CHRONOLOGY OF VRS TROPHY WINNERS
Abkhazi Trophy
Peggy Pemberton Carter was the orphaned child of an English couple living in Shanghai, and she was interned there during the final years of WW II. After the war she made her way to Victoria and managed to contact the deposed Georgian prince Nicholas Abkhazi, whom she had met while studying music in Paris prior to the war. Together they created a home and a beautiful garden which after her death became the publically accessible Abkhazi Gardens.
In 1986 Peggy donated a beautiful Chinese silver tray to the Victoria Rhododendron Society. It had been a wedding gift to her parents and the only remaining possession of theirs she had.
The tray became the Abkhazi Trophy, and it is awarded by the Victoria Rhododendron Society to an individual or couple who had contributed significantly to the club during the prior year.
Abkhazi Tray Contribution to the VRS
| 2021 | Linda Gilmore |
| 2020 | |
| 2019 | Calvin Parsons |
| 2018 | |
| 2017 | Carrie George |
| 2016 | Tony & Carolyn Marquardt |
| 2015 | (Convention Year) |
| 2014 | Dean Gourd |
| 2013 | Bill & Betty Gordon |
| 2012 | Madeleine Webb |
| 2011 | Lois & Roy Blackmore |
| 2010 | Ann & Tom Widdowson |
| 2009 | Johanna & Moe Massa |
| 2008 | Don & Joyce Whittle |
| 2007 | Margaret deWeese |
| 2006 | Carol Dancer |
| 2005 | (Convention Year) |
| 2004 | Pat & James Fuller |
| 2003 | Bill McMillan |
| 2002 | John Gordon |
| 2001 | Betty Kennedy |
| 2000 | Joe & Linda Harvey |
| 1999 | Karen Morrison |
| 1998 | Bruce Maycock |
| 1997 | Ken Webb |
| 1996 | Norma Buckley |
| 1995 | Ian Duncan |
| 1994 | Nancy Thompson |
| 1993 | Peggy McCarter |
| 1992 | Dave Dougan |
| 1991 | Evelyn Weesjes |
| 1990 | Alec McCarter |
| 1989 | Herman Vaartnou |
| 1988 | Judy Gordon |
| 1987 | Margaret Buffam |
| 1986 | Bill Dale |
| 1985 | Norman Todd |
Bronze Medal
The Bronze Medal of the American Rhododendorn Society is the highest award presented by an individual chapter of the ARS. The names listed below document the Victoria Rhododendron Society’s acknowledgement of the effort and dedication of these members on behalf of the chapter.
ARS Bronze Medal
| 2020 | Betty Gordon |
| 2020 | Bill Gordon |
| 2015 | Calvin Parsons |
| 2013 | Gareth Shearman |
| 2012 | Jacqueline Bradbury |
| 2012 | Lois Blackmore |
| 2011 | Ann Widdowson |
| 2011 | Theresa McMillan |
| 2010 | Johanna & Moe Massa |
| 2008 | Ken Webb |
| 2008 | Bill McMillan |
| 2008 | Dean Goard |
| 2007 | Ian Duncan |
| 2006 | Betty Kennedy |
| 2006 | John Gordon |
| 2004 | Joe Harvey |
| 2003 | Dora Kreiss |
| 2002 | Norma Buckley |
| 1998 | Judy Gordon |
| 1996 | Herman Vaartnou |
| 1992 | Leslie Drew |
| 1992 | David Dougan |
| 1992 | Margaret Buffam |
| 1990 | Evelyn (Jacks) Weesjes |
| 1990 | Norman Todd |
| 1990 | Alec McCarter |
| 1990 | Bill Dale |
| 1986 | Stuart Holland |
Silver Medal
The Silver Medal of the American Rhododendron Society is awarded to Society members for significant contribution over a period of time to either the Society, to the genus Rhododendron, or to both.
ARS Silver Medal
| 2017 | Ken Webb |
| 2003 | Norman Todd |