Interview with longtime members

Betsey Brown

Feb 6, 2019

Betsey joined the LGC in the late 1980’s.

I grew up in many different places because my father was a civil engineer, so he would build bridges, a dam and when that was done, we moved to another place. So, I grew up in the Mid-West and upstate New York. I went to Syracuse University, in the town we were living at the time. I majored in liberal arts; then my major was psychology when I got a Doctorate. I did this the when I had the kids. I remember doing my homework and the kids were in various places of interrupting...Rutgers University. They were a little older when I got my Phd. They didn’t care if I paid attention to them.

I had a job when I met Harry; we were both working in New York City. I met him at a party; some friend, a mutual friend had a “Do” and I met him there. Soon after he took me to his grandmother’s house nearby. Was it love at first sight? We weren’t particularly going to meet her; just going up there to travel around. We didn’t know at the time that we were in love. I always liked his grandmother, his mother’s mother. She was a great woman. That’s where we got serious...in the Catskills, a mountain place.

I graduated from college then got married in the 1950’s. We went to Europe on our honeymoon and travelled all over the place. And then, had four kids. Later, went into Family Practice in Westville, NJ—I went to study with Salvador Minuchin*. He was very big on family therapy. So, I became a family therapist which I liked very much. I still have a video of one of my sessions.

Harry’s family always owned Rockland so I was used to coming down with Harry. Harry’s mother was in the Leesburg Garden Club. Stories about Harry’s mother: having lunch at some fancy restaurant in NY with her; I ordered shrimp and milk and she was appalled. One did not order shrimp and milk. She wasn’t terribly fond of me.

Stories from Harry’s mother. That’s when they (the LGC) chopped down the billboards. She was one of the ones who put on their white gloves and cut down the billboards! People dressed differently. Even when the mothers went to see their children we wore our white gloves.

Harry and I came down here to live in mid-1980’s. I joined the Club (the LGC) soon after. When I was on the Board of Supervisors she didn’t go many meetings. Later, I was President; it was pleasant; Garden Club was easy back then; there wasn’t any controversy. It wasn’t like it got to be later. I enjoyed being President. Going to GCV Meetings; that was very interesting. Mostly I remember the clothes the other members all had. The used to dress up. Probably not hats by then. Now, at the Garden Club of America Zone meeting everyone wore pants! My mother-in-law would have been appalled. Now, I cannot remember when I wore a skirt.

Fund Raisers: We all voted to give $60 a year extra rather than do fund-raisers. So, one big difference. I did like the plant exchange at the Picnic. It’s nice to have plants from other members.

Meetings: We always used to go to Joan William’s garden at Little Oatlands to do programs; a lovely place to see.

* Salvador Minuchin (October 13, 1921 – October 30, 2017) was a family therapist born and raised in San Salvador, Entre Ríos, Argentina. He developed structural family therapy, which addresses problems within a family by charting the relationships between family members, or between subsets of family