D&R Greenway Land Trust will be hosting its Greenway Gala Sunday, Sept. 20, from 4 to 6 p.m., in Meredith’s Garden for Inspiration, Johnson Education Center, One Preservation Place, Princeton.
The annual event pays tribute to those who have made a difference in land preservation through inspiring conservation. Libations and hors d’oeuvres will be served.
This year’s Donald B. Jones Conservation Award will honor D&R Greenway founder and long-time trustee the late Rosemary Miles Blair. Tickets cost $85. Tickets and sponsorships support D&R Greenway’s mission to preserve and care for land and inspire a conservation ethic, now and for the future.
“The world of central New Jersey was changed for the better by Rosemary Miles Blair,” says D&R Greenway Board Chair Brian Breuel. “Her commitment to land and community exemplifies the spirit of the Donald B. Jones Conservation Award, given annually to a person who inspires a conservation ethic through selfless generosity in saving land.”
“Rosemary was a tireless and irresistible advocate for setting aside and protecting precious open space in central New Jersey,” says American Association for the Advancement of Science CEO and former U.S. Congressman Rush Holt, who will attend the Greenway Gala. “She understood that open space is not only aesthetically uplifting, giving spiritual sustenance to people, but also and especially it allows nature to cleanse and restore itself.”
Born in Brooklyn, Ms. Blair earned a bachelor’s degree from the College of New Rochelle and a master’s from Columbia University Teacher’s College. With her husband, David William Blair, she moved to Princeton in 1958, raising six children. Ms. Blair taught for 30 years in Princeton.
An accomplished artist, Ms. Blair was active in her community and instrumental in bringing bike paths to Princeton in 1978. Passionate about preserving open space, she served as president of Friends of Princeton Open Space before founding D&R Greenway. Thanks to her foresight, D&R Greenway has preserved close to 19,000 acres, an area 320 times as large as Greenway Meadows park where the event will take place.
The Greenway Gala is also an opportunity to celebrate the founding of D&R Greenway, which began as a small grassroots organization.
“Rosemary was the one who got the ball rolling in the creation of the D&R Greenway,” says co-founder James Amon. “Sam Hamill and I filled the board and hired the first director but Rosemary had the concept and the energy to get everyone together. Bob Johnston was a very able first chairman of the board, but more than anyone else Rosemary is THE founder of D&R Greenway.”
“Rosemary was a dear friend, colleague and source of inspiration,” says co-founder Sam Hamill. “She was, in the name of conservation, uncompromising and forceful.”
“We’re celebrating one of our founders at a time when public funding for preservation is limited,” says Linda Mead, D&R Greenway president and CEO. “Just as when we were founded in 1989, it takes the determination and passion of private citizens, coupled with know-how, to achieve protection of critical acres. Rosemary’s never-wavering dedication resulted in permanent preservation of landscapes — from a sheep farm on Carter Road in Hopewell, to an historic land grant estate in Princeton, to vast landscapes in South Jersey. We want to keep her spirit alive as we look to the future.”
D&R Greenway’s professional skills enable the nonprofit to identify, inspire and complete preservation transactions. Over the past 26 years, important partners in this work have been the New Jersey Green Acres Program and state farmland preservation program, and local communities through use of their open space funds.
“Now that state funding is again limited, Rosemary’s vision that led to a strong organization with a track record of accomplishing complicated transactions is more important than ever,” Ms. Mead said. “The Greenway Gala on Sept. 20 will celebrate the difference an individual can make.”
Tickets cost $85. Tickets and sponsorships support D&R Greenway’s mission to preserve and care for land and inspire a conservation ethic, now and for the future. Donald B. Jones (1911-1994) was a determined preservationist who spent his time and resources saving the land and historic buildings that give our region its special character. D&R Greenway presents an annual award to a recipient who has displayed a similar selfless generosity, making a significant important on our landscape.
For more information, visit www.drgreenway.org or phone (609) 924-4646.
