February 2022 Happenings
Message from President Betty Goldstein
“Wherever we go, no matter what the weather, let us bring our own sunshine.”
Venetia Stanley-Smith
Dear Friends,
If you have followed my writings, you know that my motto has always been “When one door closes, another door opens.” I have been thinking about this motto of mine and have contemplated changing it to “Never a dull moment.” Life seems to be bringing us many new challenges, personal and in the world around us… Read More
Be My Valentine
Long before the internet and eBay, the only way to find vintage Valentine’s Day cards was to dig through dusty boxes at garage and estate sales. Looking for love in all the dusty places. It is hard to describe the feeling of discovery when a vintage card would be unearthed after sleeping for decades.
Historically, the roots of St. Valentine’s Day go back, loosely to the Romans and “The Feast of Lupercalia.” A horrifying holiday by any standards. Go ahead and look it up but you’ve been warned. This later morphed into the celebration of St. Valentine. In 1382 Chaucer made a reference to the day in a poem, and in 1537 Henry VII declared it a national holiday. We have never looked back… Read More
It’s A Duesy…
Sometimes the lives of other people sound and feel like fiction. The best lives always do. Imagine going out to your garage and finding a Duesenberg. Now imagine finding two Duesenbergs. Wait, try to imagine your choice of three Duesenbergs. If you were Virginia and Harry Robinson, circa 1930 in Beverly Hills, that was your garage and your life, not fiction but automotive royalty.
At the turn of the twentieth century Los Angeles was booming. The population was exploding and the city was rapidly expanding. Many of the early pioneers and visionaries found opportunity in this young city and, at the same time, created personal wealth. Virginia and Harry Robinson were among those pioneers, but they also raised the bar for a standard of grace and elegance in a city on the edge of the wild west. As owners of the famous Robinsons Department store in Beverly Hills, they became the style and tastemakers for many generations of Angelinos… Read More
Spotlight on Juliana Ricks
Each month we spotlight a volunteer, staff member, docent, donor, or sponsor of the Virginia Robinson Gardens (VRG) — those that have made an impact on the organization. We want to let you know about these wonderful people and corporations that give so much to the Virginia Robinson Gardens and to the community, and what they do that is so impactful.
This month, we spotlight Juliana Ricks, a dedicated Friends of Robinson Gardens executive board member.
We asked her these four questions… Read More