional skills and help promote “green”-collar career exploration, as well as fosterenvironmental stewardship and cultural appreciation among the teens.From an intense three-day orientation, field trips to the New York Hall of Scienceand Solar 1, and weekly meetings, this summer was a busy one for the interns, whohailed from all parts of the borough. In addition to gaining professional experience,the interns developed an array of environmental advocacy skills thatthey could bring back to their schools in September.The eight-week program culminated on August 24 with an Intern Celebration, anevent planned entirely by the teens, which helped them to develop their nonprofitevent-planning skills.The 2006 QBG Green TeenProgram participants were:Rabia Alam and NikkiRamroop (horticulture);Weberlange Exilus(marketing); GiovannaOrama (capital projects);Christina Cephus, AnnyCosta, Tatiana Coy, ShanteDickson, Rabiya Hass,William Jablonski, Wing YiKung, Vasantie Naraine,Arriana Prendergast, Melanie Romano, Inbar Sharon, and Maryam Wardak(Children’s Garden); Eliana Paradis (finance); Andrea Rodriguez (education); IssaDuncan and Barbara Paradis (administration); Jennifer Choi (earned income);Tiffany Cheng (cultural research); and Lisa He (compost).Jeannemarie Hendershot is QBG’s internship coordinator.give the walls a unique, visible texture. 8: Work begins on the Parking Garden, a beautiful new gateway to QBGthat also helps manage the stormwater that falls on the site. 7: The Visitor & Administration Building’s