Dear Friends,

From left to right: Lisa Goldman, Michael Barcun, Richard Goldman and Ellen Newman. Eva Monroe, Board of Trustees Chair and Julie Packard, Executive Director and Vice President of the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Board of Trustees. Larry and Marion Feigenbaum. Marthe Wollomes, Don Mahoney, and Ann Colvin Vera Carpeneti and Robert Fountain Michael McKechnie, Director of SFBGS and Richard Goldman. John and Carolyn Jessup, Anita Marmaduke and Pearl Anne and Ed Seipp. Walter Newman and Sandra Ferris

On September 26 we had a wonderful party under a tent on the Great Meadow with 500 friends. It was probably the best weather day this year in San Francisco, and we already know that the annual Garden Feast is the Best Garden Party in the Bay Area! The bottom line purpose of the party is to fund our Youth Education and Collections Management programs, so integral to the public education mission of the Garden.

But another purpose was served, a larger purpose: that of garnering support for our embattled planetary environment.

The San Francisco Bay Area may well be the "greenest" region in the United States. It certainly has long provided a leading edge in the conservation movement.

And now it is a great pleasure to see the rest of the nation moving in the same direction. Even my Midwestern family is watching their light bulb purchases! Of course, in some ways, the many families in this country who still till the soil — as my family once did — or who get their livelihoods from the sea, never abandoned practices based on conservation, reuse, and simple living.

In our own region, there were voices long ago calling for another approach to living on this planet; an approach based not only on practical frugality but also on growing evidence from solid science.

Botanical gardens, I believe, have a double dose of responsibility, first through education and best collections practices to provide a wellspring of information to a public at last realizing that the Earth's resources are not limitless. Second, gardens have to become a refuge of safe-keeping for endangered species.

To proclaim the San Francisco Botanical Garden Society's deep and abiding appreciation for pioneers of the conservation message, we created an annual award to recognize leadership, innovation and achievement in sustainability, environmentalism, conservation of habitat, and biodiversity.

We were delighted to present at Garden Feast the first annual Green Champion Award to Richard Goldman, a gentleman whose foresight fostered a global society more attuned to environmental challenges, and to our complex interdependence through the establishment — along with his late wife, Rhoda Haas Goldman — of the largest award for grassroots environmentalism in the world.

Then there was our speaker, Julie Packard, Executive Director and Vice President of the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Board of Trustees. The winner of a number of environmental prizes, Ms. Packard works tirelessly to improve ocean policy to preserve biodiversity and protect against the ravages of climate change. She began her education in botany and horticulture, so she is able to talk authoritatively about the Earth-wide ecosystem and how terrestrial practices influence the health of the oceans.

A gentle and beautiful day with good friends and good food provided the setting for this thoughtful and deeply felt discussion based on our love for the natural world and our desire to preserve it for our children and grandchildren. As we strengthen our ability to inspire the public to preserve their natural heritage, I hope you will be there right beside us, as you have always been. It's a big job, but together we will do it!

Warmest best regards,