Recent Happenings: Drumthwacket, Princeton, New Jersey

Recent Happenings

Decorating Drumthwacket for the Holidays 2009
EverGREEN!

The Music Room by the Essex Fells Garden Club

Congratulations and a hearty thank you to all the talented volunteers from eight statewide Garden Clubs of New Jersey who decorated the official residence of the Governor for the holiday season. Thousands of visitors come to marvel at the transformation of the house into its seasonal splendor. This theme this year was EverGREEN!,and the clubs created incredibly clever and beautiful decorations using recyclable and environmentally-friendly materials.

The official judges this year included Mary Warshauer, statewide President of the Gasrden Club of New Jersey; Drumthwacket Foundation Trustee and noted interior designer Jim Cline; and representing the state Department of Environmental Protection, Donna Mahon.

First place: The Parlor by the Greater Woodbury Garden Club. Two matching trees in the elegant Parlor were decorated in lemon slices, cranberry strings, and two hundred individually hand-cut scherenschnitte pineapples. Congratulations!

Second place: The Spring Lake Garden Club decorated the Dining Room tree with ornaments made from used light bulbs and bottle caps, and recycled fabrics. The goodies on the sideboard were created with coffee grounds, artichokes, acorns and other re-used or natural materials. Our visitors were astounded!

Third Place: The Music Room by the Essex Fells Garden Club featured wreaths on the five windows, each honoring a different environment in the state: the pinelands, the highlands, the beach, et al.

The plinth for the Drumthwacket silver bowl will be engraved with the names of the winning clubs; and the bowl and plinth will be shared by these clubs for the year ahead.

Visitors may vote for the People's Choice. Voting was exceptionally close this year: the winner of the People's Choice was the Music Room by Essex Fells.

Congratulations to all clubs whose spaces were equally spectacular!

The Front Porch by the Moorestown Garden Club was wonderfully clever and dramatic. Shown here is the beautiful garland surrounding the front door, which featured blue LED lights enhanced by recycled plastic soda bottles cut into petal shapes.

The Neshanic Garden Club who decorated the Front Hall brought in live and dried plant materials that can be found in National Parks across the country. Their crowning achievement was a magnificent 8-foot tall tree made of pine cones.

The Solarium by the Somerset Valley Garden Club was beautifully decorated with dried hydrangea and osage oranges.

The New Vernon Garden Club decorated their tree in the Library with more than twenty live orchids, and the Pyne desk featured an entire gingerbread village.

A lovely and wide variety of trees, real and paper, decorated the Study. By the Bayberry of Brielle Garden Club.

We were thrilled to learn of the participation of the Junior groups (teens and younger) within the Garden Clubs this year. And a huge thank you goes to the wonderful Justine Kovacs, the overall holiday decorating chairperson.

The Drumthwacket Foundation is pleased to be able to open this magnificently decorated house to the people of the great state of New Jersey. 2010 dates are December 1,8,12 and 15. Attendance is limited so make your reservation now by clicking here.

Photos courtesy Ray Martyniuk.

The Drumthwacket Foundation Gala
Friday, December 4th, 2009

Thank you to all those who attended and/or generously sponsored, or donated to, the Drumthwacket Foundation's Gala. It was a festive evening of laughter and conversation, music and fine food. Governor Corzine graciously welcomed all our guests to his home. This, our only major fundraiser, will help the Foundation continue our important work of educational programming and historic preservation of one of the nation’s finest executive residences.

Trustee and Gala Chairman James H. Robinson of CenturyLink with the Governor and Father Christmas (Ron Lomerson).

The Trenton Children’s Chorus provided the evening’s wonderful entertainment. They are shown here with Governor Corzine and their artistic director Patty Thel.

Board of Trustees Chairman Ralph Izzo, who is the President and CEO of Public Service Enterprise Group, led the program of remarks.

For a complete gallery of Gala photos click here.

Thank you to our generous sponsors:

Presenting Sponsor: Jim and Gail Kellogg

Woodrow Wilson Sponsors
The Jon S. Corzine Foundation
Public Service Enterprise Group

Thomas A. Edison Sponsors
Wachovia

Charles Smith Olden Sponsors
AT&T
Atlantic City Electric
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
CenturyLink
Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies
New Jersey Education Association
New Jersey Resources
Silcon Group
Verizon
Wakefern Food Corporation
Wolff & Samson PC

In special recognition of their significant 2009 donation to our school field trip program for economically disadvantaged school districts:
Saker ShopRites

Thank you to our generous event donors who were unable to attend:

Rick and Mary Lou Bolger
John J. Culhane
Hopewell Valley Community Bank
Mr. and Mrs. James L. Johnson
Frederick C. Mueller
White Castle System, Inc.

And thank you to our wonderful Gala committee:

Honorary Chairperson
The Honorable Jon S. Corzine

Gala Chairperson
James H. Robinson

Gala Committee
James E. Benton
William F. Faherty, Jr.
Hollie A. Gilroy
Anna K. Lustenberg
Cheryl A. Mills
Robert Revelle
Mary K. Roberts, Esq.
Laura Saker
Elysa Scharf
William Walsh

Finally, a sincere thank you to eight of New Jersey's premiere garden clubs who decorated Drumthwacket for the holidays: Bayberry of Brielle, Essex Fells, Moorestown, Neshanic, New Vernon, Somerset Valley, Spring Lake, and Greater Woodbury.

The 2010 Gala date is Friday, December 3rd. We hope to see you here!

Photos courtesy of Ray Martyniuk

For a complete gallery of Gala photos, click here.