Virginia is the Delta chapter of the American Gourd Society, and was active
for many years as the New River chapter based in Blacksburg, VA. After
a period of inactivity, the chapter restarted with a core group of gourdheads
in the upper Shenandoah Valley who met online at a Yahoo Group called Gourds
For Art & Utility, begun by Nancy Shrum of Woodstock. The group had
begun to gather at each other's homes to talk about gourds, show new techniques,
and of course eat! At that time no one wanted to get involved with
the bureaucratic effort of forms, officers, and schedules that restarting
a chapter would incur. Several meetings passed with the members of the
group voting to not have a chapter.
Eventually
the little group grew much bigger and wanted to meet on a grander scale,
a
festival!
At about the same time, Eddie Richard became enamoured with gourds and
offered to play host to a festival at his farm and market, Richards Fruit
Market. We started with one festival, and had so much fun we knew we needed
to restart the Virginia chapter, but under guidelines we could live with:
no officers, no monetary dues, a public outreach program, and only doing
what the membership volunteer efforts could produce. In other words, if
we couldn't walk the walk by ourselves, we wouldn't do it at all.
We became a nonconformist group with Coordinators and not officers, Membership
Agreements and not by-laws, membership donations to the common goal a book
of first class stamps and not dues. Our annual festival was held at a member's
facility, and our public outreach project supported state youth agricultural
programs to further gourd knowledge in the coming generations. We were
a loose, flexible group of gourdheads that worked together to get the gourd
word out. Our biggest event was the annual festival set up as a marketplace
that benefited all who attended.
In our 11th year it became clear the time had come to incorporate and obtain nonprofit status to continue our path of public outreach. We became an incorporated business entity with pending nonprofit status, which we fully anticipate. Members can participate in the four annual events we hold, Winter WonderGourd, Spring Gourd Fling, Summer PlayDate, and of course the Virginia Gourd Festival (which gets larger and larger every year with interesting workshops, varied vendors, and friendly gourdpatch competitions). Members can also vend under the VLGS banner at any of the various state-wide events we attend such at the Blandy Mother's Day Plant Sale or ArborFest, and various wine festivals. Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws are available.