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The Delaware Center for Horticulture (TheDCH) recently recognized two longtime volunteers for their contributions to the organization and their cultivation of a greener community. Andrew Bunting and Ann Wick have been named the 2014 winners of the Mary Marsh Award and Emily du Pont Award, respectively. A non-profit community resource comprised of more than 600 dedicated volunteers, TheDCH chooses two recipients of these prestigious honors each year.
Andrew Bunting. Photo courtesy of TheDCH.
The Mary Marsh Award recognizes someone of stature in the horticulture or gardening community for his or her significant contribution to amenity horticulture (gardening for pleasure) over an extended period of time. Andrew Bunting has been lauded for his commitment, leadership, exceptional plant aptitude, and impeccable taste and sense of garden design.
Bunting has been a longtime member of the plant selection committee for the Rare Plant Auction at Longwood Gardens. He also shepherded TheDCH through its recent green renovations and expansion at the organization’s Trolley Square headquarters while serving as President of the Board of Directors in 2013 and 2014. Bunting brought to the position a considerable amount of professional expertise: he is the Curator of Plants at Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College, and is a renowned plantsman whose private home garden, Belvidere, has been featured in several national magazines.
Ann Wick. Photo by Jeff Long.
Longtime friend and colleague Lenny Wilson, Associate Director of Development, says Bunting has habitually supported the efforts of aspiring plantsmen. “He puts his heart in it, gives tirelessly of himself, provides encouragement and motivation, and, in turn, he is rewarded by the successes of those very seeds he planted,” Wilson says.
The Emily du Pont Award recognizes an individual for his or her outstanding service to TheDCH. A dedicated, generous, and selfless supporter of TheDCH for three decades, Ann Wick has served TheDCH as a volunteer, member of the Council of Advisors, a Board member, and a member of the Donor Cultivation Committee.
“We are very fortunate to be able to count such a remarkable woman among our friends,” says Executive Director Pam Sapko. Wick has provided guidance, written letters and notes, hosted lunches and other functions, and rallied her family in order to make a substantial gift in honor of her mother (also a longtime supporter of TheDCH).
Wick has served in leadership roles while on numerous boards of well-respected organizations, including chairing the Rodney Square restoration project for the Garden Club of Wilmington. She was also the first chair of the Delaware Early Care and Education Council under Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, playing an active role in establishing the Stars Quality Rating Initiative and other strategies still in practice.
The Mary Marsh and Emily DuPont awards were presented to Bunting and Wick at TheDCH Annual Meeting on November 13, 2014.
