The Friends' activities provide support for the gardens and the Davis Center.

The Friends' activities provide support for the gardens and the Davis Center.
By GARRY L. CLARK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Beautiful flower arrangements have a focal point, whether in a carefully controlled grouping or a light and airy amalgamation of blossoms and greenery. That focal point also serves as a base from which the rest of the arrangement grows.
Similarly, Fellows Riverside Gardens is a focal point for Mill Creek MetroParks. A jewel that crowns Mill Creek Park, which is the second largest natural urban park in the country after New York's Central Park, Fellows anchors the park with a northern view of the city's downtown area and a southern vista of Lake Glacier and the surrounding park.
History
Fellows is a legacy of Elizabeth Rudge Fellows, who left the land and an endowment for the creation and maintenance of a public garden. Her original trust provided full funding of the gardens for many years, but as the economy changed, the endowment declined until only 25 percent of annual costs were covered. The interest in prolonging Mrs. Fellows' vision was undertaken in 1987 when Friends of Fellows Riverside Gardens Inc. applied for a charter as a nonprofit organization.
"A free public place of beauty open to everyone regardless of economic status -- that was Elizabeth's dream," says Karen Petroff, horticulture director for Mill Creek MetroParks, "Especially that it be free, and that it would always be free. That's a very unique thing about public gardens, so the Friends came along to support that."
A case in point is the D.D. and Velma Davis Education and Visitor Center at the gardens. Funds for the $6 million building were raised by the Friends, and the center opened in December 2000. Through the Friends' continued fund-raising efforts, the mortgage was burned in April 2002.
Organization president Marilyn Wagmiller says that the Friends do basically two things: "We're a fund-raising organization. We have fund-raising projects and dues, but we're also a conduit for gifts, because it can come more directly to the Friends. It was the organization that was the conduit and the active portion of raising the money [for the center] from designing it to letting out the contracts and overseeing it." Currently, funds raised are divided, with half going directly to the park for work on the building and gardens and the other half going to build up the endowment. The goal for the endowment is $1 million, and over $600,000 has been raised so far.
"People feel a real sense of ownership with gardens," said Petroff. Wagmiller concurred, stating that "Gardens are multigenerational."
Although the Friends built the center, Mill Creek MetroParks is charged with overseeing the property. To that end, the Friends contribute to those costs through fund-raisers, membership dues, gifts and bequests.
Advancing objectives
Petroff, an ex officio member of the Friends board, said, "From a MetroParks perspective, the Friends have been invaluable in advancing some of our objectives. For instance, improving the level of services that are offered and upgrading from what was the deteriorating [Fred W.] Green [Memorial] Garden Center. Having this [the Davis Center] was a dream ... so the Friends really helped to bring this particular dream to completion.
She also stated that the center "would have been an entirely different building had the MetroParks had to do it through a little bit here and a little bit there through the tax money and try to accumulate money over time, whereas the Friends could have a campaign and dedicate the funds and give it the extra push that it needed in order to build what now is a very well-loved and well-used facility."
And well-used it is. Wagmiller and Petroff stated that prior to the building of the new center, the gardens were attracting up to 250,000 visitors per year. Since the new building opened, however, that number has swelled to 433,000.
The Friends also attract visitors through sponsorship of events such as the annual plant sale, the Rose Festival and the Garden Party, as well as various classes, programs and activities for all ages. They also run the center's gift shop.
Wagmiller stressed that while most botanical gardens have an admission fee, Fellows does not. In addition, Friends members enjoy a reciprocal agreement with gardens all over North America that allow them free admission.
Annual membership dues are tax-deductible, and members receive a newsletter and a discount in the gift shop, among other things. Though not required, there also are opportunities to volunteer at the gardens, the center or even with Mill Creek Park because, although they are separate entities, they are interdependent under the MetroParks purview. Membership in the Friends has now topped 600.
"The interesting thing about the membership is that we have people from across every stratum of society," said Petroff, "Even our seasonal employees -- many of them join the Friends because they see what the Friends are doing for the gardens and they want to give back. That's what the Friends are about, giving back."
clark@vindy.com
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