Events

Building a public botanical garden is not an easy feat. So far, Botanical Garden of the Piedmont (BGP) has been driven by the community’s input, aspirations, insights, and desire to be a place of healing, unity, education and beauty.  But the input phase of the garden design process is not complete and through reaching out to other organizations, we are hoping to gather more feedback to ensure the built garden will represent the hopes and dreams of the entire community.  The design and construction of Botanical Garden of the Piedmont is a very ambitious project.  This presentation will briefly outline what has already been achieved in the process toward building this garden, give insight into the road map ahead, and provide information about how the Garden is responding to community needs in the time of COVID.   For more information about the Garden: https://mcintirebotanicalgarden.org/

The Botanical Garden seeks feedback about the desired features and programming. Please visit this link below to share feedback on how we can continue to improve services - and share the link with family, friends and neighbors. The more input we get, the better!

Botanical Garden of the Piedmont (google.com)

Jill Trischman-Marks moved to the Charlottesville area more than 30 years ago to attend graduate school in the fields of landscape architecture and historic preservation at the University of Virginia School of Architecture. After receiving her master’s degree, she spent nearly a decade with the firm Ian Robertson, Ltd, where she honed her design and horticultural skills, and was instrumental in designing private and public gardens across the region, including the first five gardens of Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond.  Jill then established her own firm, Jill Trischman-Marks, Landscape Architect, where she specialized in edible landscapes, native plant design, designing for organic landscape management, and landscape restoration.

After spending several years volunteering as a member of the McIntire Botanical Garden Board of Directors, Jill retired her private practice in September 2019 to become the first executive director and “chief cheerleader” for the Garden.

When not cheerleading for MBG, Jill spends her time in her garden, cycling the Virginia countryside with her husband, or traveling to exotic places to visit her grown daughter.

Human trafficking is a crime that is perpetrated all over the United States and the world. Over 10,000 children between ages 13 and 17 are being trafficked around the world each year, though this is not even the largest group of victims. Charlottesville and Central Virginia are not immune to this heinous criminal industry. Our featured speakers this week will discuss: 1) what is human trafficking, 2) what does it look like in our community, 3) who are the victims, and 4) what can our citizenry do to help.

Annette Cox manages the victim and witness assistance program for the Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia.  Annette is assigned as part of the federal trial team in prosecutions where there is a victim, and intentionally assigned on cases of human trafficking, vulnerable victims and the exploitation of minors.  She teaches and consults on the local, state and national level on human trafficking and victim recovery.  She supports nationally prosecutors and peers as a member of the Project Safe Childhood peer support team, and is the victim witness representative on the executive committee of the Western District of Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force.  She has worked in both the state and federal criminal justice system with a combined total of 29 years of experience.  She speaks extensively on the issue of human trafficking to prosecutors, victim witness, law enforcement and service providers.  She teaches a boots on the ground approach to victim prevention and victim recovery, and has the national designation of advanced advocate for crime victims. 

Ron Huber is the Managing Assistant US Attorney for the Western District of Virginia which covers Charlottesville and surrounding area, and the entirely of the Shenandoah Valley. He has served as an Assistant United States Attorney since 2008. Ron is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of violent crimes, narcotics and white collar offenses, and oversite of other prosecutors in his division. Prior to 2008, Ron served as an assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for both the City of Charlottesville (1995-2007) and Albemarle County (2007-2008).  Ron served as the Director of the Prosecution Clinic at the University of Virginia School of Law where he was an adjunct professor from 2006 to 2019.  He graduated from the George Mason University School of Law in 1989 and Michigan State University with a bachelor’s in economics in 1984.