Gardens Gala

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Rutgers Gardens hosted the Third Annual Gardens Gala on September 12, 2009. At the Gala, the “Hamilton Award for Dedication and Outstanding Commitment to the Rutgers Gardens” (named for our friend and longtime colleague, “Doc” Hamilton) was presented to all Rutgers alumni, who have played a pivotal role in the growth of the gardens.

Accepting awards on behalf of Rutgers alumni were Ira Grasgreen, RC 1979, Cook 1986 and Margaret O’Donnell, Cook 1993 for their years of dedicated volunteer service.

As well as Dr. Gordon Robinson, AG 1959 and Dr. Donald Sutherland, GSNB 1960 for their generous donations made to the Gardens.

Ira Grasgreen graduated in 1986 from Cook College as a George H. Cook Scholar. He has worked in horticulture for the last 21 years with Eason Horticultural Resources.Ira came to the Gardens in 1993 as a volunteer. Since then he continues to be a great source of knowledge with new varieties of plant material and greenhouse operations.

Margaret O’Donnell is a 1993 graduate of Cook College. She is currently the Senior Program Director for the office of Continuing Education. Although Margaret considers herself a terrible gardener the Gardens has capitalized on her other skills. Margaret has been an integral part of the Gardens by helping to coordinate our events, from plant sales and Open Houses to wine tasting and Galas.

Dr. Gordon Robinson’s donations have focused upon the areas of the Gardens that have come to mean so much to him – that being the Holly Collection and the Log Cabin/Alumni Pavilion. His donation to the Cabin and Pavilion was made in honor of Dr. David Tudor, Professor of Avian Pathology. Dr. Tudor was one of the many early supporters of the Log cabin and the Alumni Pavilion project.

Dr. Donald J. Sutherland, Professor Emeritus of Entomology at Rutgers University was a long time supporter and visitor to Rutgers Gardens. In 1991 he received Cook College Excellence in Teaching Award. It is in part because of Dr. Sutherland’s long time support for Rutgers Gardens that the Gardens growth has been sustained and shall continue well into the future.

Rutgers Gardens would like to thank the following Alumni for presenting the wine and cheese tasting


119 Sharptown-Auburn Rd. Pilesgrove, NJ 08098 856-769-WINE Shannon Kilpatrick BA 1994 Jennifer Kilpatrick BS 1994	480 Mullica Hill Road (Rt.322) Mullica Hill, NJ 08062 (856) 589-4474 Richard Heritage Cook 2009