In May, we bid farewell to our treasured colleague Ben Eland, who stepped down from his long-time role as the Garden/Facilities Director to pursue a new calling. Ben served ten years as the woodland garden’s primary steward, championing countless initiatives.
To name just a few milestones, Ben led the work of creating swales and berms to improve our stormwater management. He oversaw Boxerwood's conversion to solar energy, installed a wheelchair accessible path to the pollinator garden and updated the wetland walk, expanded our visitor parking lot, replaced the Lodge roof and windows, helped secure the property's conservation easement, updated the Lodge beds with a native plant installation, and kept Boxerwood safe and welcoming for thousands of school children and visitors – plus so, so much more.
Earlier this month, we celebrated Ben’s tenure with a special gathering. While we will miss his daily presence in the garden, we are so grateful for Ben and all his gifts and wish him well in his next adventures in the Rockbridge area. For those familiar with Boxerwood’s organization roles, we might also mention we’ve now also retired Ben’s jersey – or at least the position he held. Going forward you’ll find care of the garden folded into a new operational model with Operations Director (Hannah West) working in concert with the Garden Coordinator (Karen Stanley) in collaboration with garden worker Jenna Hill and additional contractual expertise as needed. In short, we replaced one man with a team: that’s how much Ben gave to us.