January 16, 2020
Dear Friends of Untermyer Gardens,
The year 2019 concluded in grand style for the Conservancy: all indicators were up. The annual appeal saw a 16% gain in revenues over 2018. The total yearly number of recorded donors last year was 1,200, up 12% from 2018. This doesn’t include the thousands of donors who gave cash to our greeters or the donation box. It is wonderful to see this depth of support for an eight-year-old organization.
Speaking of our impressive volunteer greeters, not only do they welcome visitors every weekend afternoon from May through October and during the Illumination, they also keep count. Bearing in mind that that’s only a fraction of the time our garden is open, they made an actual headcount of 49,646 visitors. Extrapolating from there, it is a certainty that we welcomed more than 80,000 visitors in the course of the year.
Our Board of Directors continues to grow, with the addition of two excellent new members, Diana Elghanayan and Betsy Pinover Schiff. The former is a community leader/garden lover with a strong connection to the Persian community, and the latter is a noted garden photographer who has published a number of books.
The Grand Holiday Illumination this year was better than ever. Attendance increased more than 7%, and the Walled Garden has now emerged as a hot spot for marriage proposals! There were a number of proposals on several romantic nights. We are grateful to our sponsors, AVR Realty, Domino Sugar, and St. John’s Riverside Hospital.
Dear Friends of Untermyer Gardens,
The year 2019 concluded in grand style for the Conservancy: all indicators were up. The annual appeal saw a 16% gain in revenues over 2018. The total yearly number of recorded donors last year was 1,200, up 12% from 2018. This doesn’t include the thousands of donors who gave cash to our greeters or the donation box. It is wonderful to see this depth of support for an eight-year-old organization.
Speaking of our impressive volunteer greeters, not only do they welcome visitors every weekend afternoon from May through October and during the Illumination, they also keep count. Bearing in mind that that’s only a fraction of the time our garden is open, they made an actual headcount of 49,646 visitors. Extrapolating from there, it is a certainty that we welcomed more than 80,000 visitors in the course of the year.
Our Board of Directors continues to grow, with the addition of two excellent new members, Diana Elghanayan and Betsy Pinover Schiff. The former is a community leader/garden lover with a strong connection to the Persian community, and the latter is a noted garden photographer who has published a number of books.
The Grand Holiday Illumination this year was better than ever. Attendance increased more than 7%, and the Walled Garden has now emerged as a hot spot for marriage proposals! There were a number of proposals on several romantic nights. We are grateful to our sponsors, AVR Realty, Domino Sugar, and St. John’s Riverside Hospital.
The magic of the Illumination was more palpable than ever, which is beautifully conveyed in this video skillfully made by Christopher St. Lawrence.
Earlier in December, the entire landscape was encrusted with crystalline ice that shimmered like a field of diamonds. It was truly breathtaking.
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Looking forward, we are thrilled to announce the publication in March of a new book about Samuel Untermyer and his—now our—garden by Timber Press. Its author, Caroline Seebohm, will speak about the book at our annual illustrated Winter Lecture at 6:00 PM on Monday, March 9, and signed copies will be available for purchase. Tickets are available:
During this quiet season, rest assured that the gardeners are attending to various landscape and greenhouse projects and those of us in the office are planning all kinds of new offerings later in the year!
Kind Regards,
Stephen F. Byrns
President, Untermyer Gardens Conservancy
Kind Regards,
Stephen F. Byrns
President, Untermyer Gardens Conservancy
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