Hollywood-Themed Flower Show Exhibit
Depicting Movie Gala Wins 4 Awards
“The Bloom Awards,” Williamson’s
exhibit in the 2015 Philadelphia International Flower Show, received four
awards: The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Silver Medal-Education,
Award of Merit for an Outstanding Exhibit, and the Gold Medal Award (Best
Use of PHS Gold Medal Plants), and
the Garden Club Federation of Pennsylvania’s Special Achievement AwardEducation.
Chuck Feld, horticulture instructor
and exhibit coordinator, said “The students worked hard to make the exhibit
the best they could and we were one of
the first to finish setting up. The guys
were very familiar with our plant material and talked intelligently about them
with the public. They really represented
Williamson very well.
“We were in the main exhibit area
which was an honor and shows that
PHS has confidence in us to mount
a professional-quality exhibit. That
also put some pressure on us to come
through for them, but we did.”
The exhibit followed the show’s Hollywood theme, depicting an awards program with a red carpet, miniature statues, and a stanchion to keep the crowds
back.
The plants in the exhibit were chosen
for their eye-appeal, performance, and
hardiness in the local growing area, and
were picked from three categories: PHS
Gold Medal Plants, All-American Selections, and Royal Horticulture Society
Award of Garden Merit.
The horticulture seniors who worked
on the exhibit were pleased with the results of their hard work.
Senior Jack Varnis, said “We are really
happy with the way our exhibit came
out. In the middle of setup week, it
didn’t look the way we wanted it to look,
but it all came together and in the end it
looked better than we thought it would.”
He added, “Setup was hard work and
the cold weather made it harder. We had
to heat the truck and trailer to transport
the plants and keep them covered in
burlap and plastic to protect them.
“This was an awesome way to end our
three years at Williamson. The past two
years we saw the show, but didn’t participate in it. When you experience it, you
have no idea how great it feels.”
Alex Hutchison said he thought
the exhibit turned out really well. “A
lot of our plants were forced for new
growth and budded well. We worked
well together as a team and setup went
3
Williamson’s Flower Show exhibit received four prestigious awards.
smoothly. The medals were awesome;
awards are a nice extra.”
Mike Konieczny added, “This was the
last time we worked together as a class
and that was cool. I thought all along
we would receive some awards because
it was a very interesting exhibit.”
Morgan Cather said, “The public liked
our exhibit a lot and asked many questions about the plants and the school. It
was a very educational exhibit because
the plants we used were plants you
could put in your own garden. It was
nice to hear so many nice comments
from the public and it felt good winning
those awards — we earned them.”
Assisting the horticulture students
with their exhibit were Williamson’s
carpentry, paint, and machine tool
technology students.
Exhibit sponsors were: All American Selection, American Takil Inc.,
Aqua PA, Franklin Mint Federal Credit
Union, Hoxie Harrison Smith Foundation, KC Signs, Mostardi Garden Center, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Precision Printing, and Safeguard
Business Systems.
Class Giving Participation
Please help make Williamson strong. The deadline for this fiscal year is June 30, 2015.
This chart shows gifts (not pledges) received from July 1, 2014, to April 30, 2015. (Solicitable class members have active addresses and accept solicitations.)
Class Solicitable Donors
1908
1917
1929
1933
1936
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1
1
1
1
1
3
1
7
10
1