Smile Report: Garden Club of Georgia honors Oak Hill’s Tim Brown. Night at the Movies raises $18,000.

Tim Brown, director of Oak Hill & The Martha Berry Museum, recently was honored by The Garden Club of Georgia with the Seal of Honor. Oak Hill and The Garden Club of Georgia Inc. have a long history of working together, dating back to the days of Berry College founder Martha Berry. When Brown came on staff three years ago, this relationship grew even stronger. Brown said he was very honored to have received the award from such a prestigious group. The Seal of Honor is given to one person each year who has contributed to the overall success of gardens in the state. Diane Harbin, who serves on the board of the Garden Club of Georgia, nominated Brown for the honor. Suzanne Wheeler, Garden Club of Georgia president, said she was impressed with Brown’s generosity and support for the club as well as his achievements with the gardens at Oak Hill. The Garden Club of Georgia is the oldest and first ladies garden club in the nation and is considered one of the most prestigious. Since 2012 Oak Hill has received two grants from the garden club to help with the historic landscaping and to start clearing the hillside behind the house. The Oak Hill gardens were published in Garden History of Georgia 1733-1933. Oak Hill’s gardens enhance the beauty of the estate. Designed between 1927 and 1933, Martha Berry sought to establish a Colonial revival garden landscape to match Oak Hill’s renovations. Landscape artist Robert Cridland designed the gardens surrounding the house. Cridland’s other projects included the rose garden at the Hyde Park mansion of Frederick and Louise Vanderbilt and the gardens of Cator Woolford in Atlanta. For more information about Oak Hill, please visit http://berry.edu/oakhill/.

The Exchange Club Family Resource Center’s annual Night at the Movies saw approximately 420 donors Tuesday evening who, in turn, helped raise more than $18,000 to help fund child abuse prevention programs, reports Executive Director Tina Bartleson.